CATEGORY
Dry Yeast
2009 CHEFSBEST® AWARD FOR BEST TASTE WINNER
Red Star
What Makes a Great Yeast?
If you’ve ever considered making homemade bread or pizza dough on a whim, you’ll want to keep a few packets of dry yeast in the pantry.
When you open up a packet of high-quality dry yeast, it should a light beige color and have a mild, yeasty aroma.
For this judging, we used dry yeast to make potato rolls. After adding the yeast to warm water, it should take about 5 to ten minutes to activate, turning foamy and releasing a stronger yeast aroma that includes fermented, alcohol, fruity and tangy notes.
When the yeast is used to make potato rolls, the aroma will come through strong because it will have been completely activated and baked. Good yeast will give the rolls a low, natural sweetness with a hint of fermentation, giving it a nice complexity.
High-quality yeast will give the potato roll a full rise, an even and consistent crumb—that is the white part of the bread between the crusts—and a tender crust.
We know what makes a great dry yeast, but what makes a bad one?
Dry yeast that looks white or gray could be too old. If it’s missing that yeasty aroma when dry or in water, this could also indicate poor quality. Avoid dry yeasts that make sour-tasting breads, or those that fail to create a full, light, even-crumbed roll. Bad yeast also tends to make dense rolls that are difficult to chew.
Why is Red Star the best dry yeast?
ChefsBest selected Red Star as the best dry yeast because if the complexity of its aroma—a blend of fresh, fruity and yeasty notes. It also demonstrated a good dissolve and activation in water. Red Star yeast produced a roll with an even crumb, nice rise and a tender chew.
This judging was for both regular and rapid-rise dry yeast.
Also Judged:
Fleischmann's
ONE-STEP IDEAS
Keep unopened packages of dry yeast will keep fresh for over a year when stored in the freezer.
You can test yeast by adding a small amount of sugar to it when stirring into water. If it foams within a few minutes, the yeast is active.
It’s okay to add too little yeast to a recipe, but too much can negatively affect flavor.
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TASTING
TERMINOLOGY
PRODUCT
FUN FACTS
- Yeast has been used for baking and producing alcoholic beverages for thousands of years.
- The word "yeast" comes from an Indo-European root meaning "to boil, foam or bubble."
- By French law, a baguette can contain only flour, water, yeast and salt.
The ChefsBest Award for Best Taste is awarded to the brand rated highest overall among leading brands by independent professional chefs.
