Joy,
I haven't seen the book to which you refer, but I have been baking a
wonderful loaf of bread nearly every week for years, using a tsp of
yeast. I am happy to minimize the yeast in my recipes in order to reduce
the influence of the yeast flavor in the overall end product. The trick to
doing it is using good flour, yeast intended for bread baking, assuring
that there is a slightly acidic environment in which the yeast can do its
thing, and having other dough conditioning ingredients that enhance
texture, moisture retention, and shelf life.
I use only whole grain flour, and my favorite recipe includes wheat germ,
flaxmeal, and other ingredients that do not contribute to bread lightness,
yet the bread comes out high and light. In fact, it comes out amazingly
high and light. I will admit that I fiddled with my recipe for months
before I decided that it was "perfect," but none of the early breads came
out dense, or appeared to need more yeast. My experimenting was aimed at
flavor, moisture retention, and shelf life.
Ingredients that I include are 3 1/4 c. King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat
Flour, 1 1/3 c water, 1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste), 3 tbs honey, 3 tbs
wheat germ, 2 tbs flaxseed meal, 3 tbs potato flour, 1 tbs buttermilk
powder or acidic whey, 2 tbs lecithin granules, 1 tbs of vital wheat gluten
and approximately 1 tsp (slightly rounded) SAF instant yeast. A 1 lb pkg
of yeast lasts me about two years in the refrigerator and costs $5. In
fact, I've never had to throw away yeast. It always works right up to the
last drop.
I developed the recipe by combining the recommendations of several books I
got from the library, with a basic whole wheat bread recipe on the package
of King Arthur flour.
I have used Regal, Oster and Breadman bread machines over the years, and
they all produced high and light bread.
Good luck.
Harry
> ---- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v102.n004.10 -----
>From: Alexgejp@aol.com
>Subject: Yeast question
>Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 19:16:45 EST
>I received a Better Homes and Gardens Best Bread Machine Recipes cookbook
>for Christmas. With only a couple of exceptions, all the recipes for 1 1/2
>lb. loaves call for only 1 teaspoon of yeast. This seems such a small
>amount of yeast since all the recipes that I usually cook call for 2 to 2
>1/2 teaspoons of yeast. I would appreciate anyone who has cooked recipes
>(even one) from this book writing to let me know their results.
>TIA.
>Joy Alexander