Instant yeast, dried active yeast, fresh yeast they all work the same once
they get going ( I know that's not strictly true but if I see another post
from a fanatic who is convinced that the reason for his failures is the
yeast rather than his sloppy technique I'll stop breathing) but dried
active and fresh need reviving before you use them whereas "instant" or
"ready mix" or "quick mix" or "quick" yeast has sufficient live cells to
revive if it's mixed with the flour and that's the key to finding out which
type of yeast you've got. Look at the instructions on the packet - if it
tells you to mix the yeast with the flour before adding liquid then you've
got what Reinhart calls "instant" yeast.
To complicate things further I've made several breads from BBA when I had
no instant yeast - I just alter the steps of the recipe to allow the dried
active (not instant) 10 minutes in all or part of the liquid in the formula.
Don't worry too much about types of yeast - they all work fine and the
differences in the finished product may be apparent to a professional baker
but not me.
John
John Wright
Yorkshire, England
"That which does not kill us makes us stronger"