>From: MilesManor <qoe@sna.com>
>Subject: RE: To Proof or Not To Proof
>
>I wonder about this too. Ever since I started to use my bread machine I
>haven't proofed the Red Star yeast. I must say that over the last 5 years
>the number of failed loaves I can attribute to a yeast problem I could count
>on one hand. Yet when I get that failed loaf at the wrong time (morning
>time-no bread for breakfast, no bread for lunches) I kick myself for not
>proofing. . .
here's an idea:
if you haven't used your yeast for a while and aren't absolutely sure it's
still good, and you want to use *dry* yeast since it's going in a bread
machine, why not stir it up, take a little bit out and put it in a shot
glass with a pinch of warm water and sugar? if it foams, it means the rest
of the yeast should be good, too.
note: i've never tried this, but it sounds like it might work. it would
probably work with about one cent's worth of yeast: pretty cheap insurance imho.
if you pay $3.50 per two pounds of yeast, that's a smidgen over a dime an
ounce. a tenth of an ounce would be about a half teaspoon: so a penny's
worth should be plenty.
Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation
from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. -- W. Somerset Maugham
*flash gordon, m.d., f.a.c.e.p. http://www.well.com/user/flash
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