"joyce erlitz" <recipesalmostunlimited@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Mike Avery states that he read in Beard on Bread that proofing of
>yeast was not necessary. since this did not gibe with my memories of
>baking with his recipes, I actually got up and took the book off the
>shelf. (lol) to the contrary, Beard proofs his yeast for each
>recipe-(I looked!)
I'd apologize to James Beard if he were still alive, but in his
absence, I'll just apologize to the list for my faulty memory. I was
ready to write a "you're wrong, wrong, wrong!" note, but looking at
the book, I found my memory was in error.
In his overview, he even talks about the "new" idea of not proofing
the yeast, just mixing it with the dry ingredients, and adding water
at about 120F. He said he didn't like the idea, that while it was
attractively easy, it was at the price of flavor. He also suggested
if you buy your yeast in bulk, it is even more important to proof the yeast.
Which leaves me with the question of why I was so convinced that it
was James Beard was the person who said he saw no reason to proof yeast.....
Apologies,
Mike