Saf Instant Yeast, 1 Pound Pouch (2-Pack)

Best yeast for breads, second only to brick yeast. Lasts a long time in the fridge. As a former professional baker, this is the gold standard. Be aware there is a different colored label that is not for breads, and will not perform as well. Stick to red label SAF.

Great price! Good yeast.

I am fairly new to bread-making and so far I have not ventured beyond a recipe I found for peasant bread I discovered on the internet. When I found that I was buying those little 3 packs of yeast once or twice a week I started investigating larger quantities of yeast. The recipe I was using recommended SAF yeast so I read up on it and saw great reviews and that it can keep for eternity in the freezer. So I went for it.The yeast is in 2 vacuum sealed packages. I stuck one in the package in my freezer, and then next time I made bread I opened the other one up and placed it in a seal tight container and stuck that right back in the freezer.I had been using yeast that you had to proof previous to this brand of yeast, and although I do miss the lovely yeast smell that this produced in my kitchen, I do not miss that additional step in this process. I love that I can pull this yeast out of my freezer, scoop out 2 tsp. and throw it into my flour/salt/sugar mix, and plop it right back in my freezer.I saw something on a blog about some yeasts being temperature sensitive, in that you would not want to cook with it until it was brought to room temperature. I have had no problems with that with this yeast – although that being said I always warm my water to that 110° - 115°f range before adding it to my mix. I am sure one day I will forget that step and will discover whether or not this is a necessary step, much as I discovered you don’t really need the sugar or salt for the bread to work. (Although the bread that was missing the salt was not as tasty – the one missing the sugar tasted about the same. I am pretty sure you do not need sugar in bread if you are not proofing the yeast, but I am not an expert by any means. Just in love with how forgiving bread can be!)So how is my bread rising? Amazing! The first loaves I made were a lot lighter and fluffier than my previous loaves with the other yeast. I have a rhythm down for the recipe I am using, and I noticed immediately that I am getting more rise than I was with my packets of yeast, but my bread does not have giant holes in it either. (I was worried about that when I saw how large my bread was after second rise.)I would and have recommended this yeast since I switched to it, and I will be buying it again.

If my area is like yours, good luck finding yeast in your supermarket. For the price of a few "strips", you can get about 20 times the amount of yeast by doing it this way. The packs I receive are good through the end of next year, which seems fine to me. It's way too much yeast for any home to consume, so my suggestion is to find a few of the small jelly jars and share the love with your neighbors and friends. Or, just bake more bread and share that.As far as the yeast itself, it seems excellent. It does come in a "brick" because it has been vacuum sealed, but opening it revealed perfectly pretty little granules, as expected. I proofed a small amount in a cup measure with only a pinch of sugar while preparing my other ingredients, and after about 5 minutes it was threatening to overflow the cup! I think it would be fine to just toss this stuff into the ingredients without proofing separately. The final result was great. Super happy with everything about this yeast, value most of all. I plan to do more baking in 2020 (like everyone else, it seems), so this will be a great way to make it through! Hoping the refrigerator storage goes well, and I may move some to the freezer to see if I can keep it for longer that way. Just be aware - it is a LOT of yeast.Update 6/2 - almost two months in the fridge and it works perfectly every time. Really good yeast, better than the yellow packets I'd always used. There's no real need to proof this stuff, it almost leads to too much activity before you can get the other ingredients ready. Just toss it in with all the ingredients and let it do its thing.

Love this yeast.

Package arrived intact - I have not yet opened this particular one - but am confident it will be the same as all the other SAF packages of this yeast I have used before. It is strange that 2lbs is not much more than 1lb ... and 1lb lasts literally months/years.I store it in a plastic ziplock bag inside a clear hard plastic/gasketed lid food storage box in the freezer.It lasts for months/years when only use 3/8 teaspoon ( few grams) of yeast per loaf using 12-18hr wait time Cooks illustrated /breadtopia no knead recipe for either white bread/part wholewheat bread in a cast iron dutch oven / Emile Henry cloche baker.

So like everyone else during shelter at home, I decided to try and become a baker. Like everyone else I couldn't find the small packets of yeast, so I decided to get these. Great value for the price, but I tell you, I'm never gonna use this up.I decide to bake something that requires yeast about once a week or so. I've made garlic naan, pizza dough, dinner rolls, etc. Every recipe seems to use one packet of yeast, which is about 2 and a quarter teaspoons. It's been a couple of months and I've barely put a dent in the first package.I basically scoop what I need then close the package, shove it back into the Ziploc bag and then back into the freezer for the next time.Freezing doesn't seem to impact the yeast as far as I can tell, just make sure it's stored airtight.The yeast still works great, activates in a few minutes with sugar and warm water. Gets frothy and bubbly just like the recipe says it's supposed to. I still get a kick out of proofing and getting double the dough.Taste is still spot on, I've gotten compliments from the family on most everything I've made.So many recipes out there, but I think we'll have Covid licked before I run out of yeast.