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Increasing Yeast for a Larger Bread Recipe
(Rose on Rising)
A prior posting addressed the question of whether the yeast in a bread recipe should be increased proportionately to the other ingredients or if less should be used.
since this is such an often asked question and various cookbook authors seem to have differing opinions, i decided to consult with two bread experts whom i greatly respect: bill weekley of SAF yeast (lesaffre yeast corp.) and hans welker of fci (the french culinary institute in new york).
bill reinforced that environment can play a significant role in yeast quantity, for example in alaska where the kitchen is probably colder, a lot more yeast may be used than say in phoenix arizona, where kitchens tend to be so much warmer. and as i quoted him in “the bread bible,” at high altitude less yeast is required due to the decrease in air pressure. bill also mentioned that if using volume rather than weight, larger formulae tend to be more inconsistent.
here’s his advice: for batches of bread dough using up to 10 pounds of flour increase the yeast proportionately to the other ingredients.
hans agrees that since home bakers are not working in huge quantities of dough, it is fine to increase the yeast proportionately. he agreed with my supposition that in large volume the yeast would grow faster, but he said, very practically i might add, that if the baker can keep up with production there’s no need to decrease the yeast!
i suspect that what is happening in really large batches of dough is that the fermentation of the yeast produces more heat thus speeding the rate of the rise.
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it's in the bread bible!
Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | February 22, 2007 7:42 PM #
Hi Rose I would love to have your 10 grain bread recipe.Thanks virginia
Reply to this Posted by: virginia | February 22, 2007 7:40 PM #
What is the best method for making a sweet raisin bread using 50 lbs of flour? Do you suggest all-purpose flour or high gluten? Sponge method or not? We own an Olde World Bakery and have been trying to perfect the recipe. The taste is always awesome, but the size of the loaves is always inconsistent. I realize temperature is always a factor, but how do we manage the yeast if using less flour? Is it proportionately less? We originally had a barrel mixer that held almost 200 lbs flour at one shot. We used that mixer for over 10 years (it was very old when we bought the bakery) till it stopped working one day in the middle of production. We recently got an 80 qt mixer and have been trying to convert the old recipe to fit the new mixer. Can anyone help?
Reply to this Posted by: Baker Bob | February 21, 2007 6:51 PM #
from my understanding and experience, what you put in is what you get out, i.e. if you weigh EVERYTHING the total should add up the same every time. it does for me in 1# batches. i see no reason why it wouldn't in larger. but about salt and yeast--in direct contact it will kill the yeast. in excess it will slow down fermentation significantly.
i would pose this question to someone who bakes in large quantity. maybe someone on the blog?
Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | July 21, 2006 12:41 PM #
I use about 110 pounds of flour and 1,1 pounds of yeast to make bread. With these quantities I used to produce about 355 breads each weighting about 0.4 pounds, now these days the same production quantity gives me only 300-305 breads and I don't know why. The reason for this could be the quality of the products but I have changed brand names many times but stills. So I think that maybe the production method is afecting. Do you have any suggestion on the mix of the products? Should I mix first the yeast in the water? does it matter? I was informed that salt decreases the yeast power, is that true? Please advise! Thanks. Igor
Reply to this Posted by: Igor Oliveira | July 21, 2006 10:38 AM #
as hans said, if you can keep up with production, no need to decrease the yeast amount. i have no personal experience in baking with quantities of 30 pounds of flour.
Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | June 4, 2006 9:21 PM #
What if a recipe is increased to three times the original recipe and the amount of flour is 30 pounds.
Please advise, thank you.
Reply to this Posted by: Alex Papafagos | June 4, 2006 7:47 AM #
you're most welcome. in fact i want to thank you for asking because it's something i've never been 100% clear about and i now feel i have a much better understanding or at very least it validates my understanding of yeast behavior!
Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | January 5, 2006 7:09 PM #
Thank you for posting a more detailed answer to this question.
Reply to this Posted by: Barb | January 5, 2006 6:25 PM #