The Barefoot Baking Company

Last week was the last farmers' market for me. On Saturday, I will dutifully trek to the market's last official day to buy goodies and supplies from the friends and colleagues I've met and grown to admire. Among other things, I found out through Mrs. Otto's generousity that her cinnamon rolls are even better than my best. I think she adds a little cardamom to her yeast dough and hers are not the laminated sort of rolls.

I have been wondering about yeast. During this summer I have used no fewer than 5 different brands or types of yeast. In her well-written article, Nicole Roales asked me what kind of yeast to use when baking at home. My response was, "use whatever you grew up with." For me that was Fleischmans active dried yeast.

I plan on researching the yeasts in much more detail for a post on this blog. Everytime I changed yeast, several other factors changed in my breads. The flavor, the rising time, the texture, the mixing method....

I know there are some yeasts that are better suited for high sugar applications like danish dough. I know of maybe 4 or 5 brands of yeasts available to the home baker. Each of these brands have a couple of styles of yeast as well.

When I have finished with my research, I plan on testing each of these yeasts over the winter. Maybe I can get some samples from the manufacturers?

Today, I will continue with preparation for a lovely cocktail party on Saturday. There are still 3 items to buy and my budget has been spent. That goes to show you that profit margins must be flexible.

JoEllen