Dry Yeast Cake to IDY conversion?


 
R

r benash

TVWBB Emerald Member
Hey folks - I have a recipe I am working with that calls out "2 dry yeast cakes" as part of the recipe.

My understanding is that dry cake yeast was yeast that you can add dry to the other ingredients.

What would be the conversion for 1 dry yeast cake to IDY?

Have no clue and no idea how to make the conversion when a recipe says
"2 dry yeast cakes".

I'm thinking (since this recipe came for my 85 year old MIL) that a yeast cake = 1 package of yeast.

When I talk to her she tells me she used 2 squares of hard dry yeast. And didn't have to activate it.

So I have 7g/1 quarter oz of IDY. I'm thinking that 1 dry yeast cake in this reference would equal 1 pkg of IDY??
 
Substitutions: 1 (1/4 oz) package dry active yeast (ADY) = 2 1/4 teaspoons = 2/3 of a 1 oz cake compressed fresh yeast. IDY is a bit more active so one could use a bit less of it.

Typical conversion for ADY to IDY is to use 3/4 of the amount of IDY as you would ADY.
 
Thanks! My instant dry yeast packets are 7g, 1/4 oz. I'm using 4 cups of flour. Looks like 1.5 packets of IDY or thereabouts should work.
 
Ah, cake yeast!

I remember my mother buying fresh cake yeast from the butcher at the grocery store. The butcher kept the fresh cake yeast in the cooler in the meat department. He'd retrieve a big chunk of the yeast, cut of approximately how much my mother requested, weight it on the meat scale and wrap it with butcher paper.

My mother made all kinds of delicious breads and rolls.

I haven't looked for some time, but the last I knew, some local grocery stores still sell fresh prepackaged cake yeast.

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Yeah, talked to my Mother In Law yesterday and she still gets in at the local grocery store. I had plenty if IDY and wanted to just use that.
 
Here is a handy yeast conversion table. I usually go from ADY to IDY and use a bit less than suggested. If your fermentation (first rise) is going faster than the original recipe suggests, use a little less. I generally opt for a longer fermentation to develope more flavor. It also extends the proofing time, giving a longer safe window before the dough is overproofed.

http://www.theartisan.net/convert_yeast_two.htm

Rita
 
Thanks Rita. Interestingly this was for a cookie recipe from my mother in law. You don't even let it rise. You just mix it up (even with the cake yeast) and roll it into small balls that get rolled flat and filled with a nut mixture. So not sure the reason other than texture, flavor, etc.

Thanks for the chart!!
 
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