i cannot bake.

[seichan]

so i went and got stuff to make homemade soft pretzels. got started. the first packet of yeast did not froth or foam in the warm water. hm? i threw it away. the next packet also did not froth, so i thought, "hm...maybe the yeast is dead or it's frothing in secret." so i go ahead and mix in the flour and stuff. darn, of course an hour later, it did not rise. oh well, i poach and bake it. blech. *tears* too lazy to get another brand of yeast, so i'll try again later...much later. advice to self: do not waste time if yeast is dead. i did try to stuff half of the dough the cheeses and tomato sauce to see if i can salvage the ingredients, but what i got was yummy smelling cheese stuffed in cardboard. ew. today was a day of bad eats. started off with a bland chocolate muffin. continued with bad potatoes and broccoli. i suspect i might skip dinner for 'see below' and midnight snack...i have no idea what in the fridge might be tasty. *cries again*

in other news, i think with each new job opportunity, i am making less and less per hour. oh well, we'll see what the informative meeting takes me. blaaaaah.

Comments

yeah, yeast matters

[(Anonymous)]

i read a little about yeast in my new alton brown baking book recently. i get the types of yeast mixed up, but i remember that a large percentage of the common type of yeast in supermarkets is dead. on the order of 80%, i think. so it's possible to get unlucky with those packs. another tip i remember from foodtv is to not put salt into the warm water you're using to bloom the yeast. it'll kill it. and a little sugar will give them something to eat and might help wake them up. then again, i've no experience w/ baking so what do i know. but before the year's out, i'm going to be a master bread maker. yeah.

-k

Re: yeah, yeast matters

[nokiirat.livejournal.com]

i'm gonna try the quick rise stuff next time. i did put the sugar in both batches...poor yeast was not a sugar lover. i have one packet of yeast left...probably dead. what can you do with dead yeast?

btw, the first 2 packets when mixed with warm water gave off a weird smell...very un-yeast-like...which should have been my first clue. *sigh*

no master bread maker over here.

Re: yeah, yeast matters

[(Anonymous)]

i think i read somewhere that yeast can be nutritious even if it's dead. i don't know about its effect on the living yeast, though. maybe it makes them all depressed. also, don't know of it's effect on taste. these things will be experimented with in the next couple of months.

-k