Tuesday, April 14, 2020

bad star #2

The word disaster comes from the Latin dis-aster, or "bad star." And another disaster befell me when I attempted to make Maangchi's rolls last night. As tragic as the results were, though, the experience was educational: I can now confirm that my yeast is definitely the problem. It's the one link between two disasters, both of which happened in largely the same way. Hydration wasn't an issue with last night's rolls, but lack of rise most assuredly was.

I have another, unopened package of yeast in my cabinet, but its expiry date is 2017. I'll do a yeast-blooming test tonight and will buy new yeast if necessary. It's a bit disturbing that the yeast I'd been using had already gone bad, but so ist das Leben.



2 comments:

Charles said...

So my suspicion was correct after all. Do you keep the yeast in the freezer? My current package of yeast in the freezer is long past its "best by" date, but it is still good as the day I bought it, back in the Cretaceous period.

My roll recipe will be on its way a little later, although you may need new yeast before you try it.

Kevin Kim said...

You have the bread nunchi. Indeed, you are powerful, as the Emperor has foreseen.

I'll be buying new yeast tonight, but I still want to test my unopened package of yeast. To answer your question: no, I haven't been storing my yeast in the freezer, but you can bet I'll be doing that from now on. Thanks, as always, for the insights, and thanks in advance for the recipe.