baking bread?

[salsah]

i'm starting to get back into baking bread and have checked out some new recipes to try. i noticed that a lot of the recipes suggest combining the dry ingredients together, including the yeast, and then adding the wet ingredients. i have always baked bread by proofing the yeast first (with some warm water and sugar) and then adding that to the dry ingredients.
does anyone know the reason behind the two methods or the differences in the results?
i do all my bread making by hand (no food processor, no bread machine).

tia!

[craftysierra]

I use a stand mixer. I think they normally call for instant yeast in those type recipes, but I use the bulk yeast from costco and I rarely proof yeast, I think I have one recipe I do but more as a recipe mechanic where the oatmeal, honey and water combine before adding to the dry ingredients. I think they come out fine without proofing :)

Sierra

[MommyAllison]

I agree with the PP, it seems that most of the dry & yeast, then add wet, are calling for instant yeast. I'm using active dry yeast from Costco, which is supposed to be proofed first - but I'm not proofing, just going according to the recipe and it's working fine so far.

ETA: I'm also making bread by hand - usually in the 5 minutes a day method.

[salsah]

i have active dry yeast (from tj's) and it doesn't say "instant" on it. but there is a recipe on the back of the package that says to mix the yeast w/ the dry ingredients (no proofing). so does that mean that it is instant? i need to buy more yeast so i'll look for instant. it's not the same as "rapid rise" is it?

[luza]

i need to buy more yeast so i'll look for instant. it's not the same as "rapid rise" is it?

Rapid Rise is considered instant. I personally use regular dry yeast and proof, largely because I want to make sure my yeast is still good before I go to the effort of baking with it. Some people say that using instant yeast or using a relatively large amount of yeast produces a grainier product and reduces the complexity of the bread's taste as well, but I've never done a comparison myself.