smelly yeast

No, it is not normal, and suggests that the Red Star was subjected to excess heat while in storage or transport somewhere, or is a bad batch. All of the bread type yeasts are the same basic yeast, and all have just about an identical odour if kept dry and in the proper temperature range.

I buy mine in a vacuum packed 1 pound package [Fleishmann's] and keep it in the freezer when I've opened a package. I pay Cdn$4.50 for a pound package, but then this is Canada... and I have NOT seen a 2 pound package of ANY brand of yeast. But they never smell bad or fill the condo with the smell of yeast.

RsH

---------------------------------------- >Both finished loaves looked the same and tasted the same. But, the Red

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My Costco store sells 2 pound bricks of Red Star Yeast.

Some people think that Freshman's yeast is stinky. Maybe you just have a preference for one over the other. Cooks Illustrated did a comparison of yeasts a couple years ago and they concluded that Freshman's had an odd flavor. Their preference was for Red Star or SAF. I find SAF instant the most satisfactory both in terms of action and flavor. I think that SAF has the most neutral flavor of the three. If you really think that the yeast is bad, take it back and get a new package from a different lot. I also buy the one or two pound packages from Sam's, Costco, or GFS Marketplace. I prefer to get SAF in the one pound package from GFS. It takes me about 9 months to use a pound, and it is always fresh as opposed to buying a two pound pack or two one-pound packs that have been wrapped as one item.

Said it before, but saying it again in case anyone is wary of that one pound package of SAF Instant: It can last a very long time past it's pull date.

I don't bake yeasted doughs as often as I'd like to, so i have it around for a long, long time. In 2002 one of my sisters gave me an unopened 1 pound package of SAF Instant that expired in 2001. It went straight into an airtight glass container in the freezer. It's 2005 now and I'm down to the last 4 ounces or so, and it's still working just fine.

I have been unable to locate either SAF or Red Star in the Toronto area, and find Fleishmann's vacuum packed just fine.

I have even looked in stores that once upon a time did carry those brands, like Highland Farms, and they have switched to Fleishmann's.

I wrote to SAF and they reported that they do not sell in Canada under that name, and the name they supplied I also cannot locate anywhere in a retail package. They may sell to bakeries, but that does me no good.

As for Cooks Illustrated, they did not compare Canadian yeasts, so their test is useless to me. Any test of a US product is often pointless to Canadians since the formulation changes when the same product crosses the border. That applies to ketchup from Heinz, baked beans, laundry detergents, etc. Since the two countries have different regulations and laws AND tastes, something tested in the US often is different in Canada, even under the same name, and even if made in the US for export to Canada.

I agree about the 1 pound [454 gram] package, incidentally, as it make for 4 of the 4 ounce or 113 gram jars that I keep in the fridge, and the rest stays in the freezer, vacuum packed (I have a vacuum packer at home)... so no smell in any event, from the dried stuff.

RsH

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This whole thread reminds me of the "smelly cat" song from Friends that Phoebe would sing. Just change "cat" to "yeast" and you've got a great song for this thread: "Smelly yeast, smelly yeast, it's not your fault..." :oD ~Peggy

For me, getting the one pound package at GFS is a no-brainer since the price per pound is the same. That way I don't have to deal with two pounds of yeast at a time.

:> I have been using Fleischmans dry yeast and have been satisfied except :> it costs about $7 for a 4 oz. jar. :>

:> I recently found some Red Star dry yeast for only 1/16 as much cost! It :> comes in a 1 pound package which costs $1.88. :>

:> I did a test making two small quantities of bread dough using Red Star :> yeast in one sample and Fleischmans in the other. All measurements were :> the same. :>

:> Both finished loaves looked the same and tasted the same. But, the Red :> Star yeast stinks when you smell it in its jar as compared to the :> Fleischmans. It also stinks up the house when I bake with it. It is not :> pleasant at all to make bread with the Red Star due to its stink even :> though the breads taste the same. :>

:> The expiration date on the stinky yeast is Sept. 2005, and was bought :> at a warehouse type store. :> The expiration date on the Fleischmans is Oct. 2006, and was bought at :> a local grocery store. :>

:> Is this normal? Is it due to the age of the yeast? Like I mentioned, :> both brands do the same job with making dough, with the recipe I am :> using.

: Some people think that Freshman's yeast is stinky. Maybe you just have a

I've never heard of Freshman's yeast - I've never seen it in any stores. Fleischmans and Red Star are about the only choices.