New yeast product

[lindag]

I just saw an item about this:

Red Star

 

I ordered some from Amazon because I'm so intrigued about it.  I'd never heard of it before and it wasn't available in my local supermarket.

Anyone here tried it yet?

[liuzhou]

Sounds to me just like regular yeast mixed with some "dough improvers". I can't see anything new. Just marketing talk.

[Cyberider]

And costs as much as a one-pound "brick" of active dry. . .

 

[keychris]

" So forgiving it takes the intimidation out of baking with yeast! "

... I've never been intimidated by yeast. There's no black magic in bread making

[MelissaH]

I think many people view breadmaking as being of the same sort of black magic as knitting socks. They both seem sort of mysterious and have a (rather undeserved, IMHO) reputation as being "hard." But once you try it yourself, you realize that neither is really difficult, although both require a fair amount of patience and neither can be rushed.

 

It seems to me that this product exists not for us, but for the people who *are* intimidated by yeast, who perhaps have never seen anyone baking bread at home but always saw it as something done by professionals or machines. (The equivalent in sock-knitting instructions also exist, and I used one of those books to make my first pair.) I think of it as a gateway, to start to demystify the breadmaking process for the uninitiated. Even if they never get beyond using expensive yeast with training wheels, that's still a big step, and something to be proud of.

[Tri2Cook]

6 hours ago, MelissaH said:

It seems to me that this product exists not for us, but for the people who *are* intimidated by yeast, who perhaps have never seen anyone baking bread at home but always saw it as something done by professionals or machines. (The equivalent in sock-knitting instructions also exist, and I used one of those books to make my first pair.) I think of it as a gateway, to start to demystify the breadmaking process for the uninitiated. Even if they never get beyond using expensive yeast with training wheels, that's still a big step, and something to be proud of.

Yep. That's something I think we all (myself included) sometimes forget within the confines of these forums. Most people posting here on any regular basis are accomplished or at least confident in the kitchen. We all have things we're not as good at or less confident doing, but I don't think many of us actually fear much in the kitchen. I think sometimes we forget that a lot of people outside these virtual walls don't fit in that category. When my stepdaughter invited us to dinner several years ago and was proud of the loaf of bread she baked using frozen, store-bought dough, I could have looked down my nose and said "Really? You didn't make your own dough?" But instead, I said "awesome, nice job". Now she bakes bread completely from scratch with no fears or problems. Maybe she still would be even if I'd shot down that first one... or maybe that would have been enough for her to give up on it. In my personal opinion, anything that inspires people to try things in the kitchen is a good thing.