If you want to know more about Fermipan Red yeast, you've come to the right place. I have been using Fermipan Red yeast for decades. It is my top choice of instant dried yeast.
In this article I will explain how to use Fermipan Red yeast, how it can best be stored and why I recommend it over other instant dried yeasts.
What Is Fermipan Red Yeast?
Fermipan Red* is an instant dried yeast. It's worth noting that there are three different ways of buying yeast (I'm not including wild yeast/sourdough here). Yeast is either fresh, dried or 'instant'.
*This is an affiliate link which may earn me a commission, for which I am very grateful :o)
Fresh yeast can be hard to find. It is sometimes given away for free in bakeries and can occasionally be found in the fridge section of supermarkets. It is sold in chunks and is, literally, a lump of fresh, living yeast, ready to use for baking bread.
You are much more likely to find dried yeast in the shops. This is yeast that has been dried and formed into tiny pellets of roughly uniform sizes. 'Ordinary' dried yeast has a relatively large pellet size, compared to 'instant' dried yeast.
There is more information on the Different Types of Yeast and How To Use Them in this article.
Fermipan Red is an instant dried yeast. This means that it is slightly easier to use than other dried yeasts.
Fermipan Red Does Not Need To Be Activated
Dried yeast is dormant. Before it can multiply and make lots of carbon dioxide bubbles to inflate your bread, it needs to be woken up. It comes out of dormancy when you wet it. Wetting the dried yeast pellets frees the yeast cells and allows them to become active.
Yeast pellets in dried yeast are (relatively!) large so it is necessary to soak them for a few minutes in advance of using them in your bread dough. This ensures that the pellets have broken down sufficiently to expose all the yeast cells to the flour and let them get to work.
Fermipan Red* does not need to be activated in advance.
*Affiliate link to the product on Amazon.
Because the pellets of Fermipan Red are so tiny, they break down easily and quickly within the dough as you mix and knead it.
Fermipan Red can be added to the mixture along with all the other ingredients and will be instantly active. The water content of the dough is sufficient to disintegrate the tiny pellets and release the yeast from dormancy.
How Much Fermipan Red Do I Need?
Instant dried yeast is really easy to use. You only need one teaspoon of Fermipan (about 5g) to 500g of flour (or 1g/100g if you want an easy way to scale for whichever recipe you are using).
My go-to bread recipe is:
500g flour
5g instant dried yeast
5g salt
315g water
You simply add the yeast along with the other ingredients, mix and knead to make your dough.
For a more detailed explanation of how to make bread, please read my Master Method to see a step by step method for making successful bread with Fermipan Red.
You can also find my ever-growing bread recipe collection here, all of which can be made with Fermipan Red.
Economy In Bulk
Aside from its ease of use, the main reason why I have been buying Fermipan yeast for all these years is because it is economical.
Dried yeast is often sold in tiny packages and individual sachets. Not only does this mean you get more packaging per gram of yeast (which is worse for the environment, obviously) but you also end up paying significantly more per gram, too.
Currently, this 500g packet of Fermipan Red is priced at £5.32 on Amazon*. That is £10.64/kg. Asda are selling 6x7g sachets of 'Easy Bake' yeast at 52p, which is £12.38/kg (plus all that extra packaging, of course).
*Affiliate link.
So, if you're only baking once and you're never going to use 500g of yeast, buying small makes sense. If, on the other hand, you think you'll be making more than 6 loaves of bread in the foreseeable future (I make at least three per week plus extras such as pizza rolls and focaccia) buying in larger quantities is a good idea.
How To Store Fermipan Red
Fermipan comes vacuum packed in foil and will stay fresh, unopened for months, if not years. It's best to store it in fairly cool conditions. Mine lives in a cupboard in a cool corner of the kitchen where it is not affected by sunshine or heat from the oven.
Once you have opened the foil packet, you may want to take some of the yeast out into a smaller container for day-to-day use. I keep a small amount in a glass jar with a screw-top lid.
I put an elastic band round the packet containing the remaining yeast and store it in an airtight container in the same cool, dark cupboard I was mentioning before. I have successfully kept Fermipan like this for about a year without noticing any deterioration in activity.
My parents like to buy Fermipan in even larger quantities (and at an even cheaper price) and then freeze most of it. So, if you're finding that you are slow to use up the yeast that you have bought, freezing it is an option that will help it to stay fresh even longer.
What's Your Experience?
Do you buy Fermipan yeast? What do you think? Please share your comments below.
And, of course, if you have any questions, I'm here to help.
More...
Here's my guide to baking Fresh Bread In 20 Minutes.
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Originally I was using a more expensive yeast, but more recently I have been using Fermipan, based on advice on your site, Rachel. I froze most of mine in small plastic containers which had arrived as packaging around something quite different from the supermarket (re-use and all that :-) ). Bought in a 500gram pack, Fermipan, as you say, is very economical (I bought mine along with a bunch of other stuff from souschef.co.uk where it's 6.99 but as part of a large order you won't have to pay postage). I've just used some of the frozen yeast, straight from the freezer - it's just as free running as the day it went in, with no clumping of the grains.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know, about the success of freezing it. I know my parents have found that to work well too. Thanks for your comment!
DeleteDoes this work in bread machines?
ReplyDeleteI have never used a bread machine but others have told me that Fermipan works in bread machines - so, as far as I know, yes.
DeleteYes. It works excellently in my bread machine.
DeleteThanks Kelvin, that's good to know!
DeleteHi can I use in baking like donuts 🍩
ReplyDeleteYou can use it in any recipe that needs yeast :)
DeleteHi I keep mine in the fridge, did u say the red is better? Coz I haven’t tried it 🤪
ReplyDelete