"Stark" > wrote in message
...
> In article >, Janet Bostwick
> > wrote:
>
snip> Oh, my yeast was Red Star, one of those quick rise kinds and it's
maybe
> a year old in the fridge. The proofing produced only a dozen or two
> small bubbles. Seemed lazy to me, but what do I know? Should quick-rise
> yeast be proofed at all and should expect more action, bigger bubbles,
> a froth?
No, quick rise is intended to be used by mixing in with the flour. Proofing
yeast is no longer recommended, particularly for 15 minutes. With Active
Dry Yeast, you add the suggested amount of water to the yeast and stir and
let sit just for a couple minutes--the idea is simply to hydrate the yeast,
not to make it grow. Quick rise and Instant yeast are intended to be mixed
with the flour. If you were using packets of any of the yeast varieties, I
wouldn't feel comfortable with its liveliness after a year in the fridge.
Those packets are pretty unreliable anyway as they seem to be subjected to
so much abuse in the grocery store. If you get another super gloppy dough,
fold it as much as you can, put it in a greased bowl for 15 minutes and
within the bowl, fold some more, then let it rest covered for another 10-15
minutes. If you do this 3,4,5 times, you will end up with a very nice
elastic dough that can be handled.
Janet