I’m a sucker for anything cooking-related, especially when it comes to anything bread-related. If I’m ever in a store, and fortunately I’m rarely in a store, I love to browse all things cooking- and especially bread-related. I will even browse the baking aisle at the grocery store as if I were at Lehman’s, and I’ve never been to Lehman’s so that’s just fantasizing. Unfortunately, the baking aisle at the grocery store is not usually that fascinating, but I’m ever hopeful and will seize upon the slightest item of interest. Last week, I was at the store and saw pizza crust yeast. I don’t know if this is a brand new product, or if it just finally made it to my neck of the woods, but I was intrigued enough to pick up the package.
What is pizza crust yeast?
According to the package, it is “specially formulated for making easy pizza crust dough–no frustrating ‘snap back’ when rolling or pressing out dough.”
I had no idea snap back was such a problem! I had to ponder on this for a moment. When you roll out dough for pizza, or anything else, the dough does spring back a little bit. Then you roll some more and smack it around and get it how you want it. It doesn’t seem like a big problem to me. However, it was the best I was getting for something new and different in the baking aisle, and who was I to pass it up? The only other new product I saw in the baking aisle was muffins in a canister. I admit, I had to pick that one up, too, and read the directions. The muffin mix comes in a canister. You add water to the canister, put the lid back on, shake it up, and then pour the muffin batter into the muffin cups.
Are we to the point in the world today that not only can we not make our own muffin batter from scratch, but we also can’t get a bowl dirty? After we add water (!) to the prefabricated muffin mix, we can’t go on to the additional drudgery of washing the bowl? Okay, I guess I can see how this might be handy for camping, but you could make your own muffin mix and put it in a quart jar. Add non-fat dry milk to your mix and some shortening or lard instead of oil so that you can keep the mix long enough to go camping. You will have to break down and crack an egg in there, then add water and pour from the quart jar to bake. Wash the quart jar in the creek and take it home. (That is my tip of the day!)
I left the muffin mix in a canister on the shelf, but I did take home the pizza crust yeast, in spite of the fact that I buy yeast in bulk. I had to explore its mysteries and unlock its secrets. Would there really be no snap back? Did I care if there was no snap back? Would I miss the snap back?
I whipped up a batch of pizza dough using my lovely new dough whisk.
I rolled out the pizza dough and I am here to report that there was absolutely NO snap back. None. That dough was deader than a doornail.
It made a perfectly fine pizza. The crust tasted just like any other pizza crust. But the dough was like zombie dough. It had no personality, no spring in its step, no light in its eye, no joie de vivre.
I didn’t like it. Give me snap back or give me death!
The End.
whaledancer says:
I’m with you, I always thought the snap-back was a good thing. It says the glutens are doing their bready thing. Did the crust have any chew to it?
As as for “no rise or proofing needed,” I don’t raise pizza dough made with regular yeast anyway (I mean, it’s pizza, it’s FLAT), so that’s not a selling point.
Thanks for trying it and giving us a report. I think I’ll pass.
On October 6, 2011 at 2:58 am
Hrist says:
Since when does “snap back” have anything to do with the yeast, anyways? I thought that was all the fault of the gluten in the flour.
On October 6, 2011 at 3:34 am
wildman says:
Have you tried The New England Cheesemaker recipe for pizza crust? It calls for whey and I think it is the best and does have snap back!
I always use whey to replace whatever liquid is required in any bread recipe.
On October 6, 2011 at 4:39 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
wildman, yes, I love bread with whey, I put it in my pizza crusts, all kinds of breads, just replace the water in the recipe, it makes the best bread!
On October 6, 2011 at 6:47 am
mamajhk says:
I used this yeast. I had a coupon for it and it was on sale. I am not sure I would use it otherwise though.
I have not seen the muffins in a canister before. Have seen pancake in a shaker (plastic with lid)before.
On October 6, 2011 at 5:53 am
rurification says:
Wow. Good to know!
On October 6, 2011 at 6:39 am
Anita says:
Okay, I do let my pizza crust raise for a bit before I spread it out. And I get a bit frustrated with the snap-back. But my question goes like this – does the dough raise in the oven, or does it just maintain it’s original shape?
On October 6, 2011 at 7:42 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
It rises in the oven like usual.
On October 6, 2011 at 8:21 am
Miss Judy says:
Just another marketing tool that someone spent hours ..days months developing. I just throw a little cornmeal on the pan and it stretches out just fine.
On October 6, 2011 at 8:16 am
Pete says:
Who knew??
Actually, this might be nice to have around for the once in a while that I want a deep dish pizza made in a 9×13 pan. Probably not worth trying to keep up with it, though. This house really doesn’t need another specialty item!
But then, smushing snappy dough around inside a glass pan can be pretty annoying!
On October 6, 2011 at 8:23 am
holstein woman says:
Suzanne, you are so funny. Thank you for the information.
On October 6, 2011 at 10:13 am
joykenn says:
I wonder what torture they put that poor yeast through to get it so docile. OR, did they tame the yeast themselves through generations of selective yeast breeding for docileness?
If you’re making deep dish pizza like we do in Chicago the snapback can get frustrating sometimes. I just crush the opposition under the weight of lots of cheese, mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, sausage or pepperoni, green peppers and everything else I can find in the way of veggies. That usually keeps the yeast from escaping.
On October 6, 2011 at 10:14 am
brookdale says:
Suzanne, you made me laugh with this post! I’ve seen that yeast in the store here in Maine, too. Just another marketing gimmick in my opinion.
Thanks for brightening my morning, we’ve been fighting with the power co. who want to cut some of my maple trees (long story).
On October 6, 2011 at 10:29 am
Amerayl says:
Pizza Yeast is just the same as Instant Yeast. LOL, I found this out when I researched the differences between instant and active dry yeast. I had bought instant yeast because we I moved to didn’t have those nice jars of yeast and I use a lot of yeast so I didn’t want to buy 3 puny packets at a time. I think those rise times help to develop the yummy flavor. I miss using active dry.
On October 6, 2011 at 10:48 am
CarrieJ says:
I subscribe to Cooks Illustrated…they gave it two major thumbs DOWN!!
On October 6, 2011 at 11:45 am
Raiquee says:
Suzanne, where do you buy your yeast in bulk? (is it online?) what brand do you use? I find it in the little glass jars but have been stepping up my bread making lately and well…it’s pricey!!
On October 6, 2011 at 12:45 pm
bonita says:
I’m with joykenn, pile enough toppings on deep dish and snap back is not a problem!
On October 6, 2011 at 1:31 pm
JerseyMom says:
I don’t mind wrestling with the dough sometimes – other times it’s annoying….but not enough to make me stop buying my bulk yeast. I get mine at BJs – two one pound packages for something like $3.50. I keep it in the freezer and it lasts practically forever!
On October 6, 2011 at 1:37 pm
LisaAJB says:
This doesn’t always happen, but I have dealt with some bad snap back. Maybe it’s because I use whole wheat flour. I have so much extra yeast right now that it’ll be a while before I need to buy more 🙂
On October 6, 2011 at 2:35 pm
Darlene in North GA says:
The trick to getting rid of “bounce back” is to allow the pizza dough to rest a while longer (it’s tired and cranky). Once it’s had it’s nap out, it’s quite cooperative. 10-15 minutes usually calms dough that wants to snap back. The snap back is caused by the gluten being too active. Once the fibers are allowed to relax, it doesn’t fight you so.
On October 7, 2011 at 3:22 am
CindyP says:
It’s been out for at least a year around here, I saw it on the shelf last year, but I just couldn’t buy a packet of yeast!
It has added acids which weakens the gluten so you don’t have the “snap back” and enzymes to make it rise fast in the oven.
Just like using Dough Enhancer with whole grain breads to boost the gluten, you can use a Dough Relaxer to weaken the gluten.
On October 7, 2011 at 6:23 am
Glenda says:
I bought one of those dough whisks last year; then bought the big KA mixer so I haven’t used it much. I make my pizza dough in the Cuisinart food processor…poor lonely Danish Dough Whisk!
You can order the l-lb. package of yeast at lots of places online. I recently ordered mine from Pleasant Hill Grain because I wanted to order their bread bags. BTW, I love the bread bags. They are sturdy enough I just cool the bread, put a loaf in a bag and freeze it. I bought the large but a medium would have worked fine for the loaves I bake. I got tired of trying to seal my loaves in various bags and foil. And, yes, I do re-use them!
I let my pizza dough raise for hours…..if I plan ahead. That takes the snap out and makes for a very crispy crust which we like.
On October 7, 2011 at 8:45 am
joykenn says:
If you haven’t discovered King Arthur Flour Company you’re missing an interesting company. https://www.kingarthurflour.com I LOVE their catalog and all the nifty baking products. Their various flours are really special. They sell yeast in 1 lb blocks including a few unusual kinds. They aren’t the cheapest around but do have some interesting products (and LOVE that flour which is sometimes hard to find in stores).
On October 7, 2011 at 10:04 am
courtneyb says:
The kind of yeast I have found in my local Sam’s Club is Fleishmann’s instant dry yeast. It comes in two 1 lb packages and is way less expensive than the jars of yeast you can get at Krogers.
As far as the muffins in a jar, if you didn’t want to wash a bowl, and didn’t care about throwing it away after, a zip lock bag would be great on a camping trip, especially if you were backpacking. A ziploc bag would be much more lightweight to lug around in and out of the woods, and that is what they always did when I was younger, and found sleeping on the ground a whole lot more appealing.
On October 9, 2011 at 4:42 pm
naomibeth3 says:
I would love to learn to make this please enter me BBB please ! :sheep:
On October 15, 2011 at 9:13 am
Amaris says:
This was hilarious. Though I don’t think I would’ve bothered after the seeing ‘no rising’ part – um, you have to let it do the rising thing for flavor. If you’re feeling lazy you can make it the night before and let it do the rising in the fridge (even the morning of the day before). As to snap back, I don’t make a lot of pizza (maybe once a month), and I haven’t had an issue (it does shrink a tiny bit, but not enough to be fussy over). I think if you let it rest a few minutes then return, that’s suppose to help with the snapping back thing.
On March 25, 2014 at 9:38 pm