[redforever]

Peter, another thing to keep in mind is that you don't necessarily need more yeast to get a better bread product. Just as it is important to control the amount of salt, same goes for yeast. By the way, if you use too much salt, it will have a detrimental affect on yeast. In other words, it ######s the action of the yeast. Some breads are made where you add most of the ingredients except salt and then let the dough rest for 20 to 30 minutes. That is called bread autolyse. That first 20 to 30 minutes accomplishes a number of things. It allows for the hydration of the flour and the development of gluten and it allows a time period for the yeast to activate. It also makes the dough easier to handle and prevents one from adding too much flour to the dough. My dough is always a bit on the tacky side.....it will stick a bit, but not to the surface that you are either kneading on or shaping the dough on.

I never use more than 1 Tbsp of yeast for 4 to 6 cups of flour. Some recipes, perhaps for a heavy rye bread, might require a bit more yeast.

I also add gluten to most of my breads that would be served with a meal but not to sweet breads like cinnamon buns and the like. I use about 1 Tbsp for every 4 cups of flour, a bit more if you are using flours made from rye etc as they have very little natural gluten in them, meaning the dough is harder to shape and work with.

Here is something else to keep in mind. Bread making is affected by the humidity of the environment that you are making it in.

Calgary has a very dry climate. Hence, the flour in Calgary is drier than normal meaning it absorbs more water than normal. So when I make bread, I always start with less flour than what is called for. If you live in a very humid environment, you might need more flour than what is called for.

Lots of these things just become natural the more you bake bread and get a feel for the dough.

Note: I should have added that yeast is a living organism. Any liquids that you use must be lukewarm and not any hotter or you will kill the yeast. You can add cold water but keep in mind that the rising time will then be longer. If you are making a richer bread with say eggs, they should be at room temperature too. Again, you can add them cold but the rising time will be longer. Yeast has to warm up to activate and work. If you add cold ingredients to your dough, the yeast takes longer to warm up.