Yeast

One of the most important items in your food storage is Yeast. I love the Saf Instant Brand because it stores so well, is very inexpensive and you can tell that it is still good because of the tight, brick-like packaging. As long as the package is tight and hard, the yeast is still good. However any yeast that is packaged for long term storage is okay to store. Here are a few tips on using instant yeast:

1)Use about 20% less instant yeast than the amount of active dry yeast called for in a recipe.
2)Add the instant yeast directly to your dry ingredients.
3)When substituting into a recipe that calls for active dry yeast, be sure to add the amount of water you would have dissolved the yeast in to your wet ingredients.
4) With instant yeast you only need 1 rise. The first rise is replaced with a 10 minute rest and you don’t have to punch the dough down.

Saf Instant is still under $3 a pound in Utah and Idaho so it can be quite inexpensive to store a year's supply of yeast. If you have your wheat stored, yeast is a must. Here is a good recipe for rolls that you can make from start to finish in about an hour, yes that includes bake time.

Rapid Rise Rolls
(This makes 2 cookie sheet pans of rolls)
4 cups flour
6 Tablespoons SAF instant yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
Mix above ingredients together thoroughly. Add to dry mixture:
3 1/2 cups warm water
1 cup oil
3 eggs
Beat thoroughly and let it work (sponge) for about 5-10 minutes. Then add the rest of the flour, about 6 1/2 cups. Dough should be slightly sticky. Knead on floured board about 5 times. Melt 1/4 cup butter and spread on cookie sheets. Pinch off dough for rolls, dip dough top-side-down in butter, turn over and place on cookie sheet leaving 1/2" space between rolls and sides of cookie sheet. Put 1 pan of rolls in pre-heated 170º oven for 10 minutes. Remove rolls from oven. Heat oven to 425º and bake the rolls for about 10 minutes, or bake at 350º for about 15-20 minutes. The other pan of rolls should be ready to put in to bake without having to pre-proof in the oven. The rolls should have risen enough to fill in all the empty spaces and be above the rim of the cookie sheet about 1-2". Note: if you want to mix this in your Kitchen Aid or Bosch, cut recipe in half and you'll have 1 pan of rolls.