Can you look at this ciabatta recipe and tell me if you think there is too much yeast in it? It seems somewhat excessive. Many thanks.?

Question

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/ciabatta_85453

Answer 1

Favourite answer

Yes, I agree, that's a crazy amount of yeast!  I think there's an editing error in the recipe.  I got my go-to recipe for ciabatta out to compare with and and it (not a Paul Hollywood recipe) gives almost identical measurements for everything EXCEPT that the yeast called for is fresh, not dried.  I suspect that the original P.H. recipe gave fresh and dried instructions and whoever inputted it onto the website dropped the fresh yeast option AND muddled up the amounts.  Based on my recipe I think that the P.H. one will turn out as if you go with 7g (2ish tsp) active dried yeast in the starter and 5g (another 2ish tsp) in the dough.  A teaspoon active dried yeast averages 6g.  In my experience the amount doesn't need to be very exact and as long as the yeast is newly opened it's better to round down than up.

Answer 2

15 g is like... 1 1/2 tsps? Nah, it's fine.

Answer 3

I do very little baking but in general that sounds like an excessive  amount.

Answer 4

A packet of yeast from the US is 1/4 oz or 7g and it looks like it asks for 25g. This is coming from an American cook/baker who is bad at math but it looks normal to me. The recipe asks for about 4 cups of flour and adding 3 packets of yeast to 4 cups of flour does seem a little much but not so much that I would assume it was an error.

The reason it MIGHT look like an error is because the recipe doesn't use any sugar so the yeast won't get as happy because yeast LOVES sugar so there will be less co2 production per gram of yeast so Paul upped the amount of yeast to compensate. 

Answer 5

it does seem like a lot of yeast. 

Check out King Arthur Flour for some VERY trusted recipes for ciabatta as well as other bread and baked goods. 

Answer 6

That is over 8 teaspoons of yeast - about 4 packets total so yes it is too much yeast, A packet (2.25 tsp) for the overnight biga and a packet for the final mix would be better (usually the biga has only a 1/4 tsp of yeast). 

I use the The Bakers Apprentice cookbook and that is how Reinhart does his breads.

Answer 7

No. That is really not that much yeast. And you re making 3 loaves.