I opened my last 1 lb pouch of this Saf Instant Yeast about a mo. ago, which I had stored in my garage unopened since I bought this same 4 lb product for food storage in May 2011 for $14.07. Each time I opened a pack, I put it in a plastic container in my freezer, and used it straight from the freezer into my bread recipes. I've baked numerous times w this last pack over the past mo. and there is absolutely no degradation of the yeast, and my breads still rise up incredibly fluffy and perfectly soft. I keep stores of food for emergency purposes, but use it as I go. I was just looking online this morning to see that the price has gone up a few dollars, but that it's still the best deal out there. I highly recommend this yeast. It really seems to last forever.

This was my fourth or fifth order of this yeast. I give it away to new bread makers I meet. Before I discovered this kind of yeast, my bread was a guessing game and the results were mixed. But I did two things that changed that forever and now my bread comes out perfect every time. I always use this yeast and I bought some scales and converted all my recipes to grams. I discovered that those two things will insure some continuity in your bread making. I have a Zojirushi 2 lb loaf style bread machine which I also got on Amazon and my family loves to have homemade bread. I really don't consider myself a bread maker however, because I don't know how to do the kneading and letting it rise method. I just plop everything in my machine and turn it on and 3 hours later, I have bread. That takes little talent. But the best part is the bread will actually mold if left to sit on the counter too long. Yeah. That means no preservatives which means more healthy for you. I enjoy experimenting with new additives from the herb garden. Oh, I store the 4 packs in the deep freezer until ready to use and then store the open one in the refrigerator freezer while in use. I bought one of the plastic containers that have four latches on top that is the exact size of this yeast package once opened and have a 1 teaspoon dedicated measuring spoon that I leave in the container with the yeast package. Makes it all easier. The yeast package is shrink wrapped and before you cut it open, it appears square, but once you break that seal, you can smash the sides in and it will fit the plastic container with room for the measuring spoon. My solution to the mold issue is to go ahead and slice the bread on day three and store individual slices in the freezer and pop in the toaster oven before dinner. Bread is always better warm anyway.

I've been using this yeast over the past year and it's flawless. I mill our flour and make homemade bread for our large family so we go through about 8 lbs. of this per year. It will likely be more now that I'm making our own hotdog and hamburger buns too. We are trying to get away from packaged goods as much as possible and this price is fantastic for 4 lbs. Over half off what I usually pay per brick. Absolutely better than buying the small grocery store jars that I'd been using in the past. Easy to store in the freezer and lasts forever in there. I will absolutely be purchasing more next year. I buy a years worth at a time which will be 3 of the 4 packs. I separate each brick as I open them into small jelly jars with the amount I use in each 6 loaf batch of bread dough that I make. Then I just have to dump the premeasured amount into my mixture as needed. I always keep one jar labeled "Not for bread" to use for anything that I might need a different amount. Keep the jars in the fridge and this system works great for us. I just open another brick and refill my jars again as the last one is emptied. We go through almost 1 lb. of yeast a month so freezing isn't necessary. The unopened bricks are stored in a cool dry place and I use them up before making it to the expiration date. If we start not using as much, I'll start storing them in the freezer.

I was using Red Star you get from Costco or Walmart. I make a 7 cup honey wheat bread and couldn't get a decent rise using the other yeast. I tried this on a whim thinking it's not that much more than a 4oz jar of Red Star and you get 4lbs. I always proof my yeast before mixing it into the flour. This stuff proofs so fast about a minute and I got a 1/2 inch of foam on top!! Amazing! I was a doubting Thomas but now a believer! This stuff is excellent. So far, I've went through about 3/4 of a pound since I bought it a few months ago. We don't buy store bread any longer and with this yeast I'll never buy another loaf from the store as long as I am able to make bread! This brand really reduced my cost per loaf, I can make a 2lbs honey wheat loaf for less than a dollar and it is so delicious.

Cheers

While most of the reviewers probably use SAF instant yeast for making bread, I use it for producing homemade CO2 for some planted aquariums that I own.

I was using Fleishmann's instant yeast which worked well enough, however, it was expensive at about $3.50 an ounce.

I decided to try the SAF instant yeast, and purchased 128 ounces of it for about $30 shipped; which works out to about 23 cents an ounce.

To my surprise, not only is SAF instant yeast about fifteen times cheaper than Fleishmann's, it also produces more CO2 than a comparable amount of the Fleishmann's yeast.

This is an excellent product, and when purchased in volume a tremendous value.