I would think the fresh yeast would have a more pronounce "yeasty" taste and smell than dry. But because fresh cake yeast is pretty much absent here in the South, I don't think I have ever used it. Well, maybe one time in over 30 years of breadmaking.

You could perhaps decrease the amount of dry yeast used and see if that decreases the taste and smell of the yeast that you object to. Your breads will take longer to rise both in the bowl and formed into loaves, but that allows for more development of the wheat flavor which is a good thing -- if you have the time for that slower rise.

Teresa

If your bread tastes "yeasty" you are over proofing it....pop it into the oven before it rises to the point of making alcohol!
Let it rise until it's a little less than double.
The kind of yeast you use makes no difference at all....you are allowing the yeast to grow too much and that makes for the yeasty taste.
Linda C

I agree, use a bit less yeast and see if that helps and watch how long you let the bread rise.

I can get a rise with less yeast, but it takes longer. Fortunately my family loves that "yeasty" flavor, so much that I add extra on purpose.

Annie

Hmm, the recipe I just used called for an overnight starter using 1/4 tsp of yeast, then 2 hours rise the next day (after adding the other ingredients), then punch down and another hour rise, and then shape the loaf and let raise again for 40 mins or so. Is that too much proofing?

Teresa, the only place I've found fresh yeast here in TX is at Albertson's, if you ever need any you might try them. :)

I agree with Linda C. If you are using bakers' yeast, not fresh cake yeast (which has a more yeasty taste than dry bakers' yeast), it sounds like you are over-proofing the dough at one or more stages of the development, AND/OR, you aren't doing a good job of punching the dough down after the first rise.

Get a dough-rising bucket so you will accurately KNOW how much the dough has risen. I get my dough-rising (aka food storage) containers from the local restaurant supply store, but the link below will show you what they look like.

When I pat 1-quart of dough into the dough-rising bucket and snap the lid on it, it's the perfect environment for rising dough. When the dough has risen to the 2-quart line, I know it has doubled in bulk. No more guess work, playing peek-and-boo under the cloth covering the bowl, and guessing exactly what IS double when dealing with a slant-sided bowl. The straight sides of the dough-rising bucket, as well as the graduated markings on the side will allow you to see exactly how much dough you place in it, and to double that amount to know when your dough has doubled in bulk. I generally use a 2-quart size container (up to 2.5-pounds of dough), but have several sizes for larger recipes.

Because today's flour is no longer bromated, it no longer has the extensibility it once had, and allowing dough to rise to "just under double" is best.

Dough doesn't rise to the clock, but rather to the strength of the yeast used, the ambient temperature, and the amount of moisture in the dough and humidity in the air. Your dough may double in 25-minutes, not that one hour listed in the recipe. If the temperature is cold, it may take much longer than the recipe suggests. Rising times in recipes, as the flour amounts, are just a good (or bad) guess based on traditional amounts, or what happened in the test kitchen.

Are you using the correct size pan for the amount of dough? Many times people use a 9x5-inch QUICK bread pan for 1-1/2 pounds of bread dough, which isn't enough dough for that pan size (it holds 2-pounds of dough). This allows for too much rising time (over-proofed dough) to fill the pan that is too large for the dough amount.

Another mistake that leads to over-proofing is allowing the dough to rise more than double in the pan - even when using the correct size pan for the amount of dough. You never allow the dough to rise to the height you want the baked loaf - that's over-proofing it.

The log of dough is approximately 1/3 the size of the finished loaf. You allow it to double in bulk in the pan, and that represents 2/3 the size of the finished loaf. Oven-spring, the amount the dough continues to rise after it it's in the oven, accounts for the last 1/3 of the finished loaf size.

Jumbo Loaf - 10x4-1/2-inch - 4-5 c. flour - 2# plus dough

Quick Bread Loaf - 9x5 - 4 c. flour - up to 2# dough

Standard Loaf - 1-1/2x4-1/2 - 3 c. flour - 1.5# dough

Med. Loaf - 7-1/2x3-1/2 - 2-1/2 c. flour - 1# dough

Punching dough down not only de-gasses it, but it redistributes the yeast. If done incorrectly, you can have pockets of yeast which could account for a yeasty taste.

How to: With an oiled fist/hand, gently punch down through the center of the dough. Then grab the dough at the outside edge and pull it into the center. Do this all the way around the dough. You have now essentially turned the dough inside out. The warmer inside dough is now to the outside, and the cooler outside dough is inside. Once the dough is punched down, turn it out onto the counter/board/Silpat (whatever you use). Divide the dough, if necessary. Round the dough (form it into a tight ball), to keep the gasses from excaping through the ragged edges and get the gluten strands smooth and going in one direction. Then cover the dough ball (I use plastic wrap, then use the same piece to cover the panned loaf) and allow it to sit 10-15 minutes to relax the gluten strands before forming.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: King Arthur Flour - Dough Rising Bucket

I wonder if using a wild-yeast starter instead of regular yeast would smell less yeasty?

That's one of the things I love about home-made bread and rolls. That yeasty smell just appeals to me.

jude

If you followed your recipe and used the type and amount of yeast called for.......why worry about it! Does it taste bad?

That smell is just proof that it is freshly made, homemade bread.

Grainlady, the deflating may have been part of the problem. It just said to deflate the dough, and since I am sort of a bread novice, I just poked at it and then let it rise again, I didn't knead it again. These are free-form loaves, it suggested to let them rise for 40 mins after shaping. They didn't appear to rise too much, but the dough sure did during the second rise, more than double.

lisbet, I am trying to duplicate the store artisan bread which has a lovely crust and does not hardly smell/taste like yeast, which we prefer. I was wondering if that CAN be duplicated at home, and if so, how.

don't let it rise so much during the second rise. Bread doesn't rise by the clock, but when it's risen....and really beat on it before that rise.
Linda C

Jessica, thanks for mentioning wild yeast starter. I'd never heard of it but googled it, and it looks worth a try.

Lindac, I will beat the heck out of it next time. :o)