Johnliu, maybe one of these tutorials will help you. The one on ciabatta bread is working with a loose dough. I'm no help because I totally suck at shaping bread dough. (BTW, I don't know if it's my computer but I couldn't get the sound to work on the tutorials.) Anyway, they're fun to watch & I hope they'll be of some use to you. Here is a link that might be useful: Back Home Bakery

I agree with "Yes" - sorta. Both will work fine, but I think active dry is more often than not indicated when the recipe simply states "yeast", but there are also other indicators. Because the yeast is proofed in water/sweetener, I would use active dry yeast. When yeast is added to the flour mixture and the liquids added to that, then it is probably a fast-acting yeast (Quick-rise, Rapid-rise, Instant-SAF, or Bread Machine). But as with all the rules for using yeast, they are just suggestions and not necessarily hard-and-fast - just general guidelines. I have recipes where I proof the fast-acting yeast, and I have recipes where I add active dry yeast to the flour mixture and omit proofing first. Modern yeast if pretty tolerant. In fact, the first Instant Yeast products would fail if you proofed it, but because you can't always teach old dogs new tricks, they reformulated so it could be proofed OR added directly to the dry ingredients. Another indicator that it would be active dry yeast is the rise after it's been kneaded. If I were using a fast-acting yeast, after the dough has been kneaded all it requires is a 10-minute rest before forming and you can eliminate the long rise. That's one of the benefits/characteristics of using fast-acting yeast products. Along with eliminating the proofing time by adding the yeast directly to the flour, these varieties of yeast were developed so you could make yeast breads faster by eliminating one rise. For long, slow rises choose active dry yeast. Yet one more thing that would direct me to using active dry yeast is the amount of yeast in ratio to the flour. If you use a fast-rising yeast, I would certainly reduce the amount in the recipe by 25% or expect a jet-propelled fast rise. -Grainlady

I use both Active Dry Yeast and a Fast-Rising Yeast (SAF-Instant) in the bread machine and for recipes I make by-hand. These yeast products are, and they are NOT, interchangeable, depending on it's application - just to complicate the issue for you. I tend to respect the type of yeast called for in a recipe. I also know when a recipe calls for Active Dry Yeast and I use a Fast-Rising Yeast, I should also reduce the amount by 25% or it will rise too quickly. This is especially important in a bread machine because the rise is TIMED, and you can find your bread dough pushing the lid off the bread machine because you've actually added TOO much yeast. The Fast-Rising Yeast products were originally used to make bread quicker by: -Omitting proofing the yeast in water/sweetener. You can cut 10-minutes off right there. You can add the yeast directly to a portion of the dry ingredients. (Don't forget you need the liquid to be warmer than when you proof yeast in water). The water cools quickly when it's added to a bulk amount of dry ingredients, so the warmer temperature is necessary to activate the yeast because it cools during the mixing. Side note... Because yeast has developed over the years, you can also add active dry yeast directly to the dry ingredients, you'll find many recipes that do so. You don't ALWAYS have to proof the yeast first. It's just another option in the world of bread-making. Just remember the temperature of the liquid will need to be higher (125-130-degrees F) than when you proof the yeast in water (100-110-degrees F). -Using a fast-rising yeast you can also omit the first rise. After kneading, you cover the dough and allow it to rest for 10-minutes before forming the dough. After your dough is formed, you allow it to proof to "double" as usual. If you happen to have a Zojirushi Bread Machine, you'll notice in the recipes in the user's manual they suggest one amount of yeast if you use Active Dry Yeast, and another (smaller) amount if you use a Fast-Rising Yeast, when you use the regular cycle. The same information is included in Beth Hensperger's book, "The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook". As the others have shared, a fast-rise is a destination to get bread done quicker, but not necessarily BETTER bread. I have an old recipe for 30-Minute Hamburger Buns and they literally take only 30-minutes from start to baked burger buns. It's enormous amount of yeast in ratio to the amount of flour (6-tablespoons to 10-1/2 cups whole wheat flour = 4 dozen hamburger buns) is what makes it work in 30-minutes. While I've used this recipe when time was an issue, I wouldn't have put the finished product in the County Fair because they just wouldn't stand up to Judging Standards. But the recipe works well for a huge bunch of teenagers over for Sloppy Joes on the spur of the moment. Heck, they'll eat ANYTHING!!!(LOL) For bread in a bread machine that is made on the Quick Cycle in one hour, you MUST use the fast-rising yeast (SAF-Instant, Quick-Rise, Rapid-Rise, or Bread Machine Yeast - which are all fast-rising yeast products), in order to get a loaf in 1-hour. Active Dry Yeast won't work properly on the Quick Cycle. If you ever need to test your yeast (especially if you buy in bulk and don't use it all that often): Use a 1-cup glass measuring cup. Fill it to the 1/4-cup line with warm water and add 1 t. sugar and 1-1/2 t. yeast. Wait 10-minutes. If your yeast is active it should be up to the 1/2-cup line. And always remember... Your bread dough rises according to the strength of the yeast, ambient temperature, and moisture --- NOT according to a clock. The bread dough that rises in 25-minutes in the summer in my kitchen can take 45-minutes in a cold winter kitchen. -Grainlady

Lovemycorgi, those are good books. Linda is right about the instant yeast. There's one kind of yeast sold commercially (sourdough starter is a different organism). The differences are only in the handling of the product. I like ADY because it gives the baker the most control, compared to IDY or cake yeast, but it's all just yeast. :) IDY is just more likely to get played out if you want to do a longer rise, and will puff up faster than other forms of yeast. If you're following a recipe and use the recommended flour, you're unlikely to go wrong. This is where the madness starts. So long as you're happy with your bread, you have absolutely no need to go further, but King Arthur AP and Gold Medal AP will give you different results. :) Not hugely different, but different. :) Re the yeasty taste, professional bakers publish recipes that have extra yeast for the yeasty taste, especially for pizza, but also in other contexts. It may be that the extra yeast creates the equivalent of the over-proofing that Linda mentioned. I've only had over rises on bread a couple of times and it wasn't significant enough to taste yeasty, though I believe Linda that it happens.