I'd think too hot water would just kill the yeast. Since the recipe did turn out, it sounds like the yeast is active. It may just be not enough water to have the consistency you're used to. That's a lot of yeast in a little water. If you're using a rich recipe like that, you can put some of the milk in to proof the yeast if there's no other water.

I use bulk yeast only. It is always somewhat sludgy but stirs right up with a finger and always works. I keep much of the yeast frozen and a small jar in the fridge.

And, perhaps I'm confused, but I thought no-knead was for slow over night rise with super low yeast weight; not double strength rapid rise.

Last weekend, my yeast acted up like that (sludgy) when I made my usual bread recipe.

This weekend it did it again, using just 1/4 cup water and 4.5 tsp yeast. It was for an overnight rise in the frig. I threw the sludge out, and tried again, and it was fine.

I'm definitely concerned, and it's a waste when I throw it out. I'm thinking of talking to the people at the bulk store, but I thought I'd get some advice here, first.

Why are you bothering to proof your yeast?? That's so old school from the days when we used cake yeast that had a very short shelf life.
Just mix the yeast with the dry ingredients and continue with your recipe.

Old habits die hard, Linda, but I'll try it your way on the weekend! I'll make a physical note so that I don't forget.

I also gave up proofing yeast a long time ago, about the time I started using the Zojirushi for kneading dough. I figured if I didn't proof it for the bread machine and it still worked just sitting there on top of the flour, it would work in the bowl. It does.

Sludge sounds disgusting, though, LOL.

Annie

Well lindac, I don't do it for proof, but to generate a very fine suspension of cells rather than leaving a couple hundred encrustments that presumably take longer to be evenly dispursed as they slowly get suspended. I do use a bread machine, but haven't used it in delayed mode for 15 years. Perhaps grainlady has a logic for why a slower (or perhaps longer period of) initiation could be useful; but speed and a better mix sound good to me.

I thought it was only bread-machine, aka instant yeast that didn't need to be proofed. It was my understanding that active dry yeast needed to be proofed.

Jasdip, I never use bread machine yeast, I just buy the active dry yeast for about $5 for two pounds at Sam's Club or Costco. I use it for all my bread. When I first started using it, I wondered how it would work. It works fine. I don't just use bread machine recipes either, I use any recipe I want and they've all been fine. I use the machine to knead the dough only, then I shape and bake in the oven, I don't like the crust on machine-baked bread.

As for dissolving or proofing, several bread baking blogs and even King Arthur Flour says no dissolving or proofing of active dry yeast is necessary, apparently the granules are smaller than they used to be or something.

Annie

I do as Annie does....and have done that for easily 10 to 15 years. Just buy whatever is in the big bags at Sams. haven't proofed yeast in years....and I make bread or rolls easily once a week on average....perhaps more often. made a 4 loaf batch today. baked 2 loaves and took to friends,2 more loaves in the refrig to bake another day.

Forget the fine suspension of cells stuff....if you do a stretch and fold after mixing and again after another hour or 2....your yeast will be fine.
Believe it....don't over think the yeast/bread thing....it makes itself, just bring the ingredients together.

It's the instant granules that are different, but the active dry yeast will activate in the dough too, especially if you're not looking for a particularly quick rise. I proof my yeast for challah because that's the way I've always done it (back to the days when cake yeast was superior), but I don't for anything else, and the ADY works fine. When substituting ADY for IDY, you do need to proof it, besides adjusting the quantities, because the recipe relies on it bubbling faster. You should also proof it if you think it might be too old (i.e., maybe dead). :)

1. How much flour is in the recipe? The reason I ask is because 1 pkg. of yeast will proof in 1/4-cup of water (between 110-115°F - take the water temperature with an instant read thermometer for accuracy), but the "sludge" was because there wasn't enough proofing water. Proofing yeast is supposed to dissolve it, not merely wet it. So depending on how much flour, you may need to use 1/2-cup of water for 2 pkg. of yeast, or there is one package too many for the amount of flour in the recipe. Was the dough well-hydrated? If not, then the author may have made a mistake. If the dough was well-hydrated and worked well, it may just be a break-the-rules-and-it-still-works recipe.

2. For whatever reason/s the author/s of the recipe determined to break away from typical practices, the yeast "sludge", adding warm milk/eggs/butter is problematic as well. All that fat in those ingredients can coat the yeast and prevent it from doing it's "magic". I would also make sure the milk/eggs/butter mixture is at least 110-115°F. Be sure to warm the egg.

3. This just might be one of those crazy recipes that works in spite of - or because of - the non-traditional method.

4. To test yeast (especially when you buy it in a bulk bin or haven't used it for a long time) for it's activity level:

Fill a glass measuring cup to the 1/4 c. line with warm water (between 110-115°F) and add 1-1/2 t. of yeast and 1 t. sugar. (NOTE: Always add yeast to water, not water to yeast. The pummeling the yeast gets from having water dumped on it can actually kill some of the yeast.) Wait 10-minutes. The mixture should be up to the 1/2-cup line if the yeast is active. If it won't double the bulk of the proofing water, then it won't double the bulk of your bread.

5. If you decide to add the yeast to the flour, you need to increase the temperature of the liquid ingredients to 120-125°F because it loses temperature quickly in that bulk amount of flour. Most recipes that add the dry yeast to the flour generally start with only a portion of the flour (1/2 to 2/3), not the total amount, but there are always exceptions to the rule. If the temperature of the liquid being added to the flour is too cold, a substance called glutathione (the same destructive substance found in the wheat germ) will leak out of the yeast cells rapidly in cool water, causing your dough strength to be weakened.

Yeast is funny stuff....it's alive and grows. Say you take 4 cups of flour and 1 1/2 cups of water....and add 4 teaspoons of yeast....about what 2 packets would be. Mix it up and let it sit in a warm ( 70 degrees) place and it will double in about 1 1/2 hours.
But you take another 4 cups of flour add 1 1/2 cups of water and add 1/2 tsp of yeast, allow to sit in a warm place and it will also double....but it will take longer.
I am currently using yeast that expired 2 years ago....it says on the bag. I found it in the back of my freezer, put a spoonful into some warm water with a little sugar....and by golly it foamed up....so I added it to my flour and I have been using it ever since.
I don't worry about increasing the temperature when adding yeast to flour, and it makes lovely bread....
Mostly I mix my bread dough in the cuisinart and the friction of the action of mixing it raises the temperature....so much that I always add cold water...very cold....so I don't over heat the dough and kill the yeast.

I'm going to put a link to the original recipe.......a Taste of Home with all positive reviews.

It does call for 6.5 cups flour, warm milk, egg and melted butter and the 1/4 cup water and 2 packets of yeast. It's a no-knead, refrigerated recipe. Some people said that they didn't refrigerate it at all, and others said it rose in 2-4 hours in the frig.

I made 1/2 into rolls and the other half into a loaf of bread. I didn't care for the loaf of bread, so it became croutons. I always have trouble rolling my pie crust into a circle, and my bread dough was no different. I had a heck of time making crescent rolls, as my dough wasn't a circle. Sigh.

Icebox Butterhorns

No help on the yeast issue, but butter horns are my "go to" dinner roll. To make a circle, I start with a flattened, round ball of dough and roll from the middle in every direction, evenly, like the hands going around a clock.

I don't know how it would work with yeast dough (which I find easier over all than pastry), but the Perfect-A-Crust molds, plus plastic wrap, make pies, especially with alternative doughs (whole wheat, no wheat), a cinch. Maybe not plastic wrap for yeast dough--I think it needs a board to grab to, or a textured pastry sheet. You could cut out a piece of plywood or foam core of the right thickness and diameter, and cover with parchment paper, or at least use a marked surface to roll your butterhorn dough on.

In truth, I think the secret to rolling perfect circles is the same as the secret to making puffed ribbons (wrapping, not baking) or rolled hems, or any number of other things. By the time you've done a hundred crappy ones, they all start coming out well. The issue is spending enough time and effort to get through that many crappy ones. :)

No help with rolling nice circles although I've had good luck using a Silpat type pastry guide. But add me to those who do not proof yeast. And I successfully use active dry yeast for everything including bread that is baked in a bread machine.

But maybe I'm a special case because I reduce both salt & yeast quantities by half in order to cut sodium content. Although I'm careful to make sure I reduce the yeast as much as I reduce the salt, I'm always worried about overproofing if I choose to bake in the machine. The slower working active dry yeast seems to keep the dough under control while rising and baking in the machine. If I'm going to shape the dough manually, then it doesn't matter. I just let the machine do the kneading and rising as long as it isn't a large recipe.

If your dough is cold and "rested" it should be easy to roll.

I totally suck at trying to roll dough in circles, too. The tortillas I made the other day looked like they failed the Rorschach inkblot test. Forgeddabout crescent rolls! Have wondered if a tapered rolling pin would help me with my issues. I've been using a marble pin with handles.

Ci_Lantro, I use a tapered rolling pin, which doesn't automatically assure pretty, round pie crusts. At least with pie crusts, as long as it's big enough to drape over the edges of the plate to trim, it doesn't matter what shape it is. Your inkblot description is perfect for what my pies roll out like.

Linda, I didn't say it wasn't easy to roll.......my pie crusts are. They just aren't round. Neither was my bread dough to form my crescent rolls.

Well, OK. And darn. I'll just cross 'tapered rolling pin' off my Amazon Gadget Want List.

Ci_lantro, I've used everything from a wine bottle up, and the main thing with a rolling pin is that it be comfortable. Cool and comfortable is even better, but I find the marble ones and the ice water filled ones awkward to handle. I have small hands, though, and that might be why. I love my regular ball bearing one with the handles, but my most favoritest is just a thick oak dowel (2.5"d?). It's made as a rolling pin, and has measuring marks and all, but it does the trick. For bigger things, I got a 20" steel cylinder fondant roller (from Amazon!), but I've only used it a couple of times. and don't have a good read on its merits yet. Perhaps something like that would be just the thing for you? You can chill it in the fridge, and whichever way you're rolling, the rolling pin is wider than your shape.