Dried Yeast Dried yeast has almost completely replaced fresh or cake yeast for the home baker.
Years ago, dried yeast required re-hydrating before mixing, and the home baker had to take great care to use the correct temperature of water so as not to kill the yeast.
These days, most dried yeast does not have to be hydrated, and it is best to follow the directions on the package.
Frankly, even when the package says to mix directly into the flour and water, I always make a small poolish or slurry to dissolve the yeast and to make certain that the yeast is active.
I make this slurry first thing while I am organizing the kitchen and all my ingredients, and this mix is generally ready to go after 10 or 15 minutes.
Salt Salt works in two ways in the dough.
Salt imparts an important flavor, and without it, bread is very bland.
Secondly and more importantly, salt lends strength to the gluten and reinforces its elasticity and extensibility.
Unsalted dough exhibits little strength, tears easily and is most likely to collapse when going in the oven.
Is there a big difference between kosher and regular salt? The answer is no, except that the bigger grains of kosher salt mean that a tablespoon of Kosher salt will weigh less than a tablespoon of regular, more fine grained table salt.
Bakers always weigh their salt, and a dough should have 2 percent salt based on flour weight.
Teaspoons and tablespoons are very imprecise measurements, but most recipes seem to function.
If your bread is too bland or too salty, be certain to make changes in your measurements, adding or decreasing the salt in small increments.
Regarding sea salt, Himalayan salt or regular salt, many people want to believe that the quality of the salt makes a difference in the flavor of the final bread.
In all the blind taste tests that I have heard about, no taster has been able to identify breads made with a particular salt.
But if you have a favorite salt, by all means use it!