{"id":312807,"date":"2025-11-23T04:12:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T04:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/recipes\/category-a-b\/bread\/the-slow-lazy-method-with-instant-yeast\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T04:12:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T04:12:00","slug":"the-slow-lazy-method-with-instant-yeast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=312807","title":{"rendered":"The Slow Lazy Method with Instant Yeast"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The 2020 blog post Slow Lazy Sourdough Bread<\/a> revolutionized how I and many others think about sourdough starter maintenance and dough rising, essentially proving that faster \u2260 better. Extra slow can be less stressful and<\/em> beautiful and delicious. I tend to use this method around holidays when I have a lot of other food projects but want fresh bread too, and this year I made a how-to video that you can watch here<\/a> (much of it applies to yeast as well).<\/p>\n

[Jump to recipe<\/a><\/span>]<\/p>\n

While working on the video, I kept wondering if I could do this slow lazy method with instant yeast <\/strong>and just how little yeast should I use to use to get a 24-hour room temperature first rise of a dough. So this week I tested using very small amounts of instant yeast and found that in my cold winter kitchen (65-68\u00b0F) using 1\/16 \u2013 1\/8 teaspoon, the dough doubled in 15 hours. At that point, I shaped it and let it proof both on the counter and in the refrigerator, adding another 9 hours to the process. Of course, this last stage of rising could have been shorter if all at room temperature or longer if all in the refrigerator. The quantity of yeast for the 15-hour dough is shown below in a measuring spoon, spread on a plate, and dissolving in water.<\/p>\n

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50:50 bread flour and whole grain hard red spring wheat flour<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Incidentally, when I tried to stretch the first rise longer, using even less yeast (see photos below), the dough only expanded a few millimeters in 24 hours. Without yeast (or lactobacillus) proliferating in this dough to crowd out other microbes, I didn\u2019t want to extend the time at room temperature much longer; I was concerned mold might form. To rescue this stalled dough, I dissolved one teaspoon instant yeast in a small amount of water, worked it into the dough, and had a loaf baked up within about four hours.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n
\n\t\t\t\tJust a few yeast granules\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n
\n\t\t\t\tRescued after 24 hours\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n
\n\t\t\t\tA bit overfermented\/proofed\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n


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My thinking on the amount of yeast for this method is that using about 1\/16 teaspoon (at the low end of the suggested range) would likely stretch the first rise to near 24 hours in cold kitchen temps like mine (under 70\u00b0) \u2014 or yield a 12-hour rise in a summer kitchen. I found that somewhere in between 1\/16 and 1\/8 teaspoon provided good timing in my currently cooler winter kitchen.<\/p>\n

Note about Flour Selection and Applying this Method to other Recipes<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I used bread flour and fresh milled whole grain hard red spring wheat flour in this recipe, but this method works with any bread recipe as long as it is \u201clean\u201d (flour, water, salt) because additional fat, sugar and protein would further inhibit the yeast activity and change the timing. Also you might not want to use this method if the only<\/em> flour in your dough is a really enzymatically active one like einkorn or rye, because protein breakdown might happen over such a long process.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n