I too have been looking for a place to buy bulk baker's yeast, since I
decided to get back into bread baking. Years ago I used to buy
Fleischman's (I'm pretty sure it was Fleischman's, anyway) in a can, a
little bigger than a 1 pound coffee can. That was in Idaho, and I think
I paid about $6. Now the "best" I've found are those little brown jars,
4 oz. obscenely priced at $5.29-$5.49 here in Tucson. (In comparison,
when I was buying the big cans, the little jars were something over $2--
that was probably about 15 years ago). Anybody know if yeast is still
sold in those cans, or know of a source?
And while I'm at it, I want to agree with Bev about rice cookers and
breadmakers. They just seem to complicate pretty basic processes, and I
just don't see the point, though if people enjoy them, that's great. But
I have limited counter space, for one thing, and I find the contained
violence of kneading bread dough quite therapeutic, for another. I use
the old basic yeasted bread recipe out the the old Tassajara Bread Book,
making 4-5 loaves at a time, depending on how big you make them. Bread
freezes beautifully; once I took a loaf out of the freezer in the
morning, dropped it off at the county fair in the afternoon, and won the
blue ribbon! Making one loaf at a time in a bread machine actually seems
more labor-intensive, and not as much fun. On the other hand, I can't
imagine how we lived without microwaves, food processors, blenders, etc.,
(or computers, for that matter, though I know I did) so I'm not a complete
Luddite, honest. Just wanted Bev to know she's not alone out there :-)
Vicki
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Victoria Modarresi Dept. of English
vmodrsi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx University of Arizona
(520)621-1836 FAX (520)621-7397 Tucson, AZ 85721
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