LeSaffre Saf-Instant Yeast, Gold, 1 Pound

Quick tip that took me a while to figure out: the difference between Saf gold and red is actually about sugar content in your dough. Red is for lean doughs with little to no sugar. Gold is specifically formulated for high sugar doughs and enriched breads. If you're making brioche, cinnamon rolls, milk bread, or anything with a lot of sugar and butter, use gold. The sugar tolerance means the yeast won't die off in sweet doughs like regular yeast can. I learned this the hard way after wondering why my enriched doughs weren't rising well with the red label. Switched to gold and the difference was immediate. Consistent rise every time, dough doubles in size in about an hour depending on room temperature. The fermentation duration is predictable which makes timing your bakes so much easier. The taste difference matters too. Properly fermented sweet dough has a depth to it that you don't get when your yeast is struggling against all that sugar. You can actually tell in the final bread. The one pound bag is a lot of yeast. Seems like a big size but it's the right call. I keep it sealed in the freezer and scoop out what I need. Shelf life stored this way is easily a year or more and it stays just as active as day one. Way more cost effective than buying those little packets from the grocery store. Saf is a trusted brand used by professional bakeries so the quality is there.

My mom had a bun recipe she made when we were kids. As adults all my siblings and I have been trying to recreate them but can never get them to rise. I used this yeast instead of the usual stuff I used and they raised so fast! I shared some with my brother and he had great success too. Will be buying this from now on. Also you get a ton for the price! Can't go wrong! Wish I had found this decades ago!

Very reliable and makes baking so much easier. Highly recommend!

This brand has been my go-to for yeast and I recently found out about the gold version - to use with yeasted dough with higher fat and sugar. Works perfectly!

Works great. I store in freezer ands it lasts two years. Repeat buyer.

I really like this gold yeast for my sweeter breads. I paid $5.99 from Metro Distribution Inc., shipped by Amazon. Seems there's a different seller now. Not sure what price others are complaining about but this is a good price. Back during the flour and yeast shortage, I paid > $20 for a pound of red yeast so this is a deal. It came well packaged inside a cardboard box, inside a plastic bag, inside a padded mailer. The yeast package itself was hard as a rock as it should be until the vacuum seal is broken. The expiration date (both on the box and the yeast package) is 01/2022. I had purchased this same yeast from King Arthur Flour 4 months ago for $6.95 and it had an expiration of 02/2022 so this one is not as fresh so only 4 stars instead of 5 but it still has plenty of time left on the clock. I hadn't even realized that there was a date on these packages as it's not obvious but if you look carefully at the seam on the back of the package you'll see small numbers printed vertically that align more or less with the words on the left side of the back of the package for Date of Production, Best if Used By and Manufacturing Lot.

It does its job; the dough rises a lot and becomes smooth.

This yeast is great. I immediately put it in a glass mason jar and keep it closed in the fridge for a long time. Still bubbles quickly in warm water with a sprinkle of sugar.