The background: I baked bread a couple of days ago, and I was out of yeast, so I borrowed a couple of packets of Fleischmann's Instant Yeast from a neighbor. I'm used to dry active yeast, which requires two risings. My neighbor told me that with the instant yeast, she kneads for only five minutes instead of ten, skips the second rise and shapes her bread right after the first. I tried it her way, and I have to admit, it was the weirdest bread I've ever encountered. Even though the dough ended up smooth and elastic, the resulting bread was noticeably sweeter than my recipe, and it had a texture closer to cake than to bread.
The question: When using instant yeast, how many rises are needed to make a non-sweet bread? Do I have to stick with just one, or is it permissible to use two rises with this yeast? Definitely it needs more kneading, as my neighbor's recipe didn't form proper gluten chains, but should it have the second rise as well? Will something bizarre happen if I use two rises instead of one with instant yeast (asked as if this wasn't bizarre bread in itself)? Or should I just refrain from baking bread until I can get some proper — read: dry active — yeast?
Best Answer
You should still use two rises if that's what the recipe calls for. The main differences are that instant yeast does not require proofing, and you can use a bit less of it because more of the yeast is viable.
The full article is behind a paywall here (https://www.cookscountry.com/how_tos/6140-yeast-101), but here's a short excerpt summarizing the substitution (instant and rapid-rise yeast are the same thing):
And, though you refer to active dry yeast as "proper," I find I get better and more consistent results with rapid-rise yeast. And a pound of it is really inexpensive at my local grocery store, too. It keeps for months in the freezer.