book, we found a couple of informational sections that looked important: the section about yeast. and the section about how to measure flour.The yeast section explains, "Instant yeast can be added to the dough along with the other dry ingredients, no dissolving necessary. A third type of yeast, rapid rise, is inappropriate for these recipes." So apparently, contrary to what many websites and other books said, there is a difference between instant yeast and rapid rise yeast. We had used rapid rise in the pretzels, when it had called for instant yeast. Clue #1.
The other section was a little paragraph hiding in the front of the book about how to measure flour. The book states, "Use a fork or spoon to vigorously fluff up the flour in the bag or container that it's in. This, of course, incorporates air into the flour, and air is one of nature's very best leaveners, and a powerful one to boot. Then dip a flour scoop or spoon into the container and sprinkle the flour into your dry measuring cup. This will assure that you don't pack in the flour - a certain path to dry, hard, crumbly bread or cookies and so on. Take the edge of the flour scoop or the flat edge of a knife and level the cup." Clue #2.
So there we had it - the reasons for our pretzel fail. We set off to Safeway to buy some instant yeast, but wait! They didn't have any! They only had active dry and rapid rise. This sounded like a problem for the King Arthur Baking Hotline! I called the hotline and told them what had happened, and that I couldn't find any instant yeast at the grocery store. She told me to buy something called "bread machine yeast", which should give me much better results.
So we tried again. This time we used the bread machine yeast and fluffed the flour. Then we sat back and let our mouths water with visions of pretzel-deliciousness while the dough was supposed to rise. BUT, you guessed it - it didn't rise. A fourth batch of pretzel dough thrown into the trash.
Still determined to make the pretzels, I emailed the baking hotline and told them the whole story. Once again, I got the same response: bread machine yeast and how to measure flour. But, I do want to share with you exactly what Frank at the hotline told me:
Currently there are 3 types of yeast on the market:
1) Rapid Rise/Quick Rise: These are proprietary strains of yeast designed for only 1 strong rise. This type of yeast can not be proofed. We do not recommend this style of yeast.
2) Active Dry: This is a dried yeast that requires proofing before incorporation into the final dough.
3) Instant/Bread Machine: This is a dried yeast that is added directly with the flour. It can not be proofed. It is designed for traditional multiple rises.
He also said, "When a whole wheat recipe has difficulty rising, the first thing to review is how the flour has been measured. Because whole wheat flour contains bran, having the correct water: flour ratio is essential. All of our recipes use the sprinkle and sweep method. You will find an explanation and video of the method here. If a dough is too dry, especially a whole wheat dough, no amount of yeast will be able to budge it."
I really appreciated Frank's response, but I had to tell him that we had basically done these things, and just weren't up for trying the same recipe again, unless he could see some other obvious thing we were doing wrong. He told me he had always had success with this recipe.
This recipe is not whole grain, so I won't be making it (at least for the blog). I have found another recipe that looks more promising, so stay tuned for that one!
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