Can I Use Pizza Yeast For Bread?

Have you ever found yourself in the kitchen, craving the aroma of freshly baked bread but only having pizza yeast on hand?

In essence, it is a type of fungus used for making bread. It should work for other types of bread products if it works for one? In a way, yes, but in a different way.

There is a reason why pizza yeast is called pizza yeast. The yeast here is intended to make pizzas, not bread, but can it be used for bread making?

Take a look at this example: you have some pizza yeast sitting in your cupboard. You want to make a delicious homemade loaf from it.

Do you think you can do it? Yes, you can use pizza yeast for baking regular bread. Why does the jar warn you against it?

Can Pizza Yeast Be Used For Bread?

When making bread, you can substitute pizza yeast for dry yeast. The pizza yeast can successfully raise dough and give you good results despite not being designed for bread baking.

According to the directions on the jar or packet of your pizza yeast, it should not be used for baking bread. Many people, however, have tried and succeeded at making bread using it.

The regular yeast will produce better bread, but pizza yeast can still be used to make bread.

You can use pizza yeast for your bread if you have it lying around. Shape can be a problem if you make something complicated.

Bread dough made with pizza yeast will relax much more easily. In order to give the dough some support when rising, you might want to use a loaf pan.

Since pizza yeast is a type of instant yeast, it must be converted if a recipe calls for active dried yeast. In the end, yeast is yeast.

In order to make rolling pizza bases easier, manufacturers add a little extra something to the pizza yeast.

Timesaving is the biggest advantage it brings. Leaving your regular yeast dough to rest will provide you with the same benefits.

Understanding Pizza Yeast

As with bread machine yeast, pizza yeast contains additives that speed up its work. The product also creates a weaker gluten stricture, allowing it to stretch more easily.

This means it’s suitable for most straight doughs with a single fermentation, but not for no-knead doughs. There is simply not enough staying power for long fermentations. There’s nothing wrong with that.

You can use any common, direct dough recipe to make enriched or lean dough. There should be no problem. Due to its formulation with dough relaxers, enzymes, and other additives, pizza yeast will not produce a gluten-rich dough.

In that case, it’s best to use loaf pans, as they have sufficient support when the dough rises after shaping (after proofing).

If it normally takes 60 – 90 minutes to double, check the status at 45 minutes to determine where it is. The initial fermentation and proofing will probably take less time than specified in a recipe made with regular yeast.

What Is The Difference Between Active Dry Yeast And Pizza Yeast

Home bakers most commonly use active dry yeast. In both cases, the additives make a significant difference.

A conditioner holds the dough together in a mass, while a relaxer ensures it stretches.

Making bread with pizza yeast is certainly possible, as is making pizza bases with active dry yeast. You will need to let the dough rest for a few minutes before you start rolling the base out.

Difference Between Pizza Yeast And Regular Yeast

It is easy for us to be cynical and believe that the yeast manufacturers aren’t telling us they are different, so we buy two different yeast products. Is there a need for only one type of yeast?

There is a yeast species listed in both baker’s manuals (saccharomyces cerevisiae), but we are bakers, not biologists.

Because of this, it’s not immediately apparent what the difference is from the packaging. In spite of that, there is a difference between the two products.

To create the iconic pizza base shape, pizza yeast contains dough conditioners that help the dough stretch and shape more easily.

It is essentially this difference that makes the two types of yeast different. The dough made using regular yeast will pull back after being stretched, whereas the dough made with pizza yeast won’t. Not as much, at least.

Is Pizza Yeast Essential To Make Pizza?

Pizza yeast contains additives that make it easier to shape the dough into pizzas, especially if the dough is added just before baking.

Can pizza be made without pizza yeast? Sadly, no. Pizza yeast provides a much more relaxed dough, but resting it for ten minutes before shaping is possible.

The gluten is able to relax as a result, which allows it to stretch easier. Using a long 2-day fermentation recipe will also improve the dough’s extensibility. In Italy, this is how pizza is made authentically.

There is no need to use any other yeast for making pizza due to its name being referred to as ‘pizza yeast’ by amateur bakers.

The use of pizza yeast isn’t necessary when making tasty pizza. Compared to pizza made with regular yeast, it’s more likely to taste bad.

In regular yeast dough, you let it rise once before dividing it into smaller dough balls and letting them rise another time. The dough will develop texture and flavor as a result of the yeast doing their work.

Making pizza with pizza yeast is supposed to be very quick. It isn’t going to add much flavor to pizza dough since it can be made from nothing in 30 minutes.

By fermenting the dough for a longer time, regular yeast breaks down the molecules in the flour and allows the flavors to develop more complexly.

In addition to dough relaxers, pizza yeast also contains added ingredients. If you don’t have much time, it’s not really necessary to use them even though they can make shaping your dough easier.

Simply letting the dough rest for 5-10 minutes will suffice instead of using dough relaxers. You will have an easier time shaping the dough because the gluten will relax on its own.

Depending on how tight it feels, you might need to rest it for a few minutes more before shaping it again.

Can Fleischmann’s Pizza Yeast Be Used For Bread?

Regular yeast does not rise as quickly, does not combine the ingredients in the dough as well, and does not stretch as smoothly as Fleischmann’s pizza yeast. Because this yeast isn’t just yeast, it’s easy to shape into pizza discs.

Making pizza is easy with this dough conditioning yeast. The dough can still be used for bread as long as no double rise occurs. Once you put it in the oven, you’ll likely get a larger oven spring than you would with ordinary yeast!

Final Words

The bottom line is that pizza yeast is just regular dry yeast with a few extra ingredients, so you can still use it at home to make good bread.

Using this product will not affect the taste or texture of your dough. It will only relax the gluten a bit, which may result in a different dough feel.

It might sound great, but for those who want good pizza, pizza yeast is a bit of a gimmick.

It might be worth making if you’re just looking for a quick and easy pizza that you can make at home in no time.

Since I prefer a long fermentation in my dough, I won’t use it for bread or quick pizza. As for yeast, I’ll stick to fresh or active dry yeast.