For the past month, yeast has been impossible to find at my local grocery stores. Flour is also a rare score. I had the good fortune to notice one three-pack strip of active dry yeast at a local store just before the stay at home orders went into effect and one bag of flour shortly thereafter. I’m happy that I had the presence of mind to purchase both of those things when I saw them.
My husband doesn’t ask much of me as far as food preparation. The only things he wants on a regular basis are ham & beans and homemade bread. When my yeast supply got dangerously low, I made cornbread for him. He smiled and ate it. Then he asked me to make regular bread the next week.
I was really hoping he would love the cornbread and continue to want it because cornmeal is plentiful around here. Flour is difficult to find, and as previously mentioned, yeast is impossible to find. I love my husband, so I’m doing my best to find the ingredients to grant his request for good old-fashioned white bread.
So, let us ask the burning question here. Where’s the yeast, and who’s devouring the flour?
After a month of searching for more yeast, I gave up and went online. I’d already been trying to buy it from our local retailers’ websites, but it was out of stock and unavailable for order every time I tried. Therefore, I turned to online giants.
All of the yeast in stock on those sites was, in my opinion, over-priced. Some more so than others. I needed it, so I continued to search for the best deal. By best deal, I mean the deal for which I pay the least amount over what I should be paying.
I found an auction with only a couple of bids on a lot of six strips of three active dry yeast packets. I placed a bid and moved on. I then found a Buy It Now listing for a one-pound bag that wasn’t too bad of a deal. I hit the button, paid, and am expecting my bag of yeast to be delivered by Monday.
I was excited about my orders and told my husband that, provided I find more flour, I’d have enough yeast to make his bread, cinnamon rolls, and try my hand at making giant pretzels.
Imagine my surprise when I won the first auction for six strips of active dry yeast. Since there are three packets per strip, I have a total of one pound and eighteen packets of active yeast being delivered next week. That’s a lot of leavening potential. Yes, I paid a premium. Nearly $40.00 for the two orders. The law of supply and demand can’t be thwarted.
Now I’m on the quest for flour. I have enough for one more loaf of bread. I went to a big box store today to see if they had any. Luck wasn’t on my side. No bread flour, whole-wheat flour, or all-purpose flour. They had cake flour, almond flour, coconut flour, and buckwheat flour.
I didn’t buy any of those interesting options because I’ve never used those for bread. If I’m unable to find bread appropriate flour soon, I may go back and buy one of the others. I know there are recipes out there for bread using coconut and almond flour, but I’ve never tried any of them. I prefer to continue to bake my tried and true bread that my husband and I both love.
I received a lead on flour that I’ll explore tomorrow. One of my friends spotted some at a store in a neighboring city yesterday. It’s only a twenty-minute drive, but I think I’ll try calling first. Don’t worry, I stay away from other people and use a lot of sanitizer.
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