Live yeast

[tombear]

Hi all
today herself blagged 2 or three ounces of live yeast from the bakery at the local ASDA for me.

I've not used live yeast since they used to sell it at the Coop on a chip tray under cling film, which dates me somewhat but that by the by.

Anyhoo I remember how to prove it before use but can I grow my own? Like can I increase it and keep it going/live between baking sessions, say twice a week.

any tips gratefully received!

ATB

Tom ( mildly sedated by mash, haggis and fried leeks )

 

[cranmere]

It's tricky to grow your own yeast because it tends to acquire wild yeasts and bacteria that will make it go bad. It's more practical to brew beer or cider and use some of the yeasty froth on the top but that tends to work a bit slower than baker's yeast, and is usually a different variety and has a beery taste (I like the flavour in bread).

It's an EU requirement that any baker which bakes on the premises must provide you with fresh yeast at a nominal price, Sainsbury's charge 16p for however much you want.

 

[tombear]

Well, thanks for that, very interesting especially about the eu directive. Is there something on the net I can show them if they claim they haven't heard of it?

ATB

tom

 

[Bowlander]

I can just see a queue of Marmite employees with empty buckets ready to take back to the factory!

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[Mandos]

I can just see a queue of Marmite employees with empty buckets ready to take back to the factory!

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is this sarcasm as marmite is made from the yeast extract from making beer ?

 

[Toddy]

....sometimes it is. I have had pots made from the yeast from champagne.

M

 

[Robson Valley]

It was many years before I realized that some people bought both their wet and dry yeast in a store.
At home, my mother kept a large glass jar in the fridge with what she called" monster dough."
She'd use what ever she needed for all sorts of leavened baking and replace it with flour, water & sugar.
Essentially a sour dough starter, all sorts of recipes on the internet, none of which I've tried.

 

[Bowlander]

No sarcasm, I thought yeast was yeast. You learn something everyday!

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[Robson Valley]

A lot of yeasts are Saccharomyces sp. I met a guy who does all his baking with a monster dough
starter that he got as wild yeast = pure chance and luck. He could have sold that stuff and was so
tight that he wouldn't share.

Wine yeasts are a mix of a bunch of different sorts, usually with a 14% (or so) ethanol tolerance.

The specific variety of sour dough yeast used in San Francisco has been elevated to species status.
Those breads taste dreadful to me and they stink if toasted.

For decades, I've used a dry, granulated yeast from Fleischmann. Works for everything
from braided breads to pizza crust. I like the baked taste and smell. As bushcraft, if the WX
wasn't too cold, a bowl, a stick and a flat stone by the fire and I think that I could
make bready things without too much bother.

 

[cranmere]

I'll see if I can find it for you, but most supermarket bakeries are happy enough to sell you a bit anyway if you ask. To be honest, the dried yeast packets are pretty good if you can't get fresh.

 

[Robson Valley]

I buy 227g jars of the dry, granulated yeast. I am one happy camper.
Tomorrow, I will bake and bake "bread shots," little bun-things with
queen black olives in the middles.
Maybe I make some focacia herb seasoned fougasse and you all come over
for a glass and some bread with warm butter?
Google McBride and please dress very warmly right now.

 

[tombear]

Oh i use the dried stuff all the time, just when I've @rsed about getting the organic rye, spelt, bere barley , emmer etc to make some supposed period authentic loaf of maslin or whatever it rather seams wrong to use the plastic stuff even intellectually knowing its pretty much the same stuff! I know I should be gliding around a corn field with a bowl of batter trying to get wild spores in a aesthetically pleasesing soft focus sort of way but looking out at the first hard frost of the year I think I have missed the boat on that one...

Before Kids I used to bake twice a week and I'm trying to get back into it so to make it more interesting I've taken to making it a bit more experimental.

cheers for all the input!

ATB

Tom

 

[Rich D]

If you've got an Asda near you with a bakery, just grab the attention of one of the bakery staff and they'll give you some fresh yeast. I've never had to pay for it.
Gives a slightly slower rise than the dried yeast, so theoretically a little more flavor, but in reality I never notice any difference, but it feels more authentic. Some of my bread with a both dry and fresh yeast.
Rosemary and garlic fougasse, dry yeast. The epi was done using dried yeast, but rested for the first prove in the fridge overnight. Bacon, red onion and cider rye bread with fresh yeast. And the rising dough was dried yeast.

I'm hungry now..

 

[tombear]

You and me both! They look great!

Once the house has heated up I will have to try out the bit of live yeast herself scrounged. I must get my head around the timer for the boiler again although I must say the cold concentrates the minds of the kids and they ain't as slow dressing as in the summer.i

atb

tom

 

[Rich D]

your dough will prove if it's cold, it just takes much longer.

 

[tombear]

Yup, it took 6 hrs once, well it hadn't even fully raised, I just gave up after 6 hours and had some very wodgy bread, which we still enjoyed warm with slices of best butter. Ah! Back in the days when indigestion was someone else's problem....

Atb

tom

 

[tombear]

Well i couldn't resist it. Just kneaded 5lb of bog standard strong white for 15 mins, so my flabby arms feel like they are falling off, and used the live yeast. I wasn't going to risk cocking up the fancy ( read expensive to a tightwad like me ) flours on a first attempt in about 15 years with something I'm not used to. Doing a smaller batch seams pointless some how.

Anybroad at 12 I will check how its rising and if its doubled get the oven on and knock it back and get it into tins and onto trays for the second rising.

in the mean time a lb of raw lanolins arrived so I can get on with waterproofing some wool bits I've made and get a couple of teaspoonfuls dissolved in isopropyl alcohol to paint on the period blades to keep the rust off. The alcohol evaporates off in seconds and leaves a lovely even layer. It takes quite a bit of shaking to get it disolved in the first place but its worth it. Trying to rub the goo straight on is a pain and you waste more on the rags than goes on the blades.

ATB

Tom

 

[tombear]

In the end there was 8 lb when I came to fill the tins. We've already eaten most of the two one pounders. It took longer to rise than it should as I was too quick adding the warm water and yeast mix to the hot water/sugar/salt mix before the after had cooled down so some of the yeast ws killed off. Impatience on my part. Still alls well that ends well.

ATB

Tom

 

[cranmere]

I know what you mean. I kept a sourdough culture for some time but I don't bake sourdough often enough to keep it going properly. I do occasionally start a levain the night before I'm going to bake.

 

[British Red]

Piccs or it didn't happen Tom!