A bit about Yeast .

I had a opportunity to make quite a few doughnuts this week . I am not too much used to handling yeast given the weather conditions here.

I just thought let me get a clearer picture about various types of yeasts available in the market.

I have worked with fresh yeast in the past and tried the active dry yeast for the first time. But it worked just fine for me .

Here is a small detail of what I found about yeast.

 

What Is Fresh Yeast?

Unlike chemical leaveners like Soda bi carb or Baking powder, yeast is a living organism from the same family as mushrooms. It is made of a single-celled organism called saccharomyces cerevisiae. This organism multiplies rapidly when fed sugar in a moist environment. It is mostly sold as dried dormant granules, known as active, instant, or rapid-rise yeast. Dried yeast has a long shelf life and can be stored at room temperature.

Fresh yeast is sold as a block of fresh yeast cells that contains about 70% moisture and is commonly used by baking professionals. It’s pale beige in color, soft and crumbly with a texture similar to a soft pencil eraser, and has a stronger yeast smell than dry yeast.

 

If you want a conversion of dry yeast to fresh it is somewhat –

2+1/2 tsp of dry / active / rapid rise yeast equals to 19 grams of Fresh yeast .

Which is somewhat half, Coz dry yeast is more potent and concentrated.

 

Using Fresh Yeast

To use fresh yeast, crumble it into small pieces first. After that, you can add it to the dry ingredients or soften it in warm water and proceed with the recipe. Fresh yeast is great in breads that require a long, slow rising time, as it activates more quickly than dried yeast and also stays active for a longer period of time.

 

Types of Yeast

There are 3 types of yeast commonly available, fresh yeast, active dry yeast and fast-acting or instant yeast (rapid rise). Fresh yeast will only last a couple of days in the fridge but can be frozen for up to 3 months (defrost before using). Active dry and instant yeast can be stored in a cool dry place until the ‘best before’ date on the packaging. Fresh yeast and active dry yeast granules need to be dissolved in some warm liquid along with a little sugar to get them working and should be left to stand for 5 to 10 minutes, until bubbles start to form on the surface of the yeast mixture, before adding to the other bread ingredients Instant yeast comes in the form of very fine granules so can just be added directly to the flour and mixed in along with the other ingredients. The advantage of the Rapid-Rise Yeast is the rising time is half that of the Active Dry and it only needs one rising.  Though this is an advantage, you do sacrifice some flavor and texture by speeding up the rising process as the yeast does not have time to develop its own flavor.  Also, Rapid-Rise Yeast is a little more potent than Active Dry Yeast .

Is Brewers yeast the same as Bakers yeast ?

No. Different types of yeast are used to make different types of beers and wines. But bakers yeast is different from those all.

Uses of yeast

It is used in baking as a leavening agent, where it converts the food/fermentable sugars present in dough into the gas carbon dioxide. This causes the dough to expand or rise as gas forms pockets or bubbles.

What is nutritional yeast

Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast, often a strain of S. Cerevisiae, which is sold commercially as a food product. One big benefit of nutritional yeast is that it is loaded with vitamin B12, which is deficient in many people. Aside from B12, nutritional yeast is also a complete protein it contains other B vitamins, is low in fat and sodium, is free of sugar and gluten, and contains iron.