Yeast is sold out at many places since it seems that everyone decided to bake their own bread during the corona quarantine. But don’t worry, I will show and explain to you, how to make yeast at home with a few simple ingredients … and it’s not sourdough!
Yeast and Sourdough are not the same!
Weirdly, some people started to call sourdough “wild yeast”, nowadays but that is mostly incorrect. I think it is a mistake to mix these two things up. Although sourdough always also contains some wild yeast, it is mainly a fermented mix from flour and water where lactic acid bacteria are finding a home. You can read all about that in this post about Sourdough and learn about the benefits and uses of sourdough.
Harvest the Yeast Around You!
You’ve heard it: Yeast is everywhere in the air. Now you just need to capture it in a medium and cultivate it. That is actually pretty easy if you can manage to keep the growth of bacteria out. This means, working very clean is key.
I will explain two different ways of making yeast, though I have so far only tried one way myself and the other version is the result of some research. What you will not have – and I just mention that so you will not be disappointed – is a nice cube of fresh yeast as some are fortunate to buy at bakeries or even groceries. However, your homemade yeast will be working just as fine!
Important!
You can’t control the growth of your wild yeast and there is a chance that with the yeast, some harmful bacteria are growing, too.
If you are pregnant or your immune system is compromised in any way, you should not use homemade yeast.
Yeast Water
This is the method that I have tried and it worked perfectly.
- 500 ml of filtered water
- 1 – 2 Dates without sulfur or instead some raisins, fresh apple pieces, or other pieces of fresh fruits or veggies (not banana though!) that are organic and unwashed
- 1 Tsp. Sugar or Honey
- Clean glass Container, Jar or bottle
- Lose lid
Mix the Yeast Water
- Clean the jar with hot soda water (1 tsp. soda on 1 l / 4 Cups hot water) and rinse it with hot water.
- Put the date (or alternative) into the bottle / jar, add the sugar and the water. If necessary, cut the product into smaller pieces to fit into the bottle or jar.
- Close the lid but don’t fasten it all the way, let it a little loose so gas can escape.
- Put the jar at a warm place but away from sunlight.
- Leave the jar there for 3 to 8 days while once a day you open the lid for a minutes to exchange air and release pressure from it and then close the lid, shake the bottle well to get the oxygen into the water. Then untighten the lid again.
What’s next
- After 2 to 3 days there will be bubbles.
- In the next phase, the water will become cloudy and the number of bubbles increases.
- When the bubbles decrease, the yeast water is ready to be used. The water should smell slightly fermented but not like young wine or any kind of unpleasant. If you shake the water, more bubbles should appear.
How to use it
- Take the Yeast water out of the fridge sometime before baking bread and let it reach room temperature.
- You will need slightly more than ½ cup or 100 ml to 135 ml for 500g flour. This will equal 1 package of dried yeast.
- Before using the yeast, shake the jar since the yeast will usually be at the bottom.
- For your bread recipe, reduce the amount of liquid by the liquid you are adding with the yeast water. Example: Your recipe asks for 200 ml of water. You are using 135 ml of yeast water so you only add the remaining 65 ml of water to the dough.
- Be prepared to give your dough more time to proof than usual. The additional time depends on the strength of your yeast water.
How to store Yeast Water
Your yeast water will be good for up to 2 months in the fridge. When you are using the yeast water, try to keep 200 ml and refresh it with a new date, a tsp. of sugar and additional 300 ml of water. Let stand in a shady, warm place for two to three days and either use it or store in the fridge if the previously described characteristics can be observed.
Make Yeast from Potatoes (Grandma’s Yeast Recipe)
- 1 potato (medium size)
- 1 l water (= 4 cups)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. sugar
How to make it
- Boil the potato in the water until it is soft.
- Remove the potato from the water but keep the potato water for later.
- Mash the potato and add the sugar and the salt to it. Mix well.
- Now add some of the cooled potato water to create a paste and mix well.
- Cover with some fabric and set aside to shady area of your kitchen.
- After some days it should be bubbling. If it stinks badly, discard it, this means it has gone bad.
How to use it
Use 1 tbsp. of this yeast instead of 1 tbsp. (= 1 package) of dry yeast.
Store and Refresh it
Store your potato yeast in the fridge.
If you want to multiply your potato yeast, add some flour and a little sugar and water to feed it. Mix well and let stand at room temperature for 2 – 3 days again, then use or refrigerate.
Other Methods to make Yeast
I stumbled across other methods of homemade yeast but they involve ingredients like hop buds and are rather complicated. Why complicated, when easy will do? I like to keep it simple and efficient, that’s why I stick to these two methods. None of the methods I found, will provide you with something similar to store-bought fresh yeast.
Three More Tips
If you still have some dried yeast (doesn’t matter what kind), and are just about to run out of it, then you can use some of that yeast in your yeast water to speed things a little up.
If you are new to making yeast water, start with making two to three batches. If one or even two go bad, you might still have a third batch that worked out. Remember: Working with clean tools is important.
If your homemade yeast is moldy or stinks badly, discard it.
Dear Barbara
I have been wanting the recipe for the ‘friendship yeast’. Is the potato or water yeast that you have similar or the same as the friendship yeast.
I remember many years ago I was given a starter and it could be use as a drink or for making cakes or biscuits.
My question is can your yeast be used for a drink as well as baking?
Kind regards
Rae
I’m not sure but I think your friendship yeast might be sourdough? I don’t know about friendship yeast. My recipe should only be used in baking goods since you never know what else might grow in there and it should be dead after baking. Better don’t make a drink with it. If you are making beer, please use the yeast that is sold for that.
You can make drinks with water kefir … very delicious!
I have had trouble consistently creating a sourdough starter with only all-purpose flour.
Turns out, this “yeast water” is perfect to jump start a sourdough starter. I followed the recipe above, and when the water settled down, I mixed 30 ml with 30 g all-purpose flour for the starter. The starter turned out lovely in no time at all.
Barbara, this is a great idea. I do have one concern, and would like to get your opinion.
I ferment a lot, and a major concern is to avoid growing mold or other unhealthy bacteria. Admittedly, here we are after alcoholic fermentation, and vegetables are fermented using primarily lacto-fermentation, but both are anaerobic processes. In any case, when I ferment vegetables, it is crucial to make sure that no part of the vegetable ever is above the liquid, to avoid areobic processes leading to the growth of undesireable organisms.
I started your yeast water with raisins, due to not having dates around. I notice that they are floating on top, with their tops exposed. It is day 3, and so far everything looks good and smells absolutely wonderful. But I am concerned about the floating raisins. Do you do anything to keep your fruits submerged? A fermentation weight won’t work, obviously. When can I remove the fruit to avoid the risk of bacterial growth? In your experience, does this ever happen or am I needlessly concerned?
I have never used raisins for this, I always use apricots and they only float at the end of the process. Mold is always a reasonable concern and if you see any sign of mold, you need to discard the yeast water. People in India, who contacted me, had difficulties making this recipe because of their climate and no air condition. So, yes, everybody needs to use their best judgment with the yeast water and there is always the possibility that something unwanted is growing. Nobody should try to drink this or eat the dough raw. After baking, it should be ok. If not necessary due to a yeast shortage like last year, I would always prefer store-bought yeast.
My update: The yeast water turned out wonderful with raisins, and I also used it to create a starter, see related reply. I am also currently experimenting with using it as the yeast to start a Kvass (wine from red beets and bread). I decided to put the raisins into a tea infuser to keep them from floating to the top. That should totally eliminate the risk of aerobic bacteria infesting the raisins.
The tea infuser is a great idea!
HI BARBARA,
I’M LOOKING AT YOUR WATER YEAST RECIPE, AND WOULD LIKE TO TRY IT.
I HAVE TRIED MANY TIMES TO MAKE SOURDOUGH STARTER AND HAVE FAILED. I THINK IT MAY BE TO DO WITH OUR WATER SUPPLY HERE IN THE U.K.
EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE A FILTER ON THE TAP, APPARANTLY IT DOES NOT REMOVE THE FLOURIDE OR THE SMALL AMOUNT OF CHLORINE.
DO YOU THINK USING BOTTLED SPRING WATER WOULD WORK OR IS THAT ALSO PROCESSED?
BEST WISHES SIOUX
Hi Sioux,
I don’t know anything about the water in the UK, whether it is store bought or from the tab. But if you take your tab water and leave it in a jar overnight, the chlorine should have evaporated. I don’t know why you have been failing with sourdough in the past, I suggest to not give up. Please read my blogpost about sourdough and watch the video. Also, yeast water is not the same as sourdough. You’ll learn about that in the sourdough blog post. Good luck next time with yeastwater or/and sourdough!
Hi there
Thanks for this tutorial I’ll try it for now and I hope really it works . . but i think you forgot to write the step of adding the sugar and water to the date or fruit!
Love it
Hi..
From à Muslim person
The step you were missing is in step two of the “Mix the Yeast Water”. I hope this will work for you. In some regions, the climate seems to be too difficult to make this.
Best,
Barbara
I just came across your blog. THANK YOU! I too, am one of the new sourdough bakers due to quarantine, and have been keeping away from commercial yeasts but I wanted to find something in addition to sourdough starter to add lift to bread. I will definitely be trying your two methods!
Dear Barbara,
I decided to give it a shot. On day 4, there was significant amount of bubbling. I waited for a few hours and the bubbling subsided. When I opened up, it smelled of vomit. In your opinion, is vomit smell considered bad smell that render the yeast water unsafe for usage? There was no mold growth though. Or should I wait for a few more days or add more fruits and sugar to encourage more fermentation and acid production?
Thank you
Regards,
Moi
Hi Moi,
smelling like vomit doesn’t sound right. Since vomit usually smells sour, it seems that your yeast water has mostly created bacteria that produce lactic acid. It’s just a guess though. Your yeast water should smell like yeast, not like vomit. Make sure you work very clean with the water and the container. But if your fruit is contaminated with bacteria rather than having yeast on it, this might be difficult. Maybe try a packed fruit like raisins? Also, if the environment/climate benefits bacteria growth more than yeast, it might be difficult.
Best,
Barbara
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for sharing.
I live in Singapore which is hot and humid. Would the natural yeasts making method still work? Or are there considerations or modifications that I should take note or make say the temperature or humidity or shorten the number of days to ferment?
Another question is can I use dates or raisins that I have stored in the fridge for the purpose of making the yeasts?
By the way, how do I know if bacteria is thriving instead of yeasts?
Thank you
Hi Moi,
the climate can affect the process and a lot of people who tried it in India, had problems. It might be difficult in Singapore, too. It is hard to tell though if the climate or other factors played into it. Texas is hot and humid, too, but we have air condition everywhere. I would give it a try.
You can use refrigerated fruits.
If your water stinks or grows something on the surface, it is definitely not yeast. Please use your own best judgment and stay on the safe side if in doubt
Best,
Barbara
I grow my all the time in fridge, here is too hot, Also I make yogurt in refrigerator, outside is too hot, and too humid and that helps bacteria to propagate very quickly.
Hi there,
Here is a Norwegian description on how to make yeast on potato. The main difference from the one you have in your blog is that the potatoes are not boiled before you let them gore.
“Gjær
Kan laves paafølgende Maade:
Man tager et par store Poteter og sjærer i smaa
Skjiver, derpaa haves Koldt Vand og Sukker
Hvilket hensættes paa et varmt sted i 2 a 3 Dage”
Translation by me:
*”Yeast
Can be made the following way:
One takes two big potatoes and slice them in small slices.
Then one ad cold water and sugar and
leave them at a warm spot for two to three days.”*
Not very precise, but the potatoes are raw, not boiled in this description. I believe it makes a difference to keep the biological diversity/balance of the raw potato to help the process. I will hope to try the method very soon. At the moment i have a mix of dried apricots, some water and a little brown sugar standing on the bench. Its been there for about four days. Smells and tastes lovely. I will bake a bread with it, and feed the rest with some flour to see if it lives on like yeast or sourdough.
Hi Are,
thank you, this was very informative and interesting!
Barbara
Thank you so much. I tried to buy yeast a month or two ago and couldn’t find any. Thank you for this recipe I will use it in the near future. Thank you.
Hi Im looking for an old german yeast recipe, that a 90 year old lady remembers her mother making. She cant quite remember the amounts used but says it involved the water from boiling potatoes and sugar and Tartaric Acid was added to the water. Can you help please?
Hi Jane,
I was researching yeast making quite a bit during April and lots of them had potatoes and potato water involved. I didn’t find any with tartaric acid though. However, I tried several different of these potatoe methods and couldn’t get any to work. It was mostly, boiling the potatoes, mashing them, adding the potato water and sometimes flour and then let it sit for some days. I was not successful with that. Sorry, I can’t really help. But if you have success with the method let me know!
Best,
Barbara
The lady has now given me a copy of the instructions her mother had written for her of how she was making the potato yeast that she found. Im yet to try it.
Peel a medium sized potato and boil to a mash. Make up to one pint of Fluid. Put in a basin and have till lukewarm. Then add 1 teaspoon of tartaric acid and one quarter cup of sugar. Stir well. Mix a small dessertspoon of plain flour with a little of the yeast and stir it in. Bottle and cork tightly. Works in about 2 days.
It was used making german cake and Streusel ( streudal?)
“Streusel” is correct. Interesting method, let me know how it goes.
Hello there! I came across your yeast water tutorial via YouTube as I was desperate to find an alternative as dry yeast is hard to find now in stores and my stash is running out.
Following your instructions, I’ve used a piece of fresh pineapple (as it was the only thing I had on hand) and was able to observe the same results as you’ve outlined. Assured that I’ve done things correctly, I still have some questions that I hope you’ll have time to answer.
My questions are:
1) When the bubble decreases and the yeast water is ready to be stored in the fridge until later use, do I strain it first to remove the floating fruit?
2) When feeding it (or replenishing) the yeast water after using some of it, it is necessary to use the same fruit (in my case, pineapple)? Or can I used something else that is handy at the moment like an apple, vegetable or dried fruit? And how long should I keep it there? Do I remove it too before re-storing in the fridge?
I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks in advance and also for generously sharing information that is vital to a lot of us home bakers right now. May you and your family remain healthy and safe!
Genevieve
Hi Genevieve,
let’s see if I can help.
1) I did strain mine and I thought it’s necessary but someone commented on the youtube channel that she never strains her fruit and instead leaves it in there. So it seems that both methods work.
2) You can use a different fruit but need to be sure they are untreated. I keep it in there for a day while it’s on the counter and remove it before putting the water back into the fridge, but as mentioned in the first answer, that might not be necessary.
All the best to you and I hope you have successful baking!
Barbara
Hiii!! This has been so helpful. In this crisis I haven’t been able to get yeast so I’m trying your potato yeast recepie, so far everything look right but I have a doubt about how to used, you said to use 1tbs for 1tbs but do I just use the water or do I have to use the potato or both? And can I use it for pizza dough? I would be very great full if you could help me. Thank you very much for sharing your recipe.
The yeast water and the yeast from potatoes are two different ways to make yeast, you don’t use them together. I have, so far, only baked with yeast water and have no personal experience with the potato method. As I understand it, you simply add it to the other ingredients of your recipe. I would be interested to learn how this method works for you. I hope everything turns out perfectly.
Whether you use it in bread dough or pizza dough shouldn’t make a difference.
Best,
Barbara
Hi. Can you use orange or a other kind of juice? I saw someone on youtube making a sour dough starter with pineapple juice. So, I was curious if I could use juice onstead of a piece of fruit to make yeast water. The previous comment is right, yeast supplies in stores are slim to none at the moment. I did find SAF on Amazon for readers looking. Thanks.
This blogpost is about yeast, not sourdough. There is a difference. For making yeast, you can’t use juice. It’s the surface of the fruit, that has the yeast on it.
Hello,
What is “hot soda water”?
Hi Raul,
as described in the parenthesis in the blog post: Clean the jar with hot soda water (1 tsp. soda on 1 l/4 Cups hot water) and rinse it with hot water.
This is to make sure that you are not having any bacteria in your jar. With soda I mean baking soda (similar to baking natron in some countries).
Best,
Barbara
Hi..!
I have made the yeast water. I wanted to know can I use it in any bread recipe? Also do I have to make a starter initially or I can directly use it ??
Thanks
Hi Chitra,
you can use this yeast water on any yeast dough recipe. I am not sure what you mean by making the starter initially or direct using it. Do you mean whether you can make the dough with the yeast water or if you need to make a pre-dough with it? You can use the yeast water directly in the dough but it might not be very poweful and the fermenting time might take a lot longer. It is better for the result to make a pre-dough with the yeast water a day before and use that with the remaining dough ingredients. I hope this answered your question.
Best,
Barbara
Thank you so much for this recipe! I was wondering, will the yeast water be strongly flavored by the type of fruit used? I’m using dried prunes and am hoping my baked goods won’t taste pruney. Thanks in advance!
Hi Karina, There will be no taste of the fruit that you used. … just make sure to remove the fruit before using the yeast water.
Best, Barbara
I tried making yeast water last week as per instructions using an apple.
End result seemed great it bubbled it seemed to have the right smell.
When I used it the dough did not rise at all 8 hours in a warm spot.
I was wondering if I killed the yeast by mixing it in water that was too warm 120 Fahrenheit.
Yes, 120°F is way too hot for yeast. The water should be lukewarm, so barely above room temperature. Sorry your dough didn’t work out. In that case I would make another batch of yeast water, make a pre-dough and mix that pre-dough with the dough that didn’t rise. I just did that yesterday, when a differenty yeast making technique that I was trying, didn’t work out. With the yeast water pre-dough I finally got the dough from the day before rising and got a beautiful bread.
Just making my first batches of yeast water. They are doing exactly what your directions say so that is great. I am wondering if the date is removed when the yeast water is ready to use.
I am so looking forward to using this and hoping for success.
Thanks for your feedback.
Hi Vivian,
the way I learned it, was that the date is removed. However, someone told me that she keeps the date in the yeast water and is doing this already for years like that. So it seems that both ways work.
Good luck with your baking!
Barbara
I am 73..I watched my grandmother make bread only occasionally so details are sparse. We called it sourdough but I’m not sure it was. She kept some of the dough she made on a plate in a drawer in the kitchen and rehydrated it before use in the next baking. Any input on what this was and how to make bread this way? Was not rye flour, plain wheat I think. She immigrated from “the old country”. ?
Hi Therese,
what you describe is indeed a sourdough. You can make it with any flour. I explain how to make it and how to use it in this post: https://mygerman.recipeshow-to-make-and-feed-sourdough-starter/
and you can find several bread recipes with sourdough on this blog. The great thing about sourdough is, that it keeps fresh longer compared to a bread made with yeast. So, take a look at it, it’s really easy and then bake some bread just like your grandmother!
Best,
Barbara
The thought of yeast always scares me
Instant yeast active dry east
Etc some recipes say to let bubble and others say add direct to flour ooh
I am new to baking and pizza making dough
Trust your yeast making will take out my fears
i forgot to ask what is a pre dough, why do you use it and how exactly is it made. Again, many thanks for this post.
This video will answer all these questions: https://youtu.be/g4s9Jpmr6II
Thank you for this tutorial! I have found the comments helpful as well. I have only ever used dry year, so this is all very new – but exciting to me! When you use the year water, you recommend to free it, leave for a day and then return to the refrigerator – do you strain out the date after it sits for a day, before returning to the fridge? Also, how any cups is equivalent to 1 package of yeast or to 1tsp. of yeast? Thank you for your help!
I am assuming instead of “free it” you meant “feed it” and yes, I remove the date before putting it back into the fridge. You can use about 1 cup of yeast water on 4 cups of flour if I just calculated that right. I baked a yeast water bread just yesterday (recipe coming probably next week) and I used about 1 cup yeast water and 1 cup of flour for a pre-dough. And then the next day I used another cup of yeast water for the remaining ingredients and mixed that with the pre-dough. The bread turned out wonderful. “Perfect” as my son said. Proofing time for the dough was 2x to 3x more than it usually takes.
Hi- I started some yeast & added a tablespoon of whey instead of water to jumpstart it but I’m wondering if I inadvertently created sourdough. I used the water & flour method & have continued to add 2 tablespoons of water every day & 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. I plan to make pizza dough. It has a good smell &continues to bubble. I’m not sure how much of my yeast to sub for dry yeast in a recipe. Thanks for any advice, Diane in Houston Tx
Hi Diane,
yes, you have created sourdough, not yeast. However, one can make pizza with sourdough, too. I haven’t made that yet, so I am afraid I can’t help you out with that. Since you are in Houston: I was able to buy yeast at Aldi recently, it might be worth a try.
Best,
Barbara
Hello !!
I’m gonna do this tomorrow, and I have a few questions
Do I need to feed the yeast water cuz you mentioned it, and if so when and how often ?
When do I move it to the refrigerator
While storing in refrigerator, how often do I need to feed it ?
Will this yeast be good for whole wheat breads ?
Hope you will reply soon ◉‿◉
You feed the yeast water every time you used some of it. If you take, let’s say, 200 ml for baking, you add 200 ml of water, add a date or two or something else like a grape or tomaoto … and a tbsp. of sugar. Let it stand at room temperature in a dark corner for a day and then place it back into the fridge.
I recommend using the yeast water once a week or within 10 days so it stays fresh and is fed frequently.
It will work with all flours, just like bought yeast. Only for rye flour you would also/ or instead need a sourdough starter. I would make a pre-dough with it a day before baking, to make it more active.
Hello. Thanks for this great post!! We started the date method about a day and a half ago. So far no bubbles, but it is cloudy, so looking promising. We only had unsulfured pitted dates and used it. Does it matter if the date is pitted? We have a coffee filter over the top of the glass container. I noticed in your video that the date was floating at the end. Our date is not floating. Should we cap the container? Why would the date not be floating?
Hey Yolanda,
it sounds like you are doing everything right. It doesn’t matter if the date is pitted or not. You could even cut it into pieces before adding, what matters is, that the yeast that sticks to it, gets into the sugar water. The date will be floating in the end, don’t worry about it.
Only cover loosely, I should have mentioned that. It can have some pressure in the bottle if you close it completely. Some people use a ballone as a bottle cover but my bittles neck is too thick for that. It can sometimes take a day or two longer than in my video. My house is very warm at 79°F, so these things tend to go pretty fast here.
Let me know how it goes or if you have any questions.
Best,
Barbara
Thanks Barbara. The date is now floating. Me and my son did a happy dance. Out of the recipes you have posted which one do you think would be the best to try and use this yeast water with? Also, I understand that I would just use up to 135mL of the yeast water per 500g flour and maintain total water by subtracting the amount of yeast water from the total water. Do I just mix it up and once kneaded let it rise (I know may take longer)…or do I need to do anything special before using it?
I think I would use this with the wheat bread that I recently posted. It’s pretty easy to make. You got it all right with how to use it. Good luck and let me know how it turned out!
Barbara
My comment and request for help SADLY looks like IT’S been deleted ….
Hey Diann,
sorry I let you wait but every comment has to be approved by me first (to prevent spam and inappropriate comments) and I work my way through a lof of comments these days, approving them in the order they were written. Your comment has been approved and answered.
Best,
Barbara
See other answer / post.
I remember my late Mother speaking of her childhood days and one of their biggest fears was having a failure and losing their yeast bug, as it took quite some time to start a new one. They lived in an extremely remote location only having access to provisions every six odd months or so, if they were lucky.
Sadly I never wrote down the yeast bug recipe nor the feeding method/s or frequency …. however I recall it was started by boiling potato and fed along lines similarish in a way to feeding a gingerbeer bug (excluding the ginger of coarse) say fed with sugar or if any more potato was added I can’t recall. Then she referred to halving the bug on baking day and feeding the bug.
Your (Grandma’s Yeast Recipe) above sounds Exactly the Recipe I’ve been hunting for as Mums yeast bug didn’t mention flour ever being added.
BUT I ask where can i find out how to feed and care for this bug as for me it’s an absolute “Treasure to Find” your recipe.
Your comments and help would be very much appreciated.
Hi Dianne,
I will make a recipe with the potato method soon. It is a little different from this yeast water method but has the same principle. How to feed the yeast water, is explained in this recipe: When you use some yeast water for baking, add another date (or suitable fruit or vegetable) and fill the amount of water that you used to the remaining yeast water. Let stand at room temperature for a day and then put it back into the fridge for the next time you bake with yeast. Never use all the yeast water so you can continue with what you already have.
Barbara
I did the potato starter and after a few days it bubbled up really nicely, but it smelled like vomit. Do I throw it out? Or discard some water and feed some sugar to it?
Not sure if it has gone bad or not. If in doubt, try a new one, maybe with a different vegetable. I would try to use something with a rather uneven surface, it might have more yeast on it. Also, using an organic vegetable or fruit is usually better since they are not treated with chemicals that might have killed the yeast to prevent it from going bad in the grocery.
I also wanted to ask of I could just make a yeast water starter with an almost empty packet of active dried yeast and added sugar that was left over from a 7gram packet. We made pizza and it only needed 5 grams, so I have 2 grams that isn’t enough to use alone.
Yes, you can do that. But feed it, so it will increase. Btw. you can make any yeast recipe with a very small amount of yeast. It only increases the proofing time. Baking with little yeast and a longer proofing time (like cold proofing in the fridge overnight) can very much increase the taste of the baked product.
Thank you. This is fantastic. With the apparent worldwide yeast shortage, the kids and I are testing out a few different methods to make our own and this is the first one we have found for non-sourdough yeast. Love the nice clear instructions and video.
I might come up with another recipe to make yeast with other things, soon. Hope you had success with your yeastwater and made something delicious!
Thanks for this great information. I’m unclear on what to do with the potato water once it’s made. How long do you leave it out before it’s ready to use? Do you refrigerate it? Do your feed it, or start over from scratch every time?
As I mentioned in the post, I have not tried this method, yet, so I can only give the information that I was able to gather on German websites. In general, you can multiply every yeast by simply feeding it with some water and flour and sugar. So I am assuming you don’t need to start over but instead add some flour, water, sugar and let ferment at room temperature again. For storage, you need to put it into the fridge. I always forget that most people have no experience with fresh yeast. In Germany, we can buy fresh yeast at every supermarket and it’s our preferred yeast and we know how to handle it. But it seems that in most other countries, only dried yeast is available. Always store fresh yeast in the fridge. Fresh, bought yeast goes bad after about 12 days (though I have had yeast that was good for longer than that) and I am assuming that homemade fresh yeast is the same unless you keep using and feeding it. But that is just an assumtion.
Hello Barbara!
It is extreme difficult to buy ready-made yeast (both dried or fresh) from the supermarkets here in Stockholm. I usually buy a dice of fresh yeast (50g). You mentioned that 100-135ml equal 1 package of dried yeast. How many grams is a package of dried yeast? 50g?
1 package of dry yeast is 7g … at least here in the US. I guess it is the same in Sweden. In German a dice of fresh yeast from the supermarket has 40g and that is the same amount as two packages of dry yeast. I hope this will help. All the best from Texas!
In Switzerland too: 7g – 1 pack of dried yeast; 40g – 1 cube of fresh yeast (use 20 g per 500g of flour)
how long do you need to leave the potato yeast to ferment before you can use?
will it look the same as fermented date yeast? eg wait for bubbles to dissipate to know it is ready to use?
can it be refrigerated like the date yeast?
I can‘t tell you an exact time but from what I read from others, it takes a few days. I also came across the tip to add a tablespoon of beer. Maybe that makes it faster?
Thank you so much ma’am. That was very helpful.
Now I can try making some bread as here in India, we are not able to get any fresh groceries.
Hope you are safe in these tough times
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Hi Kavin,
I am glad I could help! I’ve heard that in Idia they are very strict with the quarantine. My husband is talking with colleagues in India almost every day. I hope it helps and your life gets back to some sort of normal, soon. Stay safe, so are we!
Barbara