With confinement, many people have rediscovered the taste (and the need) to make homemade bread. It’s true that it’s quite easy when you know the recipe and the tips for making it successfully . However, dry or fresh baker’s yeast is in short supply in many supermarkets. We have two options available to us here if we want fresh bread. First of all, you can make your own homemade sourdough . It’s the most effective, especially since it only requires two ingredients! Otherwise, you can make your own homemade baker’s yeast as a emergency using a few recipes.
Good to know: Have you found cubes of fresh yeast? Note that you can freeze them for later and dissolve them in warm to slightly hot water (but not so much that you kill the yeast) to “reactivate” them. If you have dry yeast, you can also feed it to reproduce. This allows you to naturally increase your stock. Finally, some bakers sometimes give or sell them . However, at this time when they have a lot of work to provide their customers with bread, not everyone gives it, which is understandable. It costs nothing to ask!
1) A recipe for homemade baker’s yeast made from beer
To make it, you will need 100 ml of unpasteurized beer (or cider). If the beer is pasteurized (like many commercial beers), your recipe is less likely to work. So, opt for a craft or Trappist beer for example. This way, the bread will be able to rise better! Next, you need the essential ingredient for any baker’s yeast recipe: sugar to feed the yeast . Here, count one teaspoon of sugar and add one tablespoon of flour. Mix everything and leave overnight at room temperature. If it doesn’t take, leave it for a few more hours. You will get 50 g of fresh yeast to store in an airtight jar.
Credits: Pixabay/fancycrave1
2) Baking yeast made from potatoes
To make it with a potato, choose a medium-sized one that you take care to peel and cook in 4 cups of boiling water. Once completely softened, crush it and add 1 large spoonful of sugar and another of salt. The salt helps preserve the mixture. Let everything cool slowly and add this preparation to the cooking water. Cover and leave to ferment in a warm place . To help the process, you can add a packet of dry yeast. However, it is optional. After a day or two it should have fermented. If fermentation has failed, start again. This is not an exact science and several attempts are sometimes necessary. It’s worth it !
Final tips for making your own baker’s yeast:
Above all, respect the doses of salt and sugar. Indeed, adding too much salt could, for example, dry out the preparation. Also, use clean and sterile equipment . Bacteria can harm your yeast. Finally, last bit of information, baking soda does not replace baker’s yeast. However, it replaces baking powder without problem.