Making Your Own Yeast

Yeast is a hot commodity lately, it's no where to be found in the supermarkets. There is a way to make your own yeast using fresh or dried fruit and even potatoes will work. This does take a few days to get the yeast going. Watch The Video

Creating yeast water couldn’t be easier, simply combine fruit and water, and you’ll be ready to bake naturally leavened bread in about week. Yeast is all around us, all we have to do to harness it's power. When you create yeast water you are harvesting the yeast that naturally occurs in fruit and vegetable skins or pulp. Avoid using mango, pineapple, kiwi and papaya. these fruits contain a protease enzyme. This enzyme destroys protein and inhibits gluten development.

Supplies Needed:

• 34oz jar glass is best but plastic will work
  
• Funnel

Recipe: From PJ Hamel at King Arthur Flour

• 500g (2 1/4 cups) of water (tap water is fine)
• 50g (1/4 cup) of granulated sugar
• 2 dried dates (pitted or whole)
  

Note: You can use other fruits like organic raisins about 1-2 T. Also different types of sugar would work, even molasses or honey.

Directions:

• Add the fruit, water and sugar to the jar and screw the cap on the jar. Shake vigorously to dissolve the sugar. Loosen the cap a half-turn and put the bottle somewhere warm 78.8°F is optimal. I put the bottle on my freezer or the top of the hot water tank would work in my house.
  
• Shake the bottle twice a day for 4 days. Unscrew the cap daily to let out any pressure buildup, screw it back on, then shake well.
  
• By the end of 4 days, the water should be frothy on top, and you’ll definitely be able to smell the fruit fermenting.

Day 5: Add the following to the bottle:

• 1 dried date
• 5g (1 teaspoon) salt
• 20g (1 1/2 tablespoons) granulated sugar
• 400g (1 3/4 cups) water

Shake the bottle vigorously to dissolve the sugar. Put it back in its warm spot, and shake twice a day, uncapping and recapping each time, for 4 more days.

Baking

• Each bottle of yeast water will yield about six average-sized loaves of bread, minus the 200g you need to save for future loaves.
• Use the yeast water instead of the water or liquid in the bread.
• It may take longer for your loaf to raise, that will depend on the amount of the yeast water used and the strength of the yeast in the water.

Save 200g yeast water plus add the following for future use

• 700g tap water
• 35g sugar
• 3.5g salt
• 2 dried dates
• Shake twice a day for 2 to 3 days, until the yeast water is foaming nicely. Strain out the dates, and store water in the refrigerator.
• Yeast water makes a bread with mild, rather than an assertive sourdough tang. This can be a pro or con, depending on your personal taste.
  

Pros

• There’s very little upkeep; once yeast water is made it can live in the refrigerator for up to a couple of months without being fed.
• Yeast water isn’t fed with flour and there’s no discard; so you’re not throwing away flour, as you might with a standard starter.

Cons

• Since there’s no discard with yeast water, you don’t have the chance to make a lot of yummy recipes that call for sourdough starter discard.
• Making a starter with yeast water takes longer: up to around 16 hours, as opposed to around 6 to 8 hours for a standard sourdough starter.