Didja ever wonder what you’d do if you didn’t have access to Fleischman’s Dried Yeast?
I do. It IS one of the questions which keeps me wondering. So, being me, I researched it. Turns out that before about 1880, most women made their own yeast! Well…who’da known? Then, of course, I had to try making my own.
I took:
- 1/2 cup gluten free flour (did you know they put flour into those yeast balls? I didn’t…)
- a handful of raisins – think wine here people! The yeast has to come from somewhere!
- the last tablespoonful of the container of Fleischman’s I had in the fridge, which, lately, hasn’t been rising my bread, by the way, hence my wondering…
- 2 heaping tablespoonful’s of sugar
- Enough water to make it all groovy and liquid – about a cup.
Tossed it all in a bowl, threw a towel on top of it and left it overnight. We need to culture the yeast – to make it grow. Doing so, that means we need to feed it; it wants flour, sugars and water and a warm environment. Now, my kitchen, this time of year, isn’t the warmest room in the house. So, the next day, I canned. Yep, you got it, more beans. (Really, who doesn’t need more beans?)
At the end of the day, I took a look at my bowl and was nicely surprised; I had foamy, yeasty goodness! So I added more sugar..another two tablespoons full.
I let it sit for 48 hours longer total, until it had stopped foaming and was creating tiny little bubbles, and poured it out onto a baking sheet covered with Saran Wrap.
Then, it dried for nearly a week. (With only a couple of additional, helpful handprints from the baby.)
Once mostly dry, I peeled it off of the Saran Wrap and turned it over to completely dry. When dry, it went into a bowl, by the expedient method of crumbling it as necessary to fit. Then I took a meat tenderizer and pounded it into granuals. The tenderizer is a wooden antique which looks like nothing so much as a kitchen club, but it fits nicely into my bowl.
At the end, I was left with 2/3’s of a quart jar of mealy looking yeast, which I’ve put into the fridge; yeast lives longer there. I did use some of it to make bread, and it came out great! This little thing is always asking for “Mommy Bread”!
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