| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Nicky cigreen |
yeastso there's some sort of national yeast shortage. I looked in the cupboard - turns out we are good for gelatin if anyone needs some
and yes, I know about the sourdough natural yeast thing. what I was wondering though, if you had just one packet of fast acting yeast could you activate it. feed it and grow it and make more of the same type of yeast? or would it end up full of wild yeasts anyway? |
| sean |
Dunno. Ours was horribly out of date when I needed it this aftternoon and didn't seem prepared to do anything when encouraged with water and sugar.
I'm going to need to go to the yeast shop early next week. If I can buy some I'm happy to post some of it to you. |
| Nicky cigreen |
that's kind of you - but I think I am going to go down the soda bread route, if needs be. thanks anyway
also I have some all purpose yeast that I use for making elderflower champagne so if push came to shove. and you have a yeast shop? |
| tahir |
we also have a yeast crisis, was thinking along the same lines how to increase your yeast stock at home |
| Nicky cigreen |
I thought maybe if you activated it, the fed it along the same lines as sour dough, it might work? Though other wild yeasts might join in |
| Mistress Rose |
You would also need to dilute it every so often as otherwise the alcohol content would build up and kill it. I suspect the fast acting yeast won't continue to be as fast acting, as the tiny granules may also contain nutrients, or it might run out of energy or something, but if you can try it with a tiny amount, might be worth a go. |
| Slim |
This looks like good instructions https://www.instructables.com/id/Stop-Paying-for-Yeast-Make-Your-Own/ |
| dpack |
if at first it seems dead , persist a while.
when you add fresh or freshdried yeast to a starter there are billions which become 2x billions >4x billions etc if the starter you use has only a few viable yeast it goes few>2 few>4few and so on until eventually you get to the billions point and then it only takes a couple of generations for lots. a bit like epidemiology
in those terms yeast has an R2 and a doubling rate of about 15 mins at the optimum temperature/media for that strain,20 to25C is a fair bet for bread yeasts, wine a bit cooler.(they will grow faster a bit warmer but so will a load of unpleasant things and if there are more of them than the yeast they will dominate. ie from inoculation with a small number of viable yeast most of the time to build up a useable population the mix will have very few active cells and will seem "useless" until enough generations have happened it is the last couple of generations that you want for raising breads. once you get one going, it is easy to use 3/4 for baking and dilute/feed the rest for next time or keep a blob of dough in a cold place and use that as a new inoculant for the next starter. a nice thing with yeast is that Gt is very temp dependant, full speed at 30C and a Gt of 15 mins, at 10C Gt might be as low as 2 hrs and at 1C days or some will have "hibernated" ,they form a rather neat coating that protects the live bits and suspend their activities until times are better suited to their needs. i have found life in some very unpromising yeasts that were well out of date, in open sachets etc. |
| sean |
Nah, gave ours ages and it really wasn't doing anything. Also none to be had in town. |
| dpack |
Nah, gave ours ages and it really wasn't doing anything. Also none to be had in town. |
dead at a guess.
a damp bowl, dusted with flour. outside will collect a variety of wild ones in a few days.
culture and select from there in.
when you add fresh or freshdried yeast to a starter there are billions which become 2x billions >4x billions etc
if the starter you use has only a few viable yeast it goes few>2 few>4few and so on until eventually you get to the billions point and then it only takes a couple of generations for lots.
)