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Survival Food Series: 3 Ways To Naturally Make Yeast Tess Pennington
Where would we be without the discovery of yeast?   Fresh, puffy bread would be non-existent, and need I not mention the fact that beer, wine and alcohol products would cease to exist. Of course, all yeasts were not created equal. Some yeasts are made for making bread and baked goods, and some yeasts are made for distilling spirits. Knowing ways of making this essential prep would be beneficial to anyone trying to live off of the food supply they have. Grains, vegetables and fruits are three of the easiest ways to find yeast. Some have even used herbs to get their yeast. How Does It Work? Did you know that yeast is actually alive on plants?  As long as it has warmth, moisture, and food to grow, it will stay alive. Fruits, vegetables, herbs, and all edible sources have yeast living on it’s surface. As a result, using different produce will add to the flavor of the bread you make. Simply by soaking the produce in water, you can separate the yeast and use the water it is floating in. The water and yeast actually start the fermentation process that when mixed with flours creates that desirable baked good we love so much. This fermented concoction is also called a bread starter by some. By using this method, however much water the recipe calls for is how much water to soak the fruit, vegetable, herb or grain in. Those that have used this method rave about raisins as being one of the best fruits to use for acquiring yeast. Grains In the book, The Little House Cookbook, Ma Ingalls explains how she ferments her bread dough using what she has on hand,”You start it by putting some flour and warm water in a jar and letting it stand till it sours…”Then you use it, always a little. And put in the scraps of biscuit dough…and add warm water, and cover it and just set it in a warm place.” Because yeast is already present on grains, when combined with water, the yeast will separate from the grain. As a result of the soaking process, the combination will begin to ferment. To create this starter you will need: 1 1/4 unbleached all-purpose white flour 1 cup of warm water Glass jar with lid or piece of cheesecloth Mix flour and water in the jar and let stand until the batter bubbles and rises. This may take anywhere from overnight to a week! Source (p.77-78) *Bonus* Here is another method you could use. Potatoes Wild yeast naturally lives on potatoes as well, making this a popular choice for making alchols, such as vodka. According to the article,”Home Made Yeast: Making and Using Yeast For Bread,” the author states that using potatoes to make yeast starters dates back to 4,000 B.C.! Yeast Starter 1 Boil potato in the unsalted water until done. Drain, but save the water. Mash potato then add sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm, add enough potato water to make one quart of mixture. Cover and set in a warm place and let ferment. If you like, you can add a package of store bought yeast to speed up the process, but it will be just as good if allowed to ferment without the yeast. This recipe is about right for a large family requiring more than one loaf at a baking. Yeast Starter 2 Boil potato, drain and save potato water (unsalted). Mash potato well, and then add potato water, sugar and enough flour to make a fairly stiff batter or soft dough. Keep in a warm place until well fermented. Then put in a wide mouth jar and cover loosely–never use a tight fitting lid. In about five or six days it should be ready. Old-fashioned Light Bread from Everlasting Yeast Starter. In order to make bread from the starter first set the sponge. To do this, use the following ingredients: Yeast Starter 3 1-1/2 cups potato water or sweet milk Get a large bowl and put the starter, potato water or sweet milk (heated to a little more than lukewarm), sugar and enough flour to make a stiff batter. Beat well, cover loosely and set over night in a warm place. The next morning the mixture should be nice and bubbly. If it isn’t, no use going any further. You’ll have a flop! If the sponge is bubbly, take out of this mixture the starter you want to keep for the next time you make bread. Put it in a wide mouth jar and Put in refrigerator. You’ll probably want a lid on it because the odor will transfer to other foods but don’t put it on too tightly. *Bonus* Here’s a quick and easy way to make a potato starter Fruit Yeasts Many fruits can be used to make yeast for bread. Oranges, apples, grapefruits, grapes and even dried raisins all have traces of yeast on them. Using yeasts from fruits will create different flavors to the breads that you make. Skins of fruit can be used as well as cores of apples and even tomatoes. The only fruits that should be avoided are kiwi, pineapple and papaya. These fruits contain actinidin, an enzyme that breaks the dough down and it creates a sticky mess. 3-4 tbls. raisins (or any fresh or dried fruit) bottled water clean jar Place raisins in clean jar and pour bottled water into the jar until it is 80% full. Loosely cover the jar and leave at room temperature. This process should take a few days. You will notice small bubbles and “activity” occurring inside the jar. At this point, all the raisins should be floating at the top. The jar should smell like wine. Once it is done, store in the refrigerator. Tip: Adding 1-2 tbls. of honey or sugar to your mixture speeds up the fermenting process and leads to a better result. Without yeast, our lives would be void of many of our day-to-day products. Getting back to the basics and learning how to make yeast yourself will give you an invaluable skill to hold onto and share with others. Using different produce such as oranges, potatoes, herbs and grains is not only a great science experiment, but a way for you to play around with the flavors of your favorite bread recipes.
Tess Pennington is the author of The Prepper's Cookbook: 300 Recipes to Turn Your Emergency Food into Nutritious, Delicious, Life-Saving Meals. When a catastrophic collapse cripples society, grocery store shelves will empty within days. But if you follow this book's plan for stocking, organizing and maintaining a proper emergency food supply, your family will have plenty to eat for weeks, months or even years. Visit her web site at ReadyNutrition.com. This information has been made available by Ready Nutrition Author: Tess Pennington Related Categories: Cooking, Natural Alternatives, Recipes, Survival Food
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Can you freeze a yeast starter? I was given some starter by a friend once to make Amish Friendship bread, the theory being that you use some of the starter to make your bread, divide the rest, keep half and give the other half to a friend so they can do the same (the starter will double itself if I remember correctly). So, my question then is, will the starter freeze, essentially making it ‘dormant’? If so, making a lot of starter then maybe freezing it in ice cube trays or something similar, wouldn’t be a bad idea.Â
Kat,
Absolutely! You can even freeze yeast and thaw out the amount that you need. Once thawed, the yeast will become active again. There are a lot of people that freeze the yeast water starter (that I discussed in the article) in ice cube trays. It helps them keep a better measurement when they are thawing it out. Happy baking!
Can you do this with a bread machine? How much starter would equal 2 1/2 teaspoons of dry bread machine yeast? It would be a lot cheaper to make my own yeast.
GA Girl,
As far as I know, bread machine yeast and regular yeast can be substituted for eachother in bread recipes. So whatever measurement of yeast the recipe calls for, add the same amount.
From the research that I have done on yeast, the yeast that we buy at the store is essentially the same type of yeast that lives on the fruits and vegetables that were discussed in the article.
The only difference is that bread baking yeast typically has absorbic acid added to it. Absorbic acid conditions the dough.
Start experimenting with making your own yeast and see how it goes! Now is the best time to figure out what works for you. Let me know how it goes!
You can also dry your starter by spreading it thin on a glass pie dish etc. and leaving it in a cool, dry place for a week or two. break it up and store it in the fridge. Warm water to rehydrate and a day or two to aclimate and it’s good as new.
Can you dehydrate yeast with a dehydrator??
Hi Becki,
I don’t believe that you can dehydrate yeast. Yeast needs a certain environment to stay active and dehdyrating it will kill them. Thanks for your comment.
Tess
if you can’t dehydrate yeast, then how to they cultivate yeast then sell it as dry yeast? This blog is very misinformative. I’m gasping as I read some of this stuff… like advising boiling potatoes to use the natural yeast one them (boiling kills yeast), the only way that’s going to work is if your potato gets infected with wild yeast after the boiling – 99% of the time it will get a bacteria rather than a yeast and go nasty. I wouldn’t advice this method. also: “…Some yeasts are made for making bread and baked goods, and some yeasts are made for distilling spirits…” REALLY? you can use yeast to DISTIL spirits? I’d rephrase that…
PS: yeast becomes inactive if dried or cooled. If left without water for about a year, it will die. If frozen in temperatures too low for that strain, it will die. it will most easily die from heat. Most yeasts are comfortable around room temperature, but some can take hotter temperatures.
In the potato example, why doesn’t the boiling process kill the yeast?
@ Muto,
I had the same question! However, from what I can gather, the liquid from boiled potatoes attracts the wild yeast. The liquid yeast and can be kept bottled in a cool place for up to 3 weeks.
I have just started 2 yeast cultures. 1 flour and 1 potato. My question is, after fermentation, do you simply scoop it off the top or use the entire mixture? I have about a half a cup each in a couple of pickle jars. Thanks.
RD, stir that starter up and use a cup or however much you need from the whole mix, not just the “fluff” on top! I read online that if you transfer your starter to a new jar, you can start a new one in the original jar without washing it… the leftover drops will help the new one get going.
Yes, you can dehydrate yeast by make little cakes of starter and drying to small hard cookie shapes. Found this in a book up in Alaska called the “Alaska Sourdough” cookbook. Pioneers if traveling on foot, horseback, or dogsled had to think of lightweight storage and breakage thus the dried yeast cakes. All you have to do to is reconstitute by adding lukewarm water and sit a bit before starting recipe.
Hope you finds this helpful.Â
yeast is a beautiful creature.
Is it okay to use a plastic container instead of a glass jar?
@Andie,
I am not sure whether plastic or glass is better for the yeast. Why not do an experiment and try it in a glass jar and plastic to see which results you like the most.
plastic is fine to use if it is food grade plastic
I have some questions. How big of a jar do I use and how much of the yeast water do I mix with the flour and what about the rest of the water? A little confused but very anxious to learn.
Hi everyone ! I am so happy I found this info. Actually thought about making yeast naturally a few days ago to make my bread experiments, since I am new to baking bread. I made one using barley grains, purified water, sugar like 2 spoons ( I think is was too much though
, the other one I dis with 2 Tbs of bread flour , 1 or 2 Tbs of sugar and purified water. I put them in a glass covered with the plastic wrap. Today was the third day or 4th I don’t know. I think the third, anyway the barley had big bubbles like soap and I used it to make dough. I didn’t warmed it up in the microwave or stove because I was afraid to kill it. I made the dough and is resting . I don’t see it rising yet. I did a small piece in the oven just to see if it raises but it didn’t since I just let it rest for about 20 minutes lol! But the taste was pretty good. The flour one has small bubbles so yesterday I added barley grains and today was bubbling more but I want to make sure that really bubbles up so I don’t get my usual hard like a rock bread. Thank you for giving me an advice to make soft crunchy bread by hand and using the starters. is it okay what I did? Thank you. Much love for all the bakers.
Yes, Ruby…there is a lot of good information here! You are right about being careful not to kill the yeast with too much heat…I believe anything over 120f …am sure someone will correct me. ha ha It does take much longer for the dough to rise…I sometimes set mine on the stove over a pan of hot water and it works for me…some people preheat their ovens to 275 degrees and turn it off…then put your bread in…you really can’t rush the rising process…but you do need to keep the dough warm so the yeast will stay active. Good luck & let us know how it turns out!
I have never tried boiling the potatoes to make a starter…but my recipe for makeing the potato yeast bread…says to pour boiling water over raw potatoes and let set overnight…using the potato water to make the sponge. This recipe was handed down to me from my mother and grandmother who were pioneers in OKlahoma and Texas…in the 1860′s/70′s.
Oh! I forgot! And they added a handful of HOPS!
HI Everyone, this is the recipe I used for my potato yeast starter Ingredients:Â 2 large potatoes boiled, 2 cups white flour, 4 cups water, 2 tablespoons active dry yeast, 2 tablespoons white sugar.
Directions: Cover potatoes with 4 cups of water, cook until tender , Pour 3 cups of potato water into bowel set aside, Peel and mash potatoes until smooth. cool potato water to room temperture. In blender place flour, yeast, sugar and mashed potatoes, add lukewarm potato water blend till smooth.
Proofing(fermenting) Place starter in 1/2 gallon glass or plastic container, cover container with plastic wrap and pierce with fork to allow gas to escape. Place in warm draft free ares 2 to 3 days; stir several times daily(do not let your starter rise above 95 degrees). After the 3rd day refrigerate and cover with tight lid (not metal) until ready to use. (do not stir your starter with a metal spoon).Â
Feeding your starter: for every cup removed from your starter you will need to add back to starter 1 cup flour, 1 cup lukewarm water and 2 tablespoons sugar. Let stand 12 hours or overnight at room temperature before refrigerating again.Â
I have made some very delicious white and wheat bread with this starter.
Warning: if your starter turns purple, grows mold, or has a very bad odor toss it do not use.
Use your starter at least once a week and feed it to keep it fresh or it will go rancid.
I also tryed drying the starter at room temperature it did not take, will have to experiment with that a little more. Â
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I forgot to mention that you need to bring your starter to room temperature before making your bread.
Cathy: Do you have the complete recipe for the bread, using your yeast starter? I am starting my yest starter , but am confused as to the ration of starter in a recipe. I always use the same recipe for making my white or wheat bread, however i am sure the ratios are a bit different using the starter?
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here is the recipe I use for regular white bread using commercial yeast:
1/2C milk
3TB sugar
2Tsp salt
3TB butter
2 packages dry active yeast
1 1/2 C warm water
5-6 C flour
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How do I substitute the yeast starter into this recipe? If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Thank you.
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I want to mate starter yeast, please advice me thank you
@ Swapan,
It depends on what you want to make the starter yeast from. In the article I suggested three different ways of catching the wild yeast. Try each out to see which method is best for you. The first yeast starter I made was with raisins. All you need is 3-4 tablespoons, a jar and some bottled water. Allow it to sit undisturbed for a few days. When you begin seeing bubbles or activity then you know that your yeast cultures are present.
Best of luck!
Tess
to make starter yeast, how i shall make it, advise thankyou
Thank you for this. I love learning how to be less dependant on commercial sources. We have 7 Herman the German Friendship cakes growing on our dining room able at the moment. Ahhh Yeast!
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can you use instant potatoes
Robin,
I wouldn’t use instant. I believe those will not have an adequate amount of natural yeast one them. You might want to stick with the real ones.
Thanks,
Tess
Can you use the ame yeast for brewing
Joe,
You can, but brewer’s yeast is preferred in making wines and beers.