Update on Yeast Making

I was reading & enjoying your blog today after seeing you at the Denver County Fair. I did a quick search on the internet homemade dried yeast and found these recipes. Some but not all call for adding actual yeast into the recipe. I found three distinct sources and there are probably more. I included each of those links before the section that was from that site because the sites usually included photos which didn’t come through when I clipped and pasted this into your comment section. I hope this helps and happy gleaning. I’m currently doing peaches froma neighbors trees. He has eight which is way too many so I’ve been enjoying making use of his excess.

http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/sp79i.htm
HOME MADE YEAST
MAKING AND USING YEAST FOR BREAD
by Patsy Watts, Photography by Mary Schmalstig
________________________________________
Generally when one mentions yeast, aromatic loaves of fresh homemade light bread come to mind. And so they should. Aside from acting as a leavening agent in bakery products, yeast is also the ingredient responsible for the tantalizing aroma that arises during baking.
Though probably today the most commonly known and used are store-boughten packages of dried yeast, there are several other different kinds. The recipes that follow show two examples of different ways to make yeast–dry yeast cakes made from hops and an everlasting yeast “starter”–and also how the yeasts are used in making bread.
The dry yeast cakes are made in part by boiling the blossoms of the hop vine. These flowers contain a fragrant yellowish oil called lupulin. The use of this oil as a preservative in beer and as a narcotic drug originated in Germany before Charlemagne. Since then its use has become wide spread and the vine cultivated in other nations, including America.
The hop vine is related to the hemp and mulberry plants in the nettle family. The plant itself is twenty-five to thirty feet in length with rough lobed leaves and flowers that grow on catkin clusters. It is quite possible that many people in the Ozarks have never seen a hop vine, because although some Ozarkians have had limited success cultivating it, it grows best in sandy coastal regions.
Recipes for making yeast from hops have been passed down from mother to daughter for generations. Many women stopped making yeast in the late 1800’s when it became readily available in stores, and consequently stopped teaching the art to their children. None of the staff’s mothers knew how but not everyone’s families have adopted the use of the commercialized product. Ella Dunn, one of the few who has kept alive the tradition of making yeast, told us one way to make it and Mary Scott Hair was kind enough to send us some hops. With written instructions from Ella and our fingers crossed we chanced making the yeast cakes on our own. We had a few let downs and difficulties but we at least ended UP with a product that made bread, so apparently we did something right.

[46]
Yeast Cakes from Hops
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup potato water
1 cup flour
1 cup dried hops
2 Tbsp. sugar
4 cups corn meal (approx.)
1 dried yeast cake (optional)
Boil 3 or 4 peeled potatoes in unsalted water. When done, drain the potatoes and mash them well, but save the potato water to use later. Cover the hop blossoms with water and bring to a boil. Drain off the water and save it, too. (Ella’s mother dissolved a dried yeast cake left from her last batch into this water as a booster.)
Put flour in a pan and slowly stir in the potato water you saved. Be careful not to use too much water. Mix slowly so that the flour won’t be lumpy. If the mixture is too liquidy it might be necessary to cook it until it is a thick paste-like dough.
Add mashed potatoes and sugar. Mix well and then slowly add the hop water until you have a medium soft dough. Let rise double. Then punch down and work in enough corn meal to make a stiff dough. Roll out the dough on a board to about 1/2 inch thick and cut into cakes. Let the cakes dry, turning them often to make sure they dry evenly. When you think they are good and dry, hang them up in a muslin bag for a few days to make sure they won’t mold. After this you can store them in fruit jars or however you wish.
We followed this recipe using the called for amounts of ingredients and found it made two large pans of yeast cakes. Whereas this amount would be fine in a large family where bread is made often, it was much more than we needed. You may want to cut it down some, especially the first time you make it.

The hop vine (above) originated in Germany and was popular with Pepin the Short, father of Charlemagne. The cone-shaped female blossoms contain a yellowish oil, lupulin, which is useful as a narcotic drug, as preservative in beer and in making yeast cakes. (by Doug Sharp)

Of course, yeast isn’t much use unless you bake with it. This is Ella’s mother’s recipe for making bread from the dried yeast cakes:
[47]
Bread from Hop Yeast Cakes
1 quart warm water
2 yeast cakes
1 Tbsp. sugar flour (about 10-12 cups)
1 cup melted butter
1 Tbsp. salt
3 Tbsp. sugar
Crumble the cakes into the water, add one tablespoon sugar and put in enough flour to make a soft sponge. Beat the mixture until it is very smooth. Let this rise over night. The next morning add butter, salt and remaining sugar and work in enough flour to make a smooth dough that doesn’t stick to the hands. Knead well. (Ella’s mother made her work the dough for an hour.) After kneading leave dough in a warm place and let it rise double.
Grease the bottoms and sides of the baking pans. pinch off dough for the loaves. Air pockets make bubbles in the bread when it is baking so try to knead the loaves Well. My own mother uses packaged yeast when she makes bread, but even so she always names each one of the loaves after my brother, sisters and myself and then “spanks” us as an extra precaution to get rid of air pockets.

Metal reacts with the acid in both the yeast and bread dough to spoil the flavor. For this reason use wooden utensils and some type of non-metalic bowl.
Another way is to twist the loaves. After forming the loaves, lay them in the greased pan and turn them over to oil the tops of the loaves, too. Then let them rise double again, and bake at 350°F for about an hour Or until the top is golden brown.
Ella said, “The German way to tell when a loaf is done is to touch your nose to the top of the loaf. If it doesn’t burn your nose, it is done.!’
The second type of yeast everlasting yeast starter–is a living yeast that must be kept alive by regular feedings or use. It also must be stored in a cool place. This is one of the oldest known yeasts, dating back to 4000 B.C., and is actually more widely used than the dried yeast Cakes in spite of the added difficulty of preserving it. Often women found it necessary to make bread as many times as twice a week to keep the starter alive. But even if the starter did die there were many ways Of making a new one. The following recipes were shared with us by Mary Scott Hair, or better known to many as Samanthy.
Everlasting Yeast StarterRecipe No. 1
one medium potato (peeled)
4 cups water
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
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 “boughten” 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.
Recipe No. 2
one potato (about the size of a large hen egg)
3/4 cup potato water
2 Tbsp. sugar
flour
[48]
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 StarterIn order to make bread from the starter first set the sponge. To do this, use the following ingredients:
Starter
1-1/2 cups potato water or sweet milk
1 Tbsp. sugar
flour
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.

The recipe for making yeas cakes from hops calls for cornmeal to stiffen the dough. White cornmeal was added to the cakes on the right and yellow cornmeal to the ones on the left. Although their appearance is quite different, their use and results in bread making are the same. Now you are ready to make the bread dough using the sponge and the following ingredients:
2 cups potato water or scalded milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. melted shortening
flour
To what remains in your bowl after taking out your starter, add unsalted potato water or milk, salt, sugar and melted shortening. Add enough flour to make dough that will handle well. Beat until the batter can’t be beaten, then turn out on a well floured board and knead until it is soft and smooth. Put in well greased bowl, cover with some type of cloth and let set in a warm place until the dough has doubled in bulk. Punch the dough down and pinch off your loaves. Shape and put into pans. Let your loaves rise double or until they almost reach the rims of the pans. Bake in moderate (350°) oven for about 45 minutes. When done turn the loaves out of the pans at once and grease sides with butter or shortening. This recipe will make two small loaves or one medium size loaf and a pan of rolls.
We discovered that both of these yeasts are much slower working than commercial yeast. If you are used to using the store-boughten product, be sure to allow enough time for the dough to rise.

http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/on-the-trail-of-homemade-yeast/

When I posted this photograph from my Treasure Trove cookbook of a recipe for homemade yeast, I got a number of requests for the recipe. I was interested in the recipe, too, but sharing it wasn’t that simple. I had to decipher its meaning, track down its origins, and uncover its mysteries first.
Way back in the yonder mists of time, at some point people discovered there was this stuff in the air that worked magic to create goodies like bread and beer. I talked about capturing wild yeast in this post. In a nutshell, get a big jar or bowl (non-metal), 1-1/2 cups of warm water and 2 cups of flour. Stir it up good then let it sit undisturbed while you “catch” natural micro-organisms from the air. You can cover it with a mesh material, but be sure that it will allow air into the container. You need the fresh air. Let it sit for three or four days–if you have bubbles on the surface, you have yeast! If the mixture isn’t bubbling after three or four days, dump it out and start over. You might succeed on the first try or you might have to make a few attempts before getting a good mixture going. Alternatively, you can use “pre-captured” yeast from the store to start your sourdough. A sourdough starter is kept in a liquid form and has to be tended (fed) regularly. (You carry on feeding a mixture started with wild yeast the same as for a mixture started with store-bought.)
When our great-grandmas were baking bread, commercial yeast wasn’t available the way it is today and they made either a liquid yeast (similar to sourdough starter) or their own dry yeast, the benefit of the dry yeast being it didn’t have to be tended. For a dry yeast similar to what we commonly use today, they made a thick starter concoction, rolled it out, and cut it out in yeast cakes of a comparable size to what is in a packet of store-bought yeast today. (Sometimes they crumbled it–then just measured it out from there, the way we use bulk yeast.) At some point, they had to start with capturing their own wild yeast, but the effort (and potential failure) of that process would have made it so it was in their best interest to carry their yeast from batch to batch using a little of the old batch to start the new and thus avoid having to capture wild yeast as much as possible. They were scrubbing laundry on washboards and they didn’t have time for that. They needed to make sure they had yeast for their bread every day. And so this recipe isn’t so much about “making” yeast as it is about “extending” yeast post-capture. (You can’t actually “make” yeast–you have to get it from nature. Or get it from someone who got it from nature for you, such as Fleischmann’s.)
Whether you begin with capturing your own yeast from the air or use some store-bought yeast, that’s your starting point from which you can carry on your yeast forever. The recipe in the Treasure Trove book assumes you have some yeast to begin with (whether you captured it wild or not). The purpose of the recipe was to carry on the yeast. In the effort of deciphering this somewhat mysterious recipe (clearly written by someone who expected everyone to understand the basic principles, which many of us don’t today), I searched down numerous homemade yeast recipes. Every recipe was different in the measurements and sometimes in the ingredients. People made what they could make where they were, and everyone developed their own process that worked for them. This led me to the conclusion that it was not only okay but in keeping with old-time practice to develop my own process based on my best understanding of the recipe I have and what is available to me where I am.
Various ingredients were used to enhance fermentation in these old recipes, such as hops, peach leaves, and potatoes. The particular recipe I’m working with here uses peach leaves and potatoes. As it happens to be February and peach leaves aren’t available to me at the moment, I had to figure out what the peach leaves were about anyway. I constantly found peach leaves used interchangeably with hops in different recipes. Hops provide fermentation, flavoring, and a preservative quality.
As a result, I decided it was okay to leave the peach leaves out, at least for now as I have no peach leaves in February. Starting with store-bought yeast, I know I have a strong yeast at hand and I shouldn’t have trouble with fermentation. The flavoring seems inconsequential (or at least something I can do without under the circumstances), and as for preservation, yeast can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. With modern-day appliances at our disposal, we don’t have the same preservation concerns as our great-grandmas. That said, I’m going to tell you how to use the peach leaves if you have some available to you, and I intend to try it with peach leaves when I have some.
Here is the complete (and I use the term complete loosely) recipe as it appears in the book:

The instructions leave something to be desired, as do some of the measurements. How much water? In comparing this recipe with others (and this was a smallish recipe), I came to the decision that I needed 1/2 cup. I had to make decisions on a few other points as well as so many details were left out of this recipe. By the way, what is a handful of peach leaves? I would guess around 1/2 cup. A packet of yeast at the store is what I call a scant tablespoon. You can either use three packets of store-bought yeast or use three scant tablespoons of bulk yeast. (Don’t worry about the scant part. Go ahead and use a tablespoon if you want. It won’t hurt anything.) You can also start by capturing your yeast wild–get your starter concoction going then use 1/4 cup of that in this recipe in place of the dry yeast. (I’m just making my best guess here, though, as I haven’t tried that. You’ll have to experiment.)
Some of the old recipes include salt, some don’t. The one I was using didn’t, so I didn’t add it. As a side note, there are also various old recipes that used buttermilk to start yeast. I might have to give that a try sometime, too.

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How to make Homemade Yeast:
1 large potato*
a handful of peach leaves–if you have them
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
3 cakes yeast (3 scant tablespoons or 3 packets–don’t use rapid-rise)
2 cups cornmeal
*How many potatoes you’ll need will depend on the size of your potatoes. I used one large potato. You want to end up with one cup of mashed potatoes.
Slice the potato thinly and boil. (IF USING PEACH LEAVES–boil the peach leaves along with the potato.) Strain the potato water into a bowl and set aside. (Remove the peach leaves, if using, at this time and discard.) Mash the potato with a small amount of the potato water and measure out one cup.

Place mashed potatoes in a large bowl and add the flour, sugar, ginger, and yeast.

Pour 1/2 cup of the reserved potato water over the mixture. Stir just enough to get everything mixed together. What you should have now is something akin to a pancake batter.

NOTE: Be sure to let the potato water cool to the temperature you would use if combining water and yeast when making bread before adding it to the bowl. Water that is too hot will kill yeast. If you don’t trust yourself to the fingertip test, use a thermometer. The water should be about 110-115 degrees. Set mixture aside to rise.
While the yeast mixture is rising, spread two cups of cornmeal in a large baking pan and dry it in a low oven for about an hour. Keep an eye on it–you don’t want it to brown, just dry.
When the yeast mixture is good and bubbly and growing up in the bowl, it’s ready.

How quickly that will happen will depend on the temperature in your house. For me, this took a couple of hours. You’re not making sourdough and letting it ferment for days here. Stir it down and start working in the cornmeal.

Work in as much as it will take. I used about two cups. You want it to the point where you can roll it out, so don’t work in so much you get it too dry to roll out. I reserved about a tablespoon of the dried cornmeal to dust on top while I was rolling it out.

Roll out thinly–as with pie pastry. At this point, you can cut it into “cakes” with a cookie cutter, or you can crumble it. Crumbles dry faster–I made crumbles. How long it takes to dry will depend on the temperature and humidity in your house. It could take a day, or several days. Cover loosely–it needs air to dry. (Use cheesecloth or paper towels–something light that breathes.) As it dries, start crumbling it apart with a fork occasionally to speed it along (if you’re making crumbles).

If you’re making cakes, just leave them alone until they’re dry. You can store the dried crumbles in a jar. Dried cakes can be wrapped separately or placed between layers of waxed paper. (Crumbled, this makes one quart jar.)
Use as you would any yeast from the store! By the way, you can use it before it’s dried and make bread right away if you want.
To store, you can keep it in the freezer for up to a year. (The freezer is the best place to store any yeast.) Take out what you need and bring it to room temperature before starting your bread. When you get near the end of it, take three tablespoons (or three cakes) and make the yeast recipe all over again.
Making your own yeast, you can turn three tablespoons of yeast into a whole quart jar of yeast–and that’s just on the first batch. You can carry it on forever and never buy yeast again. Is this truly necessary today as it was for our great-grandmas? Not really. However, it’s both frugal and satisfying nonetheless. And fun. If you want to experiment, start researching old yeast recipes and you can come up with your own method! There’s no right or wrong as long as your bread rises in the end. What’s interesting to me about it is that this is something every housewife everywhere knew how to do and probably taught their daughters to do as children. The process was so commonplace, they didn’t even need the details in the directions. Today, we look back on these recipes as if deciphering ancient hieroglyphs. Our mothers and grandmothers were quite happy to throw the whole thing out the window for Fleischmann’s packets on their way to the automatic dishwashing machines, TV dinners, and linoleum. And who could blame them. They’d had it hard enough. But for us, with so many conveniences in our lives, there’s something charming about the old ways–because we can pick and choose the ones we want to keep. Try homemade yeast–it’s fun!
Oh, and for the real test?

Grandmother Bread–made with homemade yeast. Very good, tender bread. Some of the best bread I think I’ve ever made.
Notes: I didn’t find the yeast proofed up in five minutes the way store-bought yeast does when I placed it in the bowl with water and sugar as I prepared to make bread, but I went ahead with the bread and it rose. So, be not afraid! If you’re unsure whether your concoction is good or not, go ahead and make a loaf of bread right away and you’ll know! Also, the dough took longer to rise as well. I suspect this is why it didn’t proof in five minutes like I expected–it needed more time. (Maybe they were using the sponge method.) I intend to continue experimenting with this recipe, trying the peach leaves when they’re available, and also trying less water. Next time, I’ll use 1/3 cup water, which will then require less cornmeal. That might make a stronger (faster-acting) yeast mixture. I’m also going to try the sponge method with it. I’ll update this post with results as I have them. In the meantime, go forth and experiment! Let me know what works for you. This homemade yeast made excellent bread.
And, also for your pleasure and experimentation, there were a couple of other homemade yeast recipes in the Treasure Trove book. Here they are:

http://readynutrition.com/resources/survival-food-series-3-ways-to-naturally-make-yeast_02032011/

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
one medium potato (peeled)
4 cups water
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
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
one potato (about the size of a large hen egg)
3/4 cup potato water
2 Tbsp. sugar
flour
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
1 Tbsp. sugar
flour
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.
Source
*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.
Source
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.