Early in the COVID debacle, one of the first items disappearing from grocery store shelves was yeast. Bread became scarce on shelves and since people were staying home it was naturally a good time to start baking.
Of course, we had plenty of yeast on hand. Those one-pound bricks store for a decade or more in the freezer. When Buttercup ever-so-humbly and timidly asked if I could spare some yeast, I simply pulled a package from the freezer. My circle of acquaintances is rather small in real life—that happens when one is a complete introvert and moves every couple of years. Buttercup and my other daughter-in-law, Belle, are social butterflies in comparison. And they like to help people. I can imagine that their supplies of yeast would be depleted pretty quickly if there were another shortage.
Fortunately, there are a few ways to make yeast at home. Everlasting yeast is just one of them. A few others will be covered in the coming weeks. I hope. ;)
Something I didn’t realize until researching the various kinds of DIY yeasts is that Everlasting Yeast is a very specific yeast. I just assumed the term everlasting meant you could keep it going like other kinds of DIY yeasts. Not so.
Everlasting yeast, by definition it appears, must include the use of some form of potatoes or potato water. For the potato, there are three options—potato water (the water reserved from boiling potatoes); a cooked, mashed potato; or potato flakes. This recipe is one that would have been popular with previous generations due to the ubiquitous use of potatoes. And it may well become popular again among those who grow, store, and eat a lot of potatoes frequently. That potato water is pretty good stuff for baking bread even if you aren’t using everlasting starter.
Everlasting Yeast
1 quart warm potato water OR 1 quart warm water plus 3 tablespoons instant potato flakes
2 cups flour (white or wheat)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
Combine all ingredients in a 1 ½ quart jar with lid. Let rise in a warm place for several hours into ready to use in baking. Reserve at least 1/3 cup for a start for the next batch of bread. Between uses, store in the refrigerator.
Several hours before the next baking, feed with all the above ingredients except the yeast.
One of the things that we all love about commercial yeast is that it is so predictable and quick. We know about how long it should take for the bread to rise. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours at most. We can start bread before breakfast and have it ready for lunch. We can start some loaves in the late afternoon and count on having them ready for dinner.
Such is not the case with homemade starters, and especially when we’re just starting out with them. We have no idea if they are strong—active—and will rise quickly, or if they are going to take all day or even all night.
And then there is the issue of adapting your usual recipes to use the homemade starters. And that’s a very individual thing, since along the way your homemade starter will acquire natural yeast in your air and be affected to some degree by it. It’s one of those things that would be good to practice before it’s really needed.
Family reviews: No one could really tell a difference when I used this yeast to make our usual sandwich bread. Lydia asked why the bread was darker, and that was because I was fiddling around in the garage when the timer went off. So I was a little slow getting it out of the oven. Oops. I wasn’t as happy with the hamburger buns, but I’m sure it’s more a matter of learning how to work with the homemade starter better—operator error. The greatest issue is learning to work with the longer rise time—which is probably going vary with each batch. Well, the other issue (for me, at least) is sacrificing potato flakes to feed the starter. I really like my potato flakes for other uses, and I’m not too sure I want to use them in making bread.
Links to related posts:
Seven Diverse Ways to Use Potato Flakes
11 may 2024
Thanks for posting this. I really want to try something to use other than continually depending on my supply of instant yeast.
ReplyDeleteI have one BIG question...... How does one go about adjusting existing recipes when using this yeast? Just add it and don't adjust or is there a basic rule of thumb of subtracting flour and liquid as when adapting to sourdough?
ReplyDeleteThat is a big question and one I should have addressed in the post. When I use this everlasting yeast, I calculate that each cup of the everlasting yeast is 2/3 cup water and 1/3 cup flour and adjust the amounts in the recipe accordingly.
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