Baker's yeast is the common name for the yeast strains used as ingredients when baking bread. It is used as a leavening agent. It converts the sugar in the dough into carbon dioxide and ethanol, making bread lighter and tastier.
There was no information on when yeast was first used for baking bread, but the earliest definite records come from Ancient Egypt. There are ideas that a mixture of flour meal and water was left longer than usual on a warm day, and the yeasts that are naturally in the flour caused it to ferment before baking. Bread made from this dough would have been lighter and tastier than the hard flatbreads made without yeast. Baking bread with leavening but without yeast, as it is now, was done by transferring from previously mixed old dough that had already risen. Another method for obtaining leavening agents was from beer which was probably also done.
In the 19th century, bread bakers obtained their yeast from beer brewers from which they made sweet-fermented bread. This process, known as the Dutch process (because Dutch distillers were the first to sell yeast commercially), spread to Germany, and yeast was sold as cream. Tebbenhof was the first who, in 1825, found a way to make yeast into cube cakes by extracting moisture. In 1867 Reiminghaus used the filter press, which allowed for improved industrial manufacture of baker’s yeast. This process is called the Viennese process, and it spread throughout the French market. This method of making yeast cakes is still used today throughout Europe. Charles Fleischmann brought the method of making yeast to the United States. He was trained as a young boy in a distillery and learned that yeast is a by-product of distilling.
There are many forms and types of yeast; here are some:
Cream yeast is the closest form to the yeast of the 19th century. It is a suspension of yeast cells in liquid, taken from the growth medium. Cream yeast is used in industrial bakeries with professional dispensing and mixing equipment and is rarely used in small bakeries or home cooks.
Compressed yeast is made from cream yeast, from which most liquid is drained and used for industrial and home use.
Active dry yeast consists of coarse oblong granules of yeast, with live yeast cells encapsulated in a thick jacket of dry, dead cells. It must first be rehydrated before use. Stored at room temperature, it can last for a year, while frozen, it can last ten years and more for home use.
Instant yeast looks like active dry yeast, but granules are smaller in diameter. It also lasts a much shorter time. It doesn’t have to be rehydrated before use. For home use.
Rapid-rise yeast is a type of dried yeast with a smaller granular size and can dissolve faster in the dough. It gives more carbon dioxide than other yeast types and raises dough faster. Rapid-rise yeast is often used in bread machines.
FAQs
They conjecture that modern baker's yeast is derived from a melting pot of fermentation technology, resulting from an East-West transfer similar to the spread of domesticated plants and animals by way of the Silk Route, thousands of years ago.
What are the different types of Baker's yeast? ›
There are three main types of commercially produced baker's yeast: active dry, instant, and fresh. All of them will work to leaven doughs in any given yeasted baking recipe, but each has slightly different properties, and, for the more discerning palate, varying flavors.
What is the historical background of yeast? ›
Yeasts can be considered man's oldest industrial microorganism that was used before the development of a written language. Hieroglyphics suggest that ancient Egyptians were using yeast and the process of fermentation to produce alcoholic beverages and to leaven bread over 5,000 years ago.
What is the oldest known yeast? ›
The earliest known records of yeast being used for more traditional uses such as baking bread comes from Ancient Egypt in 1300–1500 BCE2 and China in 500–300 BC3. While yeast's use in beer brewing and wine making has been observed in Sumeria, Babylonia, and present-day Georgia as far back as around 6000 BCE4.
Did medieval bakers use yeast? ›
Once the flour was made, beer would provide the yeast and liquid needed to form the dough. Of course, location plays a big role in what type of bread was available given that some areas were better suited for wheat or other grain crops such as rye, oats, or barley.
Why is Baker's yeast asexual? ›
Yeast usually asexually reproduce by a method called budding. A small knob or bud forms on the parent cell, grows, and finally separates to become a new yeast cell. This new yeast cell is genetically identical to the parent cell.
What yeast do French bakers use? ›
Professionally, fresh yeast is always preferred and is exclusively used in France. Here anyone can buy fresh yeast in a supermarket or even in most bakeries. Some bakeries keep small 42g cubes on hand to sell to clients and others will chip some off of the baker's big block and sell it to you by weight.
What kind of yeast do commercial bakers use? ›
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the yeast commonly used as baker's yeast.
What is the best brand of yeast for baking? ›
SAF Red is your best choice for all-around baking, from sandwich loaves to crusty no-knead bread to freeze-and-bake dinner rolls.
Who brought yeast to America? ›
The Fleischmanns had created America's first commercially produced yeast, which soon became the country's best-selling yeast. After introducing their new, freshly baked Viennese breads to a wide audience at Philadelphia's Centennial Exposition in 1876, the Fleischmann brothers' yeast soon became a household name.
Pearlash, eggs, saleratus, an early chemical leavening preceding baking soda, and home-created yeast starters were used to leaven bread. After settlement, woodstoves made baking easier and Iowa cooks had more options.
What did people use before yeast? ›
Prior to the introduction of these “commercial” yeasts, the primary yeast source for bakers and housewives was the yeasty foam or dreg waste collected from completed beer fermentations, and were sold directly by breweries (Frey, 1930).
When was Baker's yeast invented? ›
Then in 1857, Louis Pasteur first saw yeast under a microscope, and lo and behold, baker's yeast was made. Isolated as a single strain of yeast from the wild yeast culture, baker's yeast was a quick, flavorful and reliable leavener that began to replace wild yeast in industrial breadmaking.
Is Baker's yeast still alive? ›
Yeast is a fascinating, living organism that turns a mixture of flour and liquid into something amazing that rewards your efforts with wonderful aromas and complex flavors that only yeast can deliver. Yeast is a single-celled living organism with a mighty big job in baking.
Is yeast a fungus or bacteria? ›
Yeasts are microscopic fungi consisting of solitary cells that reproduce by budding.
Is bakers yeast natural? ›
Natural, wild yeast can be found in flowers, trees, fruits, and vegetables—and yeast strains even live in the grains you're baking with and throughout the air in your home. To make your own natural yeast, all you need is flour and water, along with time and attention.
What is the difference between active yeast and bakers yeast? ›
Dry yeast comes in two forms: active and instant. "Active" describes any dry yeast that needs to be activated prior to use, while "instant dry yeast" describes any dry yeast that's ready for use the instant you open the package.
Where did ancient people get yeast? ›
It started in Egypt
Researchers speculate that a mixture of flour meal and water was left longer than usual on a warm day and the yeasts that occur in natural contaminants of the flour caused it to ferment before baking. Bread was the most important part of the ancient Egyptian diet.
Is bakers yeast a plant or animal? ›
Neither animal nor plant, yeast is a microscopic member of the fungus family, and its most common culinary strain is Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although yeast is technically alive—it's a single-celled organism that metabolizes food into energy—it's no more an animal than other fungi such as mushrooms.
