Fresh yeast

Polythene Pam

Hey everyone, I have a question for you guys.
Can I ever find fresh yeast in Ireland?
If not, what can I use as a proper substitute?
I bought some dried yeast to be reactivated in water and I tried to make some bread but it just tastes terrible, maybe I got the dosage wrong although I was expecting my bread to grow much more than it did..which means I def. didn't use as much yeast as I ought to.
Dunno if you can help me really I think dried yeast is my only option isn't it? Maybe I should just keep trying until I get the dosage right.
Suggestions are very welcome..

rockbeer

I gave up the search for fresh yeast, these days I keep and use a sourdough culture instead. I got it for a couple of dollars from these nice people. If you look after it, it keeps going for ever.

Good luck.

The Hill Billy

The Irish Yeast Co have a shop at 6 College Street, Dublin (tel: 01 6778575).

There's also the Yeast Products Company at Tolka Valley Rd, Finglas (tel: 01 8347133).

Polythene Pam

Excellent I'll have a look at that sourdough, I have a friend who's trying to make natural fresh yeast from raisins.. it's actually quite a good experiment although it takes forever, but we'll see what comes up!
If I'm around Dublin I'll definetly have a look at the yeast shop.
Thanks a mil!
F

rockbeer

Or you can make a natural yeast starter from live yoghurt - I did this and it worked well, didn't take too long either, about a week or 10 days I think before I was baking. I can post instructions if you're interested, it's easy enough. But Carl's starter is better than the one I made.

Polythene Pam

rockbeer that'd be absolutely great!
I'm having a look on the web if I find something I'll post it here as well.

antoniosicily

Polythene Pam wrote: »

Hey everyone, I have a question for you guys.
Can I ever find fresh yeast in Ireland?
If not, what can I use as a proper substitute?
I bought some dried yeast to be reactivated in water and I tried to make some bread but it just tastes terrible, maybe I got the dosage wrong although I was expecting my bread to grow much more than it did..which means I def. didn't use as much yeast as I ought to.
Dunno if you can help me really I think dried yeast is my only option isn't it? Maybe I should just keep trying until I get the dosage right.
Suggestions are very welcome..

Some suggestions here:
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055064290

anyway now I have a great sourdough so I keep baking with that

noby

Polythene Pam, I made my own sourdough from just flour and water. There's a very good site that brings you through step-by-step. If I can dig out the link I'll post it here.


In fact here you go

rockbeer

Yoghurt based bread starter

For the initial mixture:
4tsp strong white bread flour
2tsp live full fat plain yoghurt (pref organic e.g. yeo valley)
3.5tbsp water at 18-20 degrees c

1. Measure all ingredients into a jar with a lid, stir vigorously with a fork, put the lid on and leave overnight at room temperature.

2. Next day, add 4tsp of the same flour and 3.5tbsp of lukewarm water, stir cover and leave overnight as before.

3. At this stage you might see tiny bubbles starting to appear on the surface, which is the first visible sign of fermentation. Repeat step 2 and leave overnight again.

4. By day 4 the mixture shold be getting lively. Stir it well, discard about three quarters of it and add 100g lukewarm water to the jar. Stir vigorously then add 100g flour and stir again. It should be the consistency of thick batter. cover and leave overnight again.

5. By day 5 there should be obvious bubbling at the surface. Repeat step 4, cover and leave overnight... you know the drill.

6. By day 6 the starter will raise a dough, but the flavour will improve over time. You can start baking now, or just keep repeating step 4 for a few more days, the aroma will get sharper every day.

To bake with the starter, use it in place of yeast in your recipes, obviously adjusting the liquid in the recipe. Expect extremely long proving times - 8 to 12 hours is typical, but it's well worth the wait.

To maintain the starter, each time yo bake use about half of it and top up to the original level with half and half flour and water. Keep it in the fridge in between bakings. If you keep it out at room temperature you'll need to feed it every day, at least in my experience. Exactly how you manage it is going to depend on how often you bake, but there's plenty of sourdough material on the internet so you're sure to find something that suits your routine.

If you establish a starter you really like I'd also advise keeping a backup or 2. Sometime when it's really lively, spread some thinly onto greaseproof paper and let it dry completely. Then crush it up and put it in a ziplock bag somewhere dry and safe. If you ever kill the starter in the jar you can revive a teaspoon of the dried powder by dissolving it in lukewarm water then feeding it with flour and water as you did at the very beginning.

@Noby, the flour-and-water only method is basically the same as the one I describe, but the yoghurt guarantees the presence of lactobacillus which I think cuts down the time it takes to get the thing going and also makes it less likely to be inhabited by unwanted bacteria. Isn't it a bit of a lottery trying to catch random bacteria out of the atmosphere and hoping you get the right ones?

pop.1280

rockbeer wrote: »

Yoghurt based bread starter

For the initial mixture:
4tsp strong white bread flour
2tsp live full fat plain yoghurt (pref organic e.g. yeo valley)
3.5tbsp water at 18-20 degrees c

1. Measure all ingredients into a jar with a lid, stir vigorously with a fork, put the lid on and leave overnight at room temperature.

2. Next day, add 4tsp of the same flour and 3.5tbsp of lukewarm water, stir cover and leave overnight as before.

3. At this stage you might see tiny bubbles starting to appear on the surface, which is the first visible sign of fermentation. Repeat step 2 and leave overnight again.

4. By day 4 the mixture shold be getting lively. Stir it well, discard about three quarters of it and add 100g lukewarm water to the jar. Stir vigorously then add 100g flour and stir again. It should be the consistency of thick batter. cover and leave overnight again.

5. By day 5 there should be obvious bubbling at the surface. Repeat step 4, cover and leave overnight... you know the drill.

6. By day 6 the starter will raise a dough, but the flavour will improve over time. You can start baking now, or just keep repeating step 4 for a few more days, the aroma will get sharper every day.

To bake with the starter, use it in place of yeast in your recipes, obviously adjusting the liquid in the recipe. Expect extremely long proving times - 8 to 12 hours is typical, but it's well worth the wait.

To maintain the starter, each time yo bake use about half of it and top up to the original level with half and half flour and water. Keep it in the fridge in between bakings. If you keep it out at room temperature you'll need to feed it every day, at least in my experience. Exactly how you manage it is going to depend on how often you bake, but there's plenty of sourdough material on the internet so you're sure to find something that suits your routine.

If you establish a starter you really like I'd also advise keeping a backup or 2. Sometime when it's really lively, spread some thinly onto greaseproof paper and let it dry completely. Then crush it up and put it in a ziplock bag somewhere dry and safe. If you ever kill the starter in the jar you can revive a teaspoon of the dried powder by dissolving it in lukewarm water then feeding it with flour and water as you did at the very beginning.

@Noby, the flour-and-water only method is basically the same as the one I describe, but the yoghurt guarantees the presence of lactobacillus which I think cuts down the time it takes to get the thing going and also makes it less likely to be inhabited by unwanted bacteria. Isn't it a bit of a lottery trying to catch random bacteria out of the atmosphere and hoping you get the right ones?

What's the proving time?

noby

8 to 12 hours, typically. <snigger>

Seriously, it's when you leave the dough to rise.

noby

rockbeer wrote: »

@Noby, the flour-and-water only method is basically the same as the one I describe, but the yoghurt guarantees the presence of lactobacillus which I think cuts down the time it takes to get the thing going and also makes it less likely to be inhabited by unwanted bacteria. Isn't it a bit of a lottery trying to catch random bacteria out of the atmosphere and hoping you get the right ones?

Just saw this now. I guess you're taking a chance. I have been successful once, and dumped another starter. I might try another with the yoghurt (I've also seen orange juice being mentioned).

pop.1280

noby wrote: »

8 to 12 hours, typically. <snigger>

Seriously, it's when you leave the dough to rise.

Thanks, and thanks for the laff!

beamer1

Hey guys

There is a great little health food shop in the Swan Centre Rathmines, which sells fresh yeast.

Happy baking!!

beamer1

Health Food shop in Swan Centre Rathmines sells fresh yeast. Got it there last week

rockbeer

Also found some in the health food shop in Dalkey.

Fernando1

Tried Superquinn for some fresh yeast today and they had it (need to ask at the bakery counter). Really cheap as well. I'll try some dough using it tomorrow and see if there's much difference. Could someone please tell me how long it will keep in the fridge and can it be frozen?

waylander2002

hi just a reply to old posts on the thread, what type of shops are we seeing all over Ireland! in ever town! Polish shops! they have great ingredients
I was looking for fresh yeast and my sister in law whos hungarian told me to get Domowe its a fresh polish yeast , and only 63 cents.

gouche

Ips.

Dizzyblonde

gouche please do not dig up old threads.
Closed.