What even is yeast? I am thinking mainly of the kind we use to make bread rise. Which I buy from the grocery store…
But, back in the day, where did people find yeast? I assume people cultivate it and grow it, much like sour dough, but someone had to find it originally, right?
And what does ir do in the wild? Especially since it is so easy to kill? (Can’t be too hot, can’t touch salt, can’t be too old…)
Note: this is purely to do with my curiosity. I have no interest in actually hunting wild yeast
In: Biology
Yeast is a type of fungi which is very small. It does not create fruits like mushroom but spread spores directly from its main body. Yeast is found everywhere. There are spores floating around in the air you breathe. The yeast grow on surfaces of any organic matter as well as in water.
The most common place to find bread yeast is growing on the grains we use to make bread from. The yeast even survive most milling processes, only the bleaching kills the yeast. So the flour you buy does have some wild bread yeast already in it. But it is not enough to rise your bread like you want. This is why you add more yeast. But you can add water to the flour and give it some time, and feed it more flour and water regularly. The yeast will multiply a lot and become enough to make bread from. This is called a sourdough starter. Wild yeasts often produce acids as well, and often have lots of bacteria (the good kind of bacteria though) that also make acids. This is why the bread tends to taste sour if it is made this way.
Latest Answers