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 fungus. Specifically a very simple, eukaryote, single-celled fungus that doesn’t grow hyphae (the hair that you see molds make).
Because it’s so simple it’s common absolutely everywhere, but if you wanted to isolate some of your own, you’d have most luck starting with some fruit that’s been left out too long and has started to ferment.
Edit: Important to point out that there’s no single “yeast”, there’s thousands upon thousands of different species. They would all “work” to ferment beer or rise dough, but some do this better than others and some are even pathogenic.
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