Trying to bake your own bread? Here’s how to make yeast at home
IF you wanted to make your own bread after supermarkets ran dry but don’t have all the ingredients, fear not as an expert has shared how to make your own yeast.
It’s one of the key ingredients in a loaf, and your attempts at making bread won’t go far without it.
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If you wanted to test out your baking a skills, a biologist has revealed how to make your own yeast from virtually anything you have in your kitchen cupboards.
They shared the handy tip on , after realising people weren’t aware they could create their own.
Going by the name Sudeep Agarwala, they said: “I, your local frumpy yeast geneticist have come here to tell you this: THERE IS NEVER A SHORTAGE OF YEAST. Here's where I'm a viking. Instructions below.”
Sudeep revealed a few easy steps to making yeast, and you can use virtually anything in your cupboard.
Sudeep wrote: “Scour your kitchen for any dried fruit: grapes, raisins, prunes, apricots.
“Fresh fruit works too, but it's best to leave it unwashed, and given our current situation this is probably not a wise thing to do unless you've grown the fruit yourself and trust it.
“Take your fruit (or, if using fresh fruit skins--please use your judgement), pop it into a jar, and add a little bit of water to it. 2 or 3 tablespoons (30-40 ml) is more than enough.
“If you stir the fruit around, you'll notice the water gets slightly cloudy. That's the yeast!
“You're well on your way. Add an equal mass of flour to this mixture. If you don't have a scale add enough flour to make a loose, wet dough. DON'T GET FANCY: old flour is fine.
“White flour is perfect (it's what I prefer). Doesn't have to be organic, doesn't have to be high gluten.
“And then you wait. You'll want to keep this warm (but not hot). Hug it while you binge Netflix. Cuddle it while you yearn for human touch once again.
“Or put it on the counter while your dishwasher is running. Do it right and after 12 hours you'll see bubbles. These will grow.
“YOUR YEAST ARE MAKING THOSE BUBBLES. Once the flour paste loosens up (24? 48 hours?), take a tiny bit of the fruit/flour/water mix, and add it to 30-40mL of water, add flour, and repeat.
“This time, it should come to life and those bubble should pop up much quicker.”
They added if it doesn’t work, simply try again with a different ingredient, but remember to be patient.
And it’s not just old bits of fruit you can use, they added, as it turns out that bottle of wine you’ve been drinking can also come in handy.
They continued: “Just finish a lovely Belgian ale or were you drinking a bottle of wine with dregs at the bottom?
“Add it to some flour and water and see what pops up! Keep it mind, you'll be cutting your starter back quite frequently, so the original flavors won't be there when you finally bake.”
Their thread has been liked more than 78,000 times, as people thanked the ‘viking’ for sharing their tips on yeast.
Commenting on Twitter, one person said: “It's going to be amazing how many old ways get rediscovered and adapted with modern tech for those of us coming out of this. Maybe one bright ray out of a gloomy storm.”
Another asked: “I've got the yeast covered. Now, can you help with the flour shortage?”
A third added: “Thank you! This is so helpful!”
While this person wrote: “You are a genius, I have been fretting that there is no yeast in the shop, I bake most days, just in the bread maker, but it never occurred to me to make a sour dough starter and revert to hand made.”
And another thought: “Absolutely wild that a plague is resurrecting home yeast cultivation.”
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