[inceptor]

If kept in mylar with o2 absorbers, can yeast be a long term storage item?

 

[paraquack]

Yeast is a living organism. It can be refrigerated and dried, but everything I've read seems to say it won't last more than 2-3 years. I don't know about the mylar bag storage.

Got this from my sister.
Yeast Starter similar to the sour dough starter I got from one the people here (sorry, with my memory I don't remember who)
Ingredients: makes about 4 cups, ready in about 3 - 4 days
2 cups all-purpose flour (organic seems to work a little better)
2 cups bottled (non-chlorinated) water (very important, will kill the natural yeasts)

Directions
1.Mix flour and water and stir well. Cover with a light cloth and let sit on the counter until it shows signs of bubbles (the yeast is growing).
2.To use just take out the necessary amount for your recipe. Yeast is a living organism and needs to be fed. When you take some for your baking needs, you need to replace that amount with equal parts flour and spring water (if you use 1/4 Cup, replace 1/8 Cup water and flour).

If you keep your starter at room temperature it should be fed every other day, and if refrigerated, fed weekly. First mix up about 1 level tablespoon each of flour and water and gently mix into the original batch of yeast starter. As you feed the starter, it may make more than you want, just dump some before you add the feed mix.

Try this recipe before you need it and try the amounts of yeast in the recipes, it may need to be adjusted. Once the starter is growing well, refrigeration makes it easier to keep. But as it shows, you don't need to store large quantities of yeast.

 

[hayden]

I always store my yeast in the door of the fridge and it has lasted a long time in there. The ones in the foil packets.

 

[jimb1972]

I keep it in the freezer, lasts for years. Worst case scenario you may have to bake bread daily and save some of the dough to mix in, the yeast will reproduce if you keep it warm and have enough sugar in it for it.

 

[inceptor]

Yeah, this would be for sourdough starter. I was just thinking long term for trading or if something goes wrong.

 

[Leon]

yeast is also present on the skin of fruits and vegetables. That is how brewing was originally discovered. Floating say apple peels in water for a few days will result in a yeast solution, they call it yeast water. There is also the landic method of brewing, in which cobwebs are harvested for the natural yeasts that collect in them. I never have tasted a landic beer and I don't intend to.

 

[Usernameforyou]

You can also make vinegar in the same fashion. Water sugar and say apples. Just keep cheese cloth or a coffee filter over the top give it a stir everyday , no metal utensils, until the fruit falls to the bottom, take the fruit out without having any part of the liquid touch any sort of metal (that stops the fermentation) and let it sit, stirring occasionally, for about 20 more days.

 

[inceptor]

Yeast is a living organism. It can be refrigerated and dried, but everything I've read seems to say it won't last more than 2-3 years. I don't know about the mylar bag storage.

Since this thread has been resurrected, I'll pass on what I've learned. If you freeze yeast, it will last well beyond the 2-3 years. I tested 3 year old yeast and found it was still viable. That lasted at least another year. This was a brick of vacuum sealed yeast. I now keep a couple of bricks in my freezer.