John Myers
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If you only need half a cube of yeast for a recipe, you can easily freeze the rest. Read here how long the bacterial culture can be kept in the freezer and how you can thaw it.
Preserving yeast: Freeze and thaw
There are recipes for which you only need part of the fresh yeast cube and for the rest, you currently have no use. You can freeze the fresh leavening agent before the best-before date in the refrigerator expires.
- Yeast is not particularly demanding in the freezer. You can either freeze a complete cube in its original packaging or wrap the opened piece in some aluminum foil. Small plastic boxes that are suitable for freezing temperatures are also a good choice.
- The best-before date is printed on the original packaging of your leavening agent. This is for your orientation. After the expiration, you should no longer freeze yeast.
- The permanent sub-zero temperatures in your freezer cannot harm the bacterial strains in the yeast. That’s why you can freeze the yeast cube for five to seven months and thaw it again without affecting the product quality and thus your baking result.
Reuse frozen yeast cubes – this is how it works
Are you planning on visiting or do you spontaneously feel like cake, pizza, or fresh bread? Yeast can easily be thawed again.
- For spontaneous baking ideas, such as yeast cakes or a quick pizza in the evening, you can defrost the yeast cube in warm water. Remove the packaging and make absolutely sure that the water temperature does not exceed 45 degrees Celsius, otherwise, the bacterial cultures will no longer be active and the yeast will become useless.
- If you don’t need the yeast until the following day, you can put the deep-frozen cube in a cup in the fridge overnight without the outer packaging. Don’t be surprised if some water collects in the cup. This is completely normal and harmless.
- Yeast that has been thawed should be used quickly and not refrozen.
