Dry Yeast Vs Fresh Yeast: Differences and What You Use Them For

Yeast mushrooms in dry yeast and fresh yeast

It doesn’t matter whether you use fresh yeast or dry yeast: what makes the dough rise so nicely is the yeast fungus. The yeast fungus is a unicellular microorganism. It absorbs sugars and starches from your dough and turns them into carbon dioxide gas. The yeast fungus feels most comfortable at temperatures between 25 and 30 degrees. This is when the metabolism is most active and the small bubbles are formed, which later make the dough airy. There is no difference in principle between dry yeast and fresh yeast. There are only a few small differences in how they are used.

Here’s what you should know about fresh yeast

You can find fresh yeast in the refrigerated section. Since it is usually sold in small cube-shaped blocks, it is sometimes also found under the name block yeast. For baking, a suitable amount is simply crumbled off the block.

• Fresh yeast consists of 70 percent water. As a result, it can only be stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 14 days.
• Because the block yeast has to be stored in the refrigerator, the yeast fungi are initially sluggish due to the low temperatures. Before use, you should mix the yeast with lukewarm sugar water to activate it.
• Doughs baked with fresh yeast sometimes taste a little sweeter than doughs baked with dry yeast. Usually, there is hardly any difference in taste.
• If the yeast mushrooms are fresh, the dough should rise a little better, especially if it has been left to rest for a long time.

dry yeast

Dry yeast can be found in the baking department. It no longer has a block shape but is powdery. That’s why it’s packed in sachets, like baking powder. Because a pack usually contains several bags, it is particularly easy to dose.

• As the name suggests, dry yeast is just dried yeast. Fresh yeast contains up to 70% water. The dried product, on the other hand, only contains 5%. This also makes the yeast lighter with less water.
• Because dry yeast only has a very low level of residual moisture, it has a much longer shelf life than fresh yeast. It can be kept at room temperature for up to a year.
• During this time, the yeast fungi are dormant and only need moisture again in order to be able to become active.
• Be careful, the dry yeast can be added directly to the dough and does not have to be activated in water beforehand. If the dry yeast is activated in water beforehand, this can later reduce the raising power in the dough.

Dry yeast as a substitute for fresh yeast

Since the dried yeast works just like the fresh yeast, it doesn’t matter which yeast you use for baking. All you have to do is adjust the quantities and convert accordingly.

• As a rule, you need either a packet of dry yeast or half a cube of fresh yeast for a fluffy dough made from 500 grams of flour.
• So if your recipe calls for two sachets of dry yeast, you can also use a cube of block yeast and vice versa.
• If you don’t have enough of both variants for your dough quantity, you can even mix the two yeasts.