John Myers
Some swear by fresh yeast, while others prefer to use dry yeast in their home-baked bread. True to the motto – yeast is yeast – the two types of baker’s yeast are interchanged. A look at the differences shows whether this is so easily possible.
Important leavening agent
For fluffy bread or the typical yeast plait, you primarily need yeast in addition to flour and water or milk. A unicellular fungus hides behind these four letters. It ensures that carbon dioxide forms and the dough takes on its airy consistency.
Note: Baking yeast, also known as brewer’s yeast, has its origins in the brewing industry.
The fermentation agent is available in several variants. The two that end up in the shopping cart of home bakers the most are fresh yeast or dry yeast.
Differences: dry yeast – fresh yeast
But can you simply replace fresh yeast with dry yeast and vice versa? In addition to some similarities, there are also a number of differences between the two forms.
Differences in dry yeast – Fresh yeast
- Consistency – Crumbly powder, available in packets of 7 g pressed, – available in cube form of 42 g
- Shelf life – several months up to 1 year – a few days up to 2 weeks
- Taste – mild – intense
- Water content – 5% – 70%
- Status yeast fungi – inactive – active
Preparation
Fresh yeast is always active. You just have to give her something to “react” to get her going. You can prepare a pre-dough for this. Put the flour, sugar, and some lukewarm liquid (depending on the recipe: water or milk) in a baking bowl. Then crumble in the baker’s yeast and stir everything together. Let this mix sit for about 10 minutes. If small bubbles rise, you can feed the mixture with all the other ingredients.
Note: When using baker’s yeast, all ingredients must be at the same temperature. For example, if you need eggs from the fridge for your recipe, you should take them out first to bring them to room temperature.
In the end, dry yeast is the dehydrated form of fresh baker’s yeast. For this reason, the dry yeast does not react until you add water or milk. But you can do without a pre-dough. You can immediately mix the dry yeast with all the other ingredients.
Tip: The best temperature for letting yeast rise is around 30 to 32 degrees Celsius. If it’s too cold or too hot, the yeast will die and your dough won’t swell.
Storage
Don’t forget to use the opened fresh yeast cube within the next 10 to 14 days. The rising power can decrease if the yeast has expired. Since dry yeast can be stored in the pantry for several months, if stored well, it is better suited for spontaneous baking ideas.
Tip: You can easily freeze fresh yeast cubes. So it lasts longer.
The agony of choice
Whether you reach for fresh yeast or dry yeast on the supermarket shelf is entirely up to you and your preferences. Fresh baker’s yeast is said to have a more intense taste and a faster selling process. Nothing changes in the baking result. Both types of yeast can therefore be easily interchanged. However, you should pay attention to the correct conversion. One stick of yeast turns into two packets of dry yeast. The other way around, you only need half a piece of the fresh yeast instead of a packet of dry yeast.
- 1 yeast cube = 2 packets of dry yeast
- 1 packet of dry yeast = 1/2 piece of fresh yeast
