A pastry instructor weighs in on tips for checking your yeast for freshness.
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My parents make a lot of homemade bread andpizza.
They always had a pretty big jar (or two) of yeast on hand.
Simply Recipes / Adobe Stock
In those cases, my dad would add a bunch of extra yeast and hope for the best.
Do you do this as well?
Here’s what I found out.
Simply Recipes / Lori Rice
If it doesnt bubble at all in water that means the yeast is dead.
If there is only a tiny amount of foam, its likely not that active, Baldwin says.
If there is a good amount of foam, then you should be good to go.
She also points out that warm water is cooler than most people probably think.
Yeast is happiest around 80F but will react a bit more quickly if its slightly warmer.
Simply Recipes / Lori Rice
Can You Just Add Extra Yeast?
The older the yeast is, the less active it is likely to be, Baldwin says.
I revealed to Baldwin that when in doubt, my dad adds more yeast to his bread recipe.
She says thats one solution, but its also a guessing game.
If you put more yeast into a recipe, it will rise more quickly.
This is true regardless of how active the yeast might be.
But its luck how closely you hit the mark.
Even refrigerated, once the seal has been broken, the yeasts shelf life becomes much shorter.
Its definitely not a product I include on my Costco shopping list.
