Fresh Yeast

[FurtiveFreddy]

I use fresh yeast for pizza dough. If I make a batch of dough to last a few weeks, I only need about 30g of yeast at a time. I've tried freezing what I don't use, but today when I took some out of the freezer and let it thaw in the fridge it was obviously not active enough so I can only assume it's mostly dead.

I read conflicting views about whether fresh yeast should be frozen. The trouble is there's nowhere local I can buy a small amount, so I'm forced to buy online and that means I'm going to end up wasting a lot of it if I can't freeze it.

What to do?

[guillemot]

I quite often pick up fresh yeast from the bakeries in supermarkets - Morrisons and Sainsbury’s have been the best for this. It’s generally been free, but crucially, you can get either a huge lump of the stuff or just a tiny bit if you wish.

[21TonyK]

As above, I get a 250g block for a quid via Sainsburys bakeries and just bin it when its dead. But... I can't tell the difference in the final product between fresh and dried.

Anyway... what's all this about using "yeast" surely you are cultivating and nurturing your mother!!

[FurtiveFreddy]

I didn't think supermarket bakeries actually made anything from scratch these days!

I'll ask in our local Sainsbury's if that's the case...

...or just give in and use dried

[dickymint]

Just wired up our Nef full steam oven so I'm about to embark on bread making. Reading up on yeast apparently fresh yeast is fine to freeze for months and the secret is to grate enough from the frozen block.

[FurtiveFreddy]

dickymint said:

Just wired up our Nef full steam oven so I'm about to embark on bread making. Reading up on yeast apparently fresh yeast is fine to freeze for months and the secret is to grate enough from the frozen block.

Tried freezing but my experience is it slowly deteriorates and after 1-2 months is ineffective, which is why I started this thread in the first place.

Supermarkets near me don't stock it, but I've now found a baker close to my mum's house, so when I go round there I pick up a new batch.

[dickymint]

FurtiveFreddy said:

dickymint said:

Just wired up our Nef full steam oven so I'm about to embark on bread making. Reading up on yeast apparently fresh yeast is fine to freeze for months and the secret is to grate enough from the frozen block.

Tried freezing but my experience is it slowly deteriorates and after 1-2 months is ineffective, which is why I started this thread in the first place.

Supermarkets near me don't stock it, but I've now found a baker close to my mum's house, so when I go round there I pick up a new batch.

Did you try grating what was needed or were you defrosting the whole lump? I've ordered my first batch but it wont be delivered until the 10th of Feb as it's their next fresh stuff.

[FurtiveFreddy]

When I froze it, it was divided into cubes so I defrosted just the amount I needed rather than defrosting and re-freezing what was left.

I found opinions divided as to whether freezing works or not. I suppose the best way to find out is try yourself, but for me it didn't work.