Make yeast yourself: prepare wild yeast

Make yeast yourself: You need these ingredients

You can make yeast yourself in liquid form, as so-called yeast water (also known as "wild yeast"). You only need three ingredients:

  • 500 ml of lukewarm water
  • 30 g sugar (approx. 1 tbsp)
  • 2 dried dates (unsulphured)

You also need one narrow, tall bottle that holds at least half a liter of liquid and with a screw or clip closure Is provided. It must be clean and must not contain any previous liquid residues.

Instead of the dates, you can also use other dried fruits, such as dried apricots, raisins or figs. It is important that they have a shell and unsulfurized are. You will find the information on the packaging: Fruits that contain sulfites or that are labeled as "sulfurized" are unsuitable.

For sweetening you can, for example also use honey, coconut blossom or brown sugar, Sugar alternatives such as stevia, xylitol or erythritol are not suitable.

Make yeast yourself: how it works

  1. Put the lukewarm water and sugar in the jar, close with the lid and shake wellso that the sugar dissolves.
  2. Add the dates and the bottle in a warm place (preferably at 25 ° C to 30 ° C room temperature) for eight days.
  3. The yeast water twice daily Shake vigorously (morning and evening). The reason for this: moving and small surfaces do not become moldy and shaking activates the yeast.
  4. Then the lid open carefully, so that the resulting gases can escape (caution, the water can quickly foam) and close the vessel again.
  5. After about a week, the yeast water is ready and active. The duration depends, among other things, on the temperature. If the water smells of yeast, has clouded and many bubbles have risen, it is ready for use.

The yeast water is kept in the refrigerator up to two months. If it grows mold or smells spoiled, you shouldn't use it anymore!

So you use the wild yeast

You wonder how you can now use the homemade yeast in a recipe? Very simple: You simply replace the specified amount of liquid (water or milk) 1: 1 through the yeast water – In our basic recipe for yeast dough, for example, this would be 250 milliliters, for our pizza dough it would be 200 milliliters. Then you can prepare the dough as usual. However, you must note that the dough needs more time to rise because the yeast has less power. It is best to prepare it the day before so that it can go overnight.

Refresh and multiply yeast water

When the yeast water runs out, you can easily refresh it. For that you should Keep a rest of the water (approximately 100 milliliters), exchange the dates, add sugar again and fill the bottle with fresh water. Shake the jar twice a day as described above. This time the fermentation process does not take that long because part of the water is already fermented: after about four days you can use the homemade yeast.

The advantages of homemade yeast

Aside from being a natural product, wild yeast is usually too more digestible than industrially manufactured and does not cause constipation or bloating so quickly. In addition, the yeast water has a high vitamin B content, which has a positive effect on the intestinal flora. But since it cannot be completely ruled out that in the manufacturing process unwanted microorganisms arise, pregnant women and people with a weakened immune system should not make yeast themselves as a precaution.

Make yeast with potatoes yourself

As an alternative to yeast water, you can also make yeast yourself using potatoes. For that you need 2 potatoes, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon light beer. That's how it's done:

  1. Boil, peel and potatoes let cool down. Then you rub it through a fine grater.
  2. Mix the grated potatoes with the sugar and beer. Give the mass in a closable jar and turns the lid tight.
  3. The potato yeast must be for three to four days stand in a warm place for fermentation. Then you can measure the mass for 1 kg of flour use as a yeast substitute.

With us you will find delicious recipes, such as for a yeast braid or sourdough. Or do you still remember the Hermann dough? We also explain how you can freeze yeast dough and bake bread.