A Primer on Yeast and Sourdough Starters
Bread has been called “the staff of life”.
Yeast is an essential ingredient for many types of bread (yay sourdough!), not to mention brewing your own alcohol. You can stock up, but as a living organism, these tiny beasties have a definite shelf life. Beasties is probably too strong a word… Wikipedia defines them as “eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom.”
But they live. They die. And therein lies the problem.
When you add water and a bit of flour, the little guys happily give off carbon dioxide. Leave them to sit for too long and they give up the ghost.
Testing Your Yeast
You can test whether your dried yeast is still potent by sprinkling yeast over a half cup of lukewarm water, along with a bit of sugar. Leave it for about ten minutes in a warm spot. If you return to a eukaryotic, single-celled microorganism party, it’s good. If there’s only a feeble bit of bubbling, it’s on the way out. If nothing happens, the good times are over.
Nurture a Sourdough Starter in Your Kitchen
The easiest way to keep yeast going is to nurture a starter. Every loaf of sourdough bread requires a starter. You can maintain your own … keep it warm and well fed and, when you’re ready to bake, take what you need and leave the rest to bubbly away merrily. Given proper care, starters can last for years…. Some say decades.
Here’s a nicely illustrated, straightforward example of how to make your own:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/beginner-basic-sourdough-starter-428067
And, from the same site, some ideas of what to do with your starter:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-make-a-sourdough-loaf-435255
