Yeast!

Yeasts have to be the most versatile fungi around.

When I think "yeast," I just think warm, crispy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside, fresh-baked bread and a cool, frothy pint of beer.

But the truth is these incredible microorganisms have many magical properties, including :

converting sugar into alcohol (the magic of Jesus revealed!)
generating carbon dioxide
aiding in modern cell biology research
generating good flora for your innards!
acting as a dietary supplement for its B vitamin content
generating electricity in microbial fuel cells
AND you probably know this, but yeast totally dominates fungal diversity in the oceans

YEAST: It's like, what isn't it good for??

Here are some of our favorite instructables featuring Yeasts!
_{the yummy kind, not the icky infectious kind}

Catching wild yeast and making sourdough by ItsJeremy

Sourdough Bread by My Sisters Kitchen

How To Make Bread (without a bread machine) by drinkmorecoffee

4-Hour No-Knead bread. by daniel_reetz

How to Make Beer by imarunner2

Making your own wine by mikeasaurus

Home Brew Hard Cider from Scratch by actsofsubterfuge

How to make moonshine by pdub77

How to Make a Big Batch of Kombucha by TimAnderson

Raspberry Vinegar by 9400dk

Lime Jello, Yeast and Carbon Paper Fuel Cell by egbertfitzwilly

9 comments	Add Comment

Nov 15, 2009. 9:24 PMweaponscollector94 says:

INFECTION!!!!!!!!!

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Jul 23, 2009. 4:12 PMMtalus says:

The things I love most in life are the products of decay: bread,cheese, yogurt, pickles of all sorts, sour kraut, kimchee (however it's spelled).....and booze. Taking the time to isolate some wild yeast to use in brewing can be rewarding. I'd suggest getting a couple of different starters going and using the one that does best in a taste/aroma test. Even then it's a bit of a gamble, but it can pay off big. Unfortunately wild yeast tends to mutate quickly (or else it starts as a mixed strain and then one gains dominance) and so repitching from one batch to another can be inconsistent. I'd also suggest a 1gal batch instead of 5gal. Unless you like to brew dangerously. So, just make up some wort and leave it in some open top bottles for a day or two. Fit some locks and let it ferment out a bit before doing a taste test and using the winner in a full batch. Cheers to yeast.

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Nov 13, 2009. 5:03 PM

greatpanda says:

Spontaneously fermented beers are considered separate from ales and lagers, known as lambic beer. They're still brewed in Belgium, but I'm not sure about anywhere else. They catch new wild yeast with every batch, seems like a bit of a gamble, but I suppose that brewery is in a pretty stable location as well (to minimize the random yeasts floating in from the freeway...). Fun!

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Oct 27, 2009. 6:52 PMfirehorse says:

I'm curious to know if alcoholic beverages and other foods that require yeasts are vegan. Yeast is a living thing and dies during the creation of beer or breads....

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Nov 11, 2009. 3:55 PMdzent1 says:

ANYTHING with flour in it stuck in a hot oven will "kill" yeast, even if not added to the recipe, since wild yeast are likely in nearly every edible substance known to man.

You "kill" an incredible number of organisms just by breathing. Your saliva "kills" literally by the billions each day any number of organisms that come into contact with it. So IMHO it's a bit of overkill to worry whether baking bread with yeast is "vegan" or not.

If you don't want to eat sentient beings, that's one thing. I try to eat a vegetarian diet to spare my fellow animals unnecessary pain. But it's unlikely yeast have that kind of awareness.

Their essential purpose in the world is to break things down into basic components that the earth can reabsorb and reuse. And Michael Pollan thinks it's very likely that yeast (and many other biologically active organisms) are using us, and not the other way around {:-o

Long story short, I'd say yeast are fair game for vegans. They will certainly help digest us after we have shuffled off this mortal coil...

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Nov 12, 2009. 8:52 PMfirehorse says:

Thanks dzent1. I'm not vegan but was curious about where the line is drawn.

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