Making Bread with yeast cake.

ChefBrew · 08-23-2009, 04:32 PM

I'd like to know if anyone has made bread with their yeast cake. I work at a culinary school, and one of the bakers and I are experimenting. The yeast cake is sitting over the weekend so we can siphon of the liquid and just get yeast (so we can acurately measure). I've heard of people using the grains to make bread, but never the yeast. Anyone have any comments on this? Can't wait for some BeerBread!!!

pnj · 08-23-2009, 04:44 PM

I have made pizza dough with the yeast. I probably used too much... Actually, I used the liquid at the bottom of my primary, which had yeast in it as well.

The dough rose well but tasted very much like beery/yeasty dough.

I would play around with yeast quantities and you'll probably come up w/ something good.

ChefBrew · 08-23-2009, 07:55 PM

Great reply. Thanks pnj. I guess beer and pizza go hand in hand. Anybody else?

**jezter6** · 08-24-2009, 02:55 PM

We've done pretzels with beer. The recipe says it's supposed to be from an unfiltered "yeasty" beer, however ours usually comes out pretty clear from the keg and the dough doesn't rise much (it's only a 1 hour rest anyways I think). They always taste good, so I'm a big fan.

I haven't tried using yeast, but considering that the cake is full of dead yeast (as well as some of the viable stuff) - I'm not sure how well it will work out with the rise and taste when some of it's not the "cream of the crop" yeast.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

**jbreiding** · 08-24-2009, 04:05 PM

arent most yeast cakes that bakers use from breweries? you might want to wash the yeast cake first and then use it.

PseudoChef · 08-24-2009, 04:21 PM

I've made some baguettes with it - turned out pretty good.

chefmike · 08-24-2009, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbreiding

arent most yeast cakes that bakers use from breweries? you might want to wash the yeast cake first and then use it.

I don't know of any commercial operations still using this supply of yeast, only small scale applications in brewpubs, small bakeries.

The best application in my opinion is to use the spent grains from the mash... it makes fantastic bread. The yeast itself, if washed, adds some character depending on the strain. I like to proof the yeast with some sugar to get it roused, then add it in.

There is also beer bread... which is a denser bread using the carbonation in the beer for a little leavening.

Chris... what strain did you use for the loaves you did?

juvinious · 09-02-2009, 06:29 PM

After I wash my yeast from a batch I usually take the trub and all that didn't get reserved and make a sponge with more water, flour and a tbsp or two of sugar. The following day I discard half and feed the sponge again. Around the third day the sponge generally is very active and after discarding and adding has removed allot of the obnoxious odors associated with the beer (hoppy,alcoholic,etc), I then proceed to make the dough. I let it rise for another 6-8 hours then shape into a loaf and allow to rise 20 mins to an hour and then pop it in the oven. The bread tends to be a darker color, but has an overall excellent and unique flavor/profile.

**weirdboy** · 10-01-2009, 01:37 AM

Today I pulled one of my mason jars of saved washed Wyeast 1214 (Belgian Abbey) from the fridge, and used it to make a batch of bread. The dough didn't rise as fast as it normally does, but it eventually took off. I took half the dough, made a couple of dough balls, and stuck them in the fridge to use later for pizza. The other half I shaped into a few hamburger buns, which I plan to use later this evening to make juicy lucys.

I was expecting some of the typical Belgian fruity esters to come out in the dough, but to be honest it doesn't smell any different than usual.

UPDATE:

Upon baking the hamburger buns the kitchen filled with a sort of sweet, spicy aroma that I can't attribute to anything but the yeast. Definitely not my typical bread aroma.

MikeRLynch · 10-02-2009, 04:44 PM

I used a packet of dried nottingham I found in my fridge to make a sourdough starter. After feeding it for about a week I finally used it to make bread, although like many others have said it doen't rise very much (apparently neither does a regular sourdough starter). I made the dough and let it rise, covered for several hours at room temp. When I finally baked it and tried a peice it was nicely sour, but there was a fruity character to it that could only be from the english yeast esters. I'm still cultivating it, so hopefully I can retain those cool flavors from the yeast in future breads.