Why it works: Sugar and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 30% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Grated Potato Yeast
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Gather 2 quarts water, 2 tablespoons hops, 6 medium or 3 very large potatoes, ½ cup sugar, ¼ cup salt, 1 cup soft yeast, or 2 cakes of good dry yeast (yeast foam when obtainable).
Dissolve yeast in warm water with part of the sugar.
Simmer the hops in water for half an hour, strain, add enough water to make 2 quarts and keep at boiling point.
Make the mash
Put sugar and salt into a large granite or porcelain kettle.
Quickly grate the pared potatoes over them.
Set the kettle over the fire and pour the boiling hop water onto the mixture, stirring.
Let boil until thickened.
Remove from fire, cool to lukewarm.
Add the yeast, beating it in well.
Rise and store
Let stand on table or shelf in warm kitchen.
As it rises, stir it down once in a while.
When well risen, set in a cool place and stir down occasionally until it does not rise any more.
Fill clean cold jars about ⅔ full and when settled, fasten covers on and put in ice box.
Use 1 tablespoon of yeast per pint of water when setting bread overnight, and double the quantity for starting in the morning.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Cake | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Sugar + potatotop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Starch that breaks down and feeds the yeast, giving body and a thick mash.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sugars, producing gas that leavens bread and makes the mixture rise.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast so fermentation starts and stays active.
- Hops (in the method)
- Adds bitterness and aroma and helps preserve the liquid against spoilage.
The step that matters
Cool to lukewarm before adding the yeast. Yeast is killed by very hot liquid. Cooling the thickened mash to lukewarm keeps the yeast alive so it can ferment and raise the dough.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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