Why it works: Potato and sugar 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 ↓
Potato Yeast
about 4 loaves of breadIngredients
Directions
Prepare the potato mixture
Boil the potatoes in water.
Pour the boiling water over the grated potatoes and stir until it just comes to a boil.
Add the coarse sea salt and sugar, then let the mixture cool.
Ferment and store
Once cool, add the yeast to start fermentation.
When raised, transfer to a jar, cover closely, and store in a clean place.
Use
Use 1 teacup of this yeast for about 4 loaves of bread.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Potato + sugartop 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
- Grated potatoes
- Supply starch that the yeast ferments, and add moisture and body to the mixture.
- Good yeast
- Ferments the mixture, producing gas that makes bread dough rise.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast during fermentation and adds mild sweetness.
The step that matters
Cool the mixture before adding the yeast. Yeast is killed by high heat, so adding it to the mixture while still hot can stop fermentation before it starts. Letting the mixture cool to lukewarm or cooler protects the living culture and lets it grow steadily.
“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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