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To Make and Preserve Yeast

A method for making and preserving yeast using hops, water, flour, yeast, and cornmeal.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Tea and corn work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 89 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

To Make and Preserve Yeast

two loaves

Ingredients

Directions

Make the yeast liquor

  1. Boil hops in water for 3-4 minutes.

  2. Strain the liquid and thicken it with flour to a starch-like consistency.

  3. Let it cool to milk-warm, then transfer to a large jar.

  4. Add yeast and let it work until risen.

Shape and dry the cakes

  1. Mix in enough cornmeal or coarse flour to make a stiff dough.

  2. Roll it out thin and cut into cakes.

  3. Dry the cakes in a shaded, airy place, turning them 3-4 times a day.

Store and use

  1. Once dry, store in a basket or bag, keeping them aired and moisture-free.

  2. Soak one cake in cold water for 15 minutes to use for two loaves.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

  1. Tea + corntop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together89 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  2. Flour + corntop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,165 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + teatop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together449 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Hops + flourtop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together10 recipes

    Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).

  5. Hops + corntop 37% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Hops
Adds bitterness and aroma to the liquid.
Flour
Thickens the hop liquid to a starch-like consistency.
Yeast
Ferments the liquid so it rises and leavens the dough.
Indian corn meal or coarse flour
Stiffens the mixture into a dough that can be rolled and dried.

The step that matters

Drying the cakes thoroughly. Moisture lets microbes grow, so the cakes must dry completely in a shaded, airy place. Turning them keeps air moving over every side, so the cakes dry evenly and store without spoiling.

“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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