Frozen Yeast (for bread)

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carbon
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Frozen Yeast (for bread)

Post by carbon »

I recently got a friend interested in bread baking. She bought some dried yeast and put it in the freezer. A couple days later (today), she went to get it out, and noticed that it specificly states not to freeze it. I think the yeast will still be fine for her purposes, but I wanted other peoples opinions on this. Is this yeast still viable?
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rich
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Re: Frozen Yeast (for bread)

Post by backyard brewer »

The only way to find out is to proof it. Put about a 1/4 cup of warm water and a tsp of sugar. Stir the yeast up in there and see if it starts to foam in about 30 minutes or so.

You should do that anyway when baking.
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carbon
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Re: Frozen Yeast (for bread)

Post by carbon »

Good call.
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rich
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BrewMasterBrad
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Re: Frozen Yeast (for bread)

Post by BrewMasterBrad »

Freezing by normal means is generally bad for yeast, but it may not have killed all the cells. Go ahead and proof it and see what happens.
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brahn
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Re: Frozen Yeast (for bread)

Post by brahn »

I've frozen dried bread yeast many times and I've never had a problem with it. Like BB says, go ahead and proof it and see if it's alive.
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