General Question

occ's avatar

How is commercial yeast manufactured?

Asked by occ (4179points) November 30th, 2006
how do companies capture natural yeast and preserve it in the packets that you buy in the grocery store? what do they do to the invisible yeast to put it in those little poppy-seed sized pellets?
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4 Answers

Evan's avatar
I have absolutely no idea.. but would REALLY like to know this also.
nomtastic's avatar
Commercial yeast is a by-product of the whisky distillers. If you are a yeast producer your by-product will be methylated spirits. Yeast is a plant, according to the biologists, and is capable of reproducing itself. A piece of yeast consists of minute cells, with walls composed of cellulose, and an interior of living matter called protoplasm. You can feed it with a solution of sugar to make it grow, or it can be 'killed' by 'starvation' or heat. The ancients did not use yeast as we know it today; they prepared a leaven or 'barm' (which has the same action) from ground millet kneaded with 'must' out of wine-tubs. Wheat bran was also used, kneaded with a three-days-old must, dried in the sun, then made into little cakes. When required for making bread, the cakes were soaked in water, then boiled with the finest flour, after which the whole was mixed in with the meal.
nomtastic's avatar
i didn't write that - stole it from a website
nomtastic's avatar
also, look here: http://www.dakotayeast.com/yeast_production.html and click on the image on the right

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