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I am making bread and my yeast is not foaming. I am using water at 110 F and my yeast is good - I recently used it a couple of days ago, and it worked fine. This time, it looks like brown water; it has dissolved, but never foamed. I keep my yeast in the refrigerator. Instead of using it right after I have removed it, should I pull it out and let it warm up first? I don't think I pulled it out and let it warm up the last time, but I am unsure.

Catija
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GJ.Baker
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1 Answers1

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110F is almost too hot for the yeast. 100F works just as well and leaves a threshold of safety.

You do not have to warm the yeast before placing it into the water.

Try 1/2 tsp of sugar in 50 grams of 100F water to start the yeast. It should be a party in there within 10 minutes. If not, you've got dead yeast.

Keith Payne
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    The pinch of sugar to kick start should do the trick for you. I have also had issues getting the buggers to wake up if my yeast bowl had soap residue with chlorinated water. I always keep my yeast refrigerated though, and even freezing should not kill it, the tepid water should wake it with the sugar kick starter. – dlb Feb 15 '17 at 21:49
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    @GJ.Baker : To test the water temp, I run the hot tap against the inside of my wrist -- when it feels warm (above body temp), stop the tap, then grab your measuring cup and fill it. (it helps to have an old house w/ copper pipes that takes a little while to warm up for this one) – Joe Feb 15 '17 at 22:10
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    Indeed, I think peak activity is more like 90F, so playing the high end of yeast viability is not even beneficial...plain ol' room temperature works just fine i you are not in a hurry. – Ecnerwal Feb 16 '17 at 02:36