How to Make and Preserve Your Own Yeast

It’s likely we will never forget the great run on toilet paper at the start of the pandemic in 2020.

But toilet paper wasn’t the only thing missing from grocery store shelves.

As people stayed home and supply chains came to a screeching halt, yeast disappeared.

Products such as Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast couldn’t be found—unless you went to online sellers who charged upwards of $45.

If you aren’t a baker, this may not seem like a big deal. But it is.

Many Americans buy store-bought yeast instead of making their own, so when there was a yeast shortage, baking and brewing stopped.

As much as we’d like to believe 2020 is far in the rearview mirror, that isn’t the case.

We are still dealing with supply chain issues. Add in diesel shortages and inflation, and people have plenty of reasons to worry about yeast and other items—such as bread—remaining on grocery store shelves.

For example, Yahoo reports, “With the continuation of Russia’s war in Ukraine (the countries account for nearly 20% of global cereal grain production), ‘many bakeries and factories may struggle to obtain the necessary ingredients to make bread, leading to a potential shortage in 2023.’”

The good news is that wild yeast exists outside grocery store shelves.

Yeast occurs naturally, so if you know different methods for making your own yeast starters, you can become self-sufficient in the kitchen.

How to Make Your Own Yeast from Flour

You can make fresh yeast using only water and flour. Consider keeping long-term food storage flour on hand, like our White Flour (Large Can) or our Honey Wheat Bread Mix.

Keep in mind that if you make fresh yeast, you’ll need to refrigerate it and use it within two weeks.

Here is a recipe for fresh yeast from MasterClass:

Note: Making your own starter takes about five days.

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour
• Filtered water

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl at least twice the size of your mixture, combine three tablespoons of all-purpose flour and three tablespoons of water. Mix with a spatula until evenly combined. Loosely cover and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
2. The next day, add another three tablespoons of flour and three tablespoons of water. Mix to combine. Loosely cover and leave at room temperature for another 24 hours.
3. On day 3, add six tablespoons of flour and six tablespoons of water. Mix well. Loosely cover and leave at room temperature for another 24 hours.
4. On day 4, remove a fourth of the mixture from the container and discard it. Loosely cover and leave at room temperature for another 24 hours.
5. By day 5, your yeast starter should be ready to use. It should be light, bubbly, and fluffy, with a pronounced, almost sweet, fermentation aroma without any acidity. To double-check, pinch off a small amount of starter and place it in a bowl of warm water. If it floats, that’s a good sign that the starter is ready.

[Related Read: How to Make Bread Without Yeast or Oil]

How to Make Your Own Yeast from Dried Fruit

Ingredients

• Flour
• Filtered tap water
• Dried fruit

How to Make Your Own Yeast from Apples

• Clean glass jar (with lid or cheesecloth)
• Cut-up apple, or try our freeze-dried apple slices
• Filtered tap water

How to Make Your Own Yeast from Potatoes

• Clean glass jar (with lid or cheesecloth)
• Medium peeled potato — try our freeze-dried diced potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt — available in #10 cans
• 1 teaspoon sugar — try our brown sugar can
• Filtered tap water

How to Preserve Yeast

If you want to preserve yeast, you’ll need to dry and store it properly.

Otherwise, what you have is a starter, which must be “fed” daily to keep it active.

Feeding a starter requires adding a cup of water and a cup of flour to the yeast each day.

The starter must be kept at room temperature or in the refrigerator. If refrigerated, it only needs to be fed once a week.

In contrast, dry yeast has a much longer shelf life.

It can remain active for up to two years if unopened. If kept frozen, it can last even longer.

To preserve yeast and keep it fresh, store it in an airtight container away from moisture.

We recommend reusing any of our #10 cans for excellent long-term storage.

Label the container with the date the yeast was created.

Before using stored yeast, test to ensure it’s still active.

How to Dry Yeast for Long-Term Storage

Once your yeast starter is active and bubbly, you can dry it to create shelf-stable yeast for future use. Dried yeast doesn’t require daily feeding and can be stored for years when sealed correctly.

What You’ll Need

• Active yeast starter
• Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
• Baking tray
• Clean spatula or scraper
• Airtight container (such as our Emergency Essentials #10 cans)
• Optional: Food dehydrator with a low-temperature setting

Method 1: Air Drying

1. Spread a thin layer (about 1/8 inch) of the yeast starter on parchment paper or a silicone mat. Use a spatula to smooth it out evenly.
2. Let it air dry at room temperature for 2–3 days, away from direct sunlight. It’s ready when it cracks and flakes easily.
3. Break into flakes or grind into powder using a clean food processor or mortar and pestle.
4. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place—or for longest shelf life, refrigerate or freeze it.

Method 2: Dehydrator

1. Spread the starter on a lined dehydrator tray.
2. Set your dehydrator to 95°F (35°C) or lower to preserve live yeast.
3. Dry for 6–12 hours, until completely crisp.
4. Store in an airtight container as you would above.

How to Reactivate Dried Yeast

To use dried yeast in recipes, rehydrate it with the following steps:

1. Mix 2¼ teaspoons of dried yeast with ½ cup of warm water (110°F) and 1 teaspoon of sugar.
2. Wait 5–10 minutes. If it bubbles and rises, it’s active and ready to use.

[Related Read: The Science of Shelf Life and How to Slow It Down]

How to Determine If Yeast Is Still Good

You likely won’t be able to tell just by looking at it if your yeast is spoiled.

[Related Read: 5 Tricks to Test If Your Food’s Gone Bad]

Inactive yeast doesn’t typically look strange or smell off—but if you use it, your recipes may fail.

You can avoid this by testing the yeast’s activity:

1. Mix 1 tsp. of white sugar into ½ cup of warm water (around 110°F).
2. Stir in 2¼ tsp. of yeast.
3. If the mixture rises to the top of the container within 10 minutes, the yeast is still active and good to use.