Ford On Food

As I write this article, I’ve got a batch of fresh bread dough on-the-prove. Which means the yeast in the dough is having a great time eating up sugars and starch and converting them into alcohol and bubbles of carbon dioxide. These little gas bubbles get trapped in the sticky bread dough and cause the bread to expand like a balloon.. In brief technical terms, yeast is a single-celled living organism. It is classified as a fungus. Yeast is a wonderful friend to all people who love baking. However, if you don’t treat it right, it can be a very unforgiving friend. I’ve spent a lot of my cooking career in pastry kitchens and have used a lot of yeast. I’ve also had a couple of disasters, most of which could be attributed to the yeast feeling mistreated, disrespected and unappreciated. In return, the yeast punished me by not doing it’s job and producing flat heavy cow pats instead of light crusty bread. There are three main types of yeast: Fresh compressed yeast (which is my favourite) is the most active and alive