Yeast is a crucial ingredient in a good portion of baked goods, and because it’s a living thing, it’s important to know how to use and store this vital component. What’s more, not all yeasts are created equal, and knowing which type is best for a particular product and application can determine whether the item rises to the occasion or falls flat.

To learn more about yeast, the varieties, and how to use them, Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery Chief Editor Jenni Spinner connected with Cam Suárez Bitár, director of marketing and public relations with Pak Group NA (and experienced baker in his own right).

Jenni Spinner: Not to get too simplistic, but we might as well start with a good basic foundation: what is yeast?

Cam Suárez Bitár: It’s actually quite the story! Yeast, also known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a small, single-cell microscopic, and usually oval-shaped fungus that absolutely loves sugar. Because of its voracious appetite for sugar, it ferments dough as it converts the sugar in a dough into carbon dioxide and alcohol. Its ability to make that conversion is also known as a yeast’s gassing power, which contributes to a dough rising in the proofer and in the oven, and the creation of a bread’s crumb structure. On the other hand, the alcohol plays a key role in giving yeast-raised breads their unique aroma and flavor.

Yeast may also be considered humankind’s other best friend! Early humans first consumed bread many thousands of years ago in the Fertile Crescent, which is also the birthplace of wine and grape culture. As yeast plays a crucial role in the creation of both bread and wine today, historians conclude that the earliest breads were the result of natural fermentation.

So, after those early years of bread-making and in the 1700s and 1800s, bakers learned that yeast produces a lighter and softer bread, which led to the prevalence of “elite” breads, otherwise known as pain de luxe in Western Europe. Nowadays, it is an intrinsic part of baking and the bread-eating experience!

JS: Like a lot of people in the industry, before I started in the baking field, I didn’t know there were multiple types of yeast (beyond the stuff in the little packets, and the stuff in jars). Could you run down some of the types we encounter in bread production?

CSB: There are countless yeast strains used in baking and other fields, and the stuff you find in those little packets and jars at your favorite market is just the tip of the iceberg! In both home baking and industrial baking, the most common types of yeast used are:

Instant dry yeast: Also known as fast-rising yeast or rapid-rise yeast, it is made from 98% yeast solids and 2% water. Due to its ease of use and simple storage requirements, IDY is arguably the most versatile and consistent form of baker’s yeast on the market today. Becoming popular in the 1980s among bakers, IDY is ready to use out of the package––unlike its cousin, active dry yeast (ADY), which must be mixed into a slurry with warm water––and has a two-year shelf life, which is twice as long as ADY. The “red” variant of IDY, like Bellarise Red Instant Dry Yeast, is used in lean doughs made with 6% or less sugar. As for the ”gold” variant, which would be Bellarise Gold Instant Dry Yeast, it is best suited for sweet doughs made with 6% or more sugar. Bellarise also offers private-label options to our retail partners who wish to provide IDY to their customers using their own brand. Please also note that IDY and ADY are two different yeast strains altogether.

Active dry yeast: Composed of 94% yeast solids and 6% water, ADY is one of the most common forms of baker’s yeast available at your local grocery store. Because of its 1-year shelf life and ambient storage requirements, it was widely used by the U.S. military during World War II to bake for personnel serving overseas, and it is still used today by many home bakers. Much like instant dry yeast, it looks like tiny beige-colored rods and performs similarly, depending on the bread recipe and baking process involved. Key differences between IDY and ADY is that the latter requires the baker to create a slurry where it is mixed with warm water before being added to a dough’s dry ingredients. Many supermarket private brands sell active dry yeast that Bellarise produces for them, and the main reason for its continued use is that many older bread recipes that call for yeast indicate the use of ADY.

Semi-dry yeast: Consisting of 80% yeast solids and 20% water, SDY is kept frozen until use and its gassing power is consistent over its two-year shelf life, which can be anywhere from 70% to 90% longer than the variants below. Like Instant Dry Yeast, SDY can be found in two variants: Red and Gold, and both excel when used in frozen doughs. The former is best for use in doughs with 6% or less sugar, while the latter excels in doughs made with 6% or more sugar. Currently, Bellarise is one of the world’s only producers of SDY, which we sell in both the red and gold variants, and ours is a proprietary freezing process that ensures its quality and shelf life.

Deactivated yeast: This is the one notable exception since it is not typically available at the consumer level and it is, in effect, a dead yeast. An amino acid that it contains, known as glutathione, gives deactivated yeast the ability to relax your dough. This is particularly important when baking pizza since it prevents the dough from “snapping back” when you stretch it. Used almost exclusively by industrial and commercial bakeries as an all-natural and clean-label dough conditioner, yeast like Bellarise Deactivated Yeast is typically used to replace L-Cysteine, which is a chemical-based baking ingredient.

Fresh crumbled/block yeast: Made up of around 33% yeast solids and the rest being water, it requires cold storage, and its gassing power can be unpredictable from one batch to the other due to its short shelf life. When thinking of this kind of yeast, imagine it having a thick, pasty texture.

Cream yeast: Typically, it consists of 18-20% yeast solids and 80-82% water. In its more liquid form, this yeast is the most diluted form used by bakeries, and its gassing power/performance is difficult to predict due to its short three-week shelf life. It also requires refrigeration. Essentially, the more moisture, the shorter the shelf life.

JS: How is yeast made? 

CSB: To produce baker’s yeast at scale, first you need to ferment it and feed it in facilities large enough to create the amounts needed by industrial and commercial bakeries that run as many production lines as possible, often through the day and the night. In our case, Pak Group is the world’s fourth-largest baker’s yeast producer and we serve bakeries in over 130 countries worldwide. We craft baker’s yeast, along with dough conditioners, softeners, and bakery solutions to some of the largest and best bakeries in the world, and to do that we ensure that we have the capacity and resources needed to produce wholesome and reliable ingredients that help our partners bake their greatest breads. A special step we take is feeding our yeast all-natural beet molasses, which is a method that differs from other producers who use high-fructose corn syrup. After feeding, raising, and fermentation are complete, the removal of moisture begins.

The process begins when yeast is placed in a centrifuge where water separation takes place.

The end result is cream yeast. After that step, yeast is transferred to a filter dryer, which yields Fresh Yeast (otherwise known as crumbled or block Yeast). At that point, the paths to production of other baking yeasts diverge.

When taken to our proprietary industrial freezing system, Fresh Yeast becomes semi-dry yeast, where the freezing process begins immediately after the first drying phase, and more moisture is removed. If it is run through a vacuum dryer instead, the result is active dry yeast and instant dry yeast.

Lastly, if cream yeast is run through a spray dryer, then the resulting form is deactivated yeast.

JS: Yeast is a living thing; how can bakery professionals be sure to correctly store, keep track of useful life, and otherwise treat their yeast right?

CSB: This varies from one form of yeast to another, and most of these details are in the answer above. I will add, though, that instant dry yeast, active dry yeast, and deactivated yeast require dry, cool, and ambient storage conditions. Semi-dry yeast requires freezing, and the others must be kept refrigerated mostly due to their consisting mostly of water.

For home bakers, instant dry yeast and active dry yeast are the yeasts of choice, and while having two-year and one-year shelf lives while in their vacuum-sealed containers, respectively, any unused portions should be refrigerated in an air-tight container to maintain gassing power. As a rule, once yeast comes in contact with air, its gassing power begins to decline; therefore, it is wise for home bakers to use the amount needed in the recipe and to properly store unused yeast as quickly as possible. Pak Group recommends that unused amounts should be used soon, so we’re hoping that bakers who love to bake just keep on baking!

Lastly, hey, baking is one of the most human activities we can do in life, and every batch will not only be different, but we must remember that sometimes we as bakers will make mistakes, and that’s okay! Just keep baking! As it is, baking connects us with our roots as a species, with our respective cultural backgrounds, with the people we love and appreciate, and in its very “human” nature, the breads people bake won’t always be perfect, though they will always be special and unique. Baking is a beautiful thing. It can be imprecise and messy at times, but so is life, and the more we “live,” the better we get at baking, and at life itself.

JS: Can you share some of the yeasts and related products companies like Bellarise offer bakers? What’s your favorite baked product made with yeast?

CSB: In addition to the yeasts mentioned above, others to look out for are Nutritional Yeast, which is used as a seasoning that bears a unique umami flavor profile. It is also rich in vitamins and minerals, and it’s an essential ingredient in some vegan and plant-based diets. My wife and I use it with olive oil on popcorn all the time!

Yeast extract is also used in flavor systems to impart an umami profile and cheesy notes on specific foods, and sometimes a sort of saltiness.

As for my own favorite baked product made with yeast, that’s the toughest question of all! I would have to say that a classic French baguette baked bien cuit or a crispy croissant—the type that begins to shatter when you take a bite––are my number ones, for sure!