OT: Long! Yeasts reply

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I had a lot to say. Maybe I've lurked to long and needed to yak? LOL!

This is what I recall about the yeast questions. Hope

 

 

Veg-Recipes , mango <j.kolling@c...> wrote:

> What is brewers yeast? (a.k.a. nutritional yeast)? and how is it

>made? is it a by-produkt? is it a waste-produkt? could you possibly

>make it yourself? how come there is so much protein in it?

 

First, what is yeast? It's a fungus which makes a lot of carbon

dioxide as it grows, so like bees, it's a living organism which we

humans have harnessed to work for us. It can remain alive in a

dehydrated, dormant state, hence active dry yeast used in

breadmaking. It's grown commerically in media which support its

optimal growth, and a bit of the media is present in the yeast when

we get it, generally some sort of carbohydrate " meal " .

 

It has a lot of protein because all living organisms are, in large

part, an arrangement of complex amino acids. Protein content isn't

lost at death. No, you can't make it yourself: it's strictly a

commercial product, unless you have the right set-up. It's so cheap,

you're better off buying it. You CAN harvest wild yeasts in small

quantities to make your own bread, but the outcome is quite variable.

Mostly, your starter will rot before you capture enough of them,

unless you're lucky. Then, too, you may capture some very foul-

tasting ones. A bakery is full of wonderful yeasts in the air, from

years of bread baking, and some habitats have marvelous-tasting,

naturally occurring fungi--such as the caves in France for Roquefort,

etc.

 

For nutritional purposes, you CANNOT use active dry yeast or

compressed yeast cakes. They are alive, and will actually rob you of

vitamins which they need to grow. Use them only for baking. The

nutritional yeasts are dead, so they can only add nutrition. I think

the rest of the nutritional profile could vary if it weren't

stored/shipped properly, so I'd be careful where I bought it. The B

vitamin complex isn't light-stable, so take that into consideration

when purchasing it. I never bought it in bulk, for example, because

of that, but I was a bit of a nut.

 

There are a variety of nutritional yeasts, but the only two commonly

found are brewer's yeast, a by-product of the brewing industry, and

torula yeast (which tastes somewhat better), which is generally grown

for the supplement industry. I can't remember the names of the

others, since it's been 30+ years since I used nutritional yeast, and

I never see any other kind offered at our co-op.

 

Note to vegans: There is, as you know, a lot of controversy regarding

B-12 and the fungi found in yeasts, tempeh and other fermented foods.

Certainly the commonly given amounts of B-12 in their nutritional

profiles is wrong, since the method used to calculate B-12 cannot

distinguish between B-12 and its analogs. It looks as though a some

of these products, using more expensive, but accurate, tests, contain

no B-12 at all, and some have goodly amounts of it. In my opinion,

until companies begin disclosing HOW they tested their products for

the B-12 element of the nutritional profile, taking a vegan B-12

supplement twice a week is prudent.