Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Finally got my hands on some! It's as rare as hen's teeth (would you look at me? I finally get to use this expression in a sentence; there's just no stopping me now ) in Vancouver. I have a 1 pound block of it and have heard you can freeze it. Anyone know what's the best way to do so? Do you break it into bits and then freeze? Does each piece need to be wrapped individually? Or can you just freeze the whole block as is? Can you break off pieces or does it freeze solid?

You undoubtedly missed my post on FB where I whined about a 1 lb. block of fresh yeast falling off the top shelf of the pastry freezer at work, and landing on my chef clog at JUST the right angle. It broke my pinkie toe. (And, I'm not kidding.)

Go ahead and freeze the brick, or break it up into manageable pieces. It would work either way.

Amy

I'd check the temperature, first. I know my freezer will actually kill yeast, slowly, but surely. However, I'm not sure what a proper temp would be.

Amy, yes I missed that one. BTW what/where is FB?
I'll bet you had no idea fresh yeast could be so dangerous. Sorry for your broken pinkie toe. No fun. And you can't even set the poor thing with a cast. Imagine a pinkie toe cast.
Ok I'm going to go toss it in the freezer. Hopefully I won't kill it.

JesBelle, you brought up a good point. I do keep my freezer at its coldest setting, so likely I'll wind up killing the yeast as well.

Also, how long does it last in the fridge?
And what is the ratio substitute for fresh yeast vs. rapid rise and granular? Most of my recipes call for rapid rise. Some call for granular. Pardon the tie in with the other yeast thread....

FB=Facebook. As we are "FB friends" (as well as general friends... ), you can go back on my profile page to read about it. As I commented at the time, I think I'm the only person in recorded history to break their toe because of yeast.

Amy

I am going to disagree about freezing the yeast. Do it all the time and have no problem.

JMO,

Amy

Amy - You're probably going through it faster than I do. It takes awhile - maybe a couple months? Not sure, it's been awhile. I keep the temp below zero.

oh FB of course, duh! I don't know why my brain was only thinking in terms of OTBB.

Update: the yeast died in my freezer. Pulled it out to make a challah and nothing, nada. Kaput. Grrr. So storing in the freezer is a no go for me.