To Purify Yeast for Bread or Cakes

Instructions

1. Understand the problem first: yeast procured from a public brewery is often so extremely bitter that it can only be rendered fit for use by frequent washings, and even after these it should be cautiously employed.
2. When the yeast is first brought in, mix it with a large quantity of cold water and set it by in a cool place until the following morning.
3. Next morning, drain off the water and stir the yeast up well with as much more of fresh water. It must again stand several hours before the water can be poured clear from it.
4. Change this water daily in winter, and both night and morning in very hot weather. Treated so, the yeast may be preserved fit for use much longer than it would otherwise be.
5. Should it ferment rather less freely after a time, stir to it a small portion of brown sugar and a little warm milk or other liquid a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes before it is required for bread-making; this will restore its strength.
6. Substitute worth knowing: German yeast, of which she speaks in detail in another part of this chapter, makes exceedingly light bread and buns and is never bitter, so it is a valuable substitute for English beer-yeast; but it cannot be procured in all parts of the country, for the reasons she has stated.