>I'm hoping some of you can help me. How can one store yeast so that it
>doesn't go "bad"? I purchased a jar and stored it in the 'fridge' in the
>door. Whenever I used it, I made sure that I put the lid back on tightly.
>However, I got down to 1/3 of a jar and the yeast has gone bad. (I proofed
>the yeast and hardly any froth at all.) Of course I threw the jar away. It
>wasn't anywhere near the expiration date. Granted it has been humid here
>lately but I have kept it in the fridge. How can one prevent this from
>happening? Should I not put it in the door? Should I find a container that
>is like a tupperware container? It's not the expense that bothers me but
>the disappointment when my loaves in the machine fail to rise to
>expectations. If anyone could give some advice, I would sure appreciate
>it. Many Thanks.
I lived in Hong Kong where the weather is hot and humidity is always high, I
purchase active dry yeast in bulk and I keep it in the freezer, often use it
for long time ( sometimes more than 6 months after opening. There wasn't any
problem at all. This is what I do:
After I open the pack of yeast, I will keep say 4/5 of it in a plastic air
tight container ( tupperware, but you don't really need tupperware, it just
happened that I have a lot of tupperware, therefore I used one for the
yeast), I will keep it inside the freezer. For the other 1/5, I will put it
in a smaller plastic container, it doesn't matter whether you put it inside
the freezer or not, you may just keep it in the fridge, for you will use it
up in a short time, however, I do keep mine in the freezer also ( to play
safe!).
When I use yeast, I will take it out from the small container, and leave the
big one intact, when I finished with the small container, I will transfer
another 1/5 from the big container to the small one and so on.
It sounds complicated in writing, but in actual practice, it is very simple
and doesn't take any extra effort at all.
Before baking bread, I will measure the yeast taken out from the freezer,
put in a bit of lukewarm water and let it stand on the counter for awhile to
wake it up before adding it to flour.
Hope that it can help!
Rose