Dry Yeast/Bannock

[crockett]

I'm currently reading LeConte's "Rambling" which covers an 1870 trip to Yosemite. In this book he mentions cooking bannock and using dry yeast. I realize this is 30 years past the Pre-1840 time but it is one of the earliest references I've read about cooking bannock in a frying pan propped up before a campfire (it didn't come out very good- just like mine :grin: ) and they used dry yeast. Does anyone have any earlier references? Thanks

 

[necchi]

I have no earlier reference as you ask that are not commonly available,,
But Yeast in Bannok is bread dough. Once it becomes bread dough it's a different game.
Call it bread dough not bannok, thus the authors error.
Your author made a simple mistake in and/or with his gear during his travels,, that doesn't create a new way to have or make bannok.
And he may well have failed making bread with the substance he had at hand while actually attempting bannok.

 

[coloradoclyde]

It was Louis Pasteur In 1859 who first discovered how yeast works:
Nine years after Pasteur’s discovery, Fleischmann’s® Yeast was founded, and the modern baking era was born.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

when America entered World War II, Fleischmann Laboratories developed and manufactured Active Dry Yeast®, specifically to ensure GIs could enjoy home-baked bread. Unlike their original compressed yeast cake, the new Fleischmann’s® Yeast did not require refrigeration and was activated quickly with warm water. For the second time in its history, Fleischmann’s had revolutionized yeast baking.

So from the Fleischmann company's own website, the original commercial yeast was not "dry" but a yeast "cake" that need to be kept cold..., making it unlikely that LeConte was referring to that product, since that form of yeast didn't appear until at least 1941. :wink:

I think it more likely that LeConte incorrectly identified baking powder as a form of "yeast" since in a "quick bread" it's used as the "leaven". Bannock at the turn of the 20th century was recorded by Kephart as being made with "baking powder biscuit dough" and double the lard normally used in biscuits.... his was the same way, done in a frying pan.

NOW IF the bannock made by LeCompte was made with too much baking powder OR worse, if he tried to use baking soda as a substitute for baking powder or simply thought it was the same as baking powder, and used too much, he would have made a very bitter bannock, as the baking soda will sometimes react with fat in a batter to make quasi-soap molecules... :barf:

You can only use so much baking soda before you get the bitter reaction when doing biscuits, or as I found, when trying to come up with an oatmeal bannock recipe. :shocked2: :nono:

OH for what it's worth, I found that making a "flatbread" oatmeal bannock, with a little grease on the pan, and then browning the flatbread (basically it's a stiff, thick, oat tortilla, toasted in the pan, then flipped and repeated) isn't half bad. Needs to have some salt, though.

LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

I think it more likely that LeConte incorrectly identified baking powder as a form of "yeast" since in a "quick bread" it's used as the "leaven". Bannock at the turn of the 20th century was recorded by Kephart as being made with "baking powder biscuit dough" and double the lard normally used in biscuits.... his was the same way, done in a frying pan.


LD

I agree with Dave, as I have never seen a bannock recipe with yeast.
However Yeast has been dried for centuries, despite Fleischman's claim to fame.
The Vikings dried yeast on wooden sticks as did the Norwegians.

However these were used for making wine, beer and mead.

LeConte may have been referring to "pressed yeast", but ultimately his statement may have simply been a testament to a poor cook.

"Before 1872 and as early as 1787, not fewer than 34 patents were issued on “yeast as an article of manufacture” (18 sourdough”types, 5 from treated brewer's yeast, 11 from fermented liquid media).

As mentioned, the oldest patent found on yeast was published in 1787 and was based on the use of fermented potatoes as a growth medium to prepare yeast. While potatoes were renowned for stimulatory action on yeast fermentation, most patented formulations for sourdough preparation were based on milled cereals (malted or not), sometimes grapes or flowers.


Historical context These artisan preparations were intended for bakers or customers who were obliged to make bread without yeast because they could not afford to pay for “pressed yeast” available from beer or alcohol manufacturers. Throughout the 19th century, such ingredients were very popular, especially in Great Britain, France, and the United States.

The taste of bread made with these artisan yeast preparations was sour because large amounts of microorganisms were present in flour, including lactic acid”producing bacteria that grew faster in hydrated flour than miscellaneous yeast species (also present in flour) with variable gassing power. Mainly producing lactic acid and to a lesser extent acetic acid, lactic acid bacteria are poor gas formers, compared to yeasts which do not form acids from fermentable sugars present in flour, mainly glucose, fructose, and maltose freed from starch by the action of endogenous wheat amylases. Because it was highly variable in nature and strongly influenced bread flavor, these spontaneous sourdough”based starters had limited value for large”scale bread manufacturing. "


"In the 19th century, the rapid development of industrial distilleries in Northern European countries led to recovery of distillery by”products and prompted the sale of yeast to bakers as an alternative to brewer's yeast. However, between 1823 and 1860, British distillers were not allowed to sell distillers’ yeast for bread applications which contributed much the rapid development of German, Dutch, and French monopolies in superior pressed yeast for baking (Weir 1991). This partly explains why most patents on brewer's yeast debittering and bleaching were issued in Great Britain. Around 1850, German scientists discovered that distillery yeasts had higher gassing power than brewer's yeasts (Weir 1991). Helped much by their ease of adaptation in different environments, specific yeast strains for bakery applications were then selected according to their performance in distilleries (Gélinas 2009)."

"Around 1780 to 1800, the Dutch process was developed by a gin manufacturer from Schiedam (The Netherlands) that sold a concentrated yeast product for baking applications. Waste yeast production was combined with gin production and gave about 4% to 8% yield (wet yeast/wet grain weight basis). Mash was made of cooked rye and barley malt; after decantation, the supernatant was diluted and seeded with yeast at 18 to 19 °C (Frey 1930). Both floating and bottom”settling yeasts were recovered after washing with water and filtration. No aeration was provided and the taste of this cake of distiller's yeast was milder than brewer's yeast. Yeast traders were very interested in technologies to increase yeast yields. In these days, baker's yeast manufacturing was closely associated to alcohol manufacturing which means that any increase in yeast yields meant that alcohol yields were reduced; however, compared to alcohol, yeast manufacturing was much more lucrative for distilleries (Weir 1991). "


"Much interest was given to the final processing steps for baker's yeast, with 19 patents. In the paste or compressed form (about 25% to 30% solids), yeast is a very suitable material which encouraged manufacturers to develop automatic forming and packaging systems. Especially in the United States and Germany, and as early as 1878, automatic cutting and wrapping equipment was designed to save manual work and reduce yeast losses during its final manufacturing steps."



-Mapping Early Patents on Baker's Yeast Manufacture
Pierre Gélinas-
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2010.00122.x

 

[crockett]

Well thanks to all. I myself questioned the yeast because I thought you had to wait for it to activate. It sounded like the flour was mixed up into a dough and immediately put in a fry pan. Fried on one side a little and turned over and then the pan propped up facing the fire. He calls it "bread" but to me it sounded like bannock. When was baking powder invented?

 

[coloradoclyde]

When was baking powder invented?

1843.....Alfred Bird
https://whatscookingamerica.net/baking-powder.htm

 

[Hairy Clipper]

Thank you for the link! Looks like a good cooking site.