Produced on an industrial scale, yeast is generally clear, cream or ivory coloured, with a distinctive smell. It exists in various forms designed for specific applications. The Lesaffre Group produces and sells this wide range of yeasts.
Liquid yeast
up until 1825, (when pressed yeast was first introduced), yeast was marketed in liquid form. The current renaissance of this yeast variety is a result of specific demand from industrial bakeries.
Pressed yeast
is most widely used in the industrialized nations for both economic and practical reasons. It takes the form of compact blocks. White in colour, and extremely crumbly in France, it tends to be deeper in colour and with a more “plastic” consistency in other countries.
Crumbled yeast
is marketed in the form of relatively fine, easy to pour particles. It is frequently used by industrial companies, who mix it with water making it easier to automate dosage.
Active
dried yeast
takes the form of granules or spherical particles. Its sheer hardiness means that it offers excellent stability at ambient temperature, a characteristic which makes it very popular in those parts of the world where climatic conditions are less than favourable (i.e. high temperatures and humidity levels).
Instant
dried yeast
owes its name to the fact that it is not necessary to add water to this yeast variety before adding it to the flour. It can be used just as easily as pressed yeast. The fine particles of instant yeast are vacuum packed or under protective atmosphere.
Intermediate
humidity frozen
dried yeast
is a yeast containing a lower level of dry matter than that found in instant dried yeast. It takes the form of a powder and is used in applications such as frozen dough.
