KISS! Keep It Super Simple Overnight Yeast Water Bread
How to Make Wild Yeast Water
This is your guide to getting started with Wild Yeast Water bread baking. If you’ve never heard of yeast water, it’s simply natural yeast in liquid form. When mixed with flour (gluten flour or certain gluten free flours), Yeast Water will raise bread dough just like sourdough starter.
Sourdough recipes can be converted to yeast water with excellent results. Yeast Water is used to make a starter, or levain which I describe how to do in this post. The bread will have a more grain-forward flavor than sour flavor — and that can be a good thing! It gives variety to your baking.
If you’re wondering why bake with Yeast Water instead of sourdough starter, these are my top three reasons:
1) Yeast Water does not need regular feeding and there is no discard*
2) Breads made with Yeast Water have a more grain-forward flavor than sour flavor
3) Yeast Water keeps refrigerated for weeks to months, ready to use without waiting to re-start before baking
*When refreshing the water, save the spent dates to make Apple Date Snack Cake
This post explains all you need for starting your first jar of Wild Yeast Water. You can also download a longer version in PDF form as listed in most of my recipes.
Here’s the 1-2-3 to get started:
Soon you’ll be baking Artisan style Wild Yeast Water breads and skipping the maintenance of sourdough starter.
I recommend beginning with either Super Simple Wild Yeast Water Bread or Overnight No-Knead Yeast Water Bread. If you’re feeling advanced, go for my 2.0 version called Yeast Water Artisan Bread.
More reasons for baking with Wild Yeast Water:
- Yeast Water allows the dough to rise slowly, adding a subtle complex grain flavor and improved dough structure, or ‘crumb’. Crumb is the level of lightness, holes, and texture of dough which is created by how the gluten is stretched and handled. I relate the long-rise difference to the flavor of bakery Artisan breads that are ‘just so good’!
- Because Yeast Water (and sourdough too) rise slower than active dry yeast, there is more control with the rising meaning there is a longer window for when the dough is ready to bake. However, you do have to plan for the longer rise time for yeast water (or sourdough) vs dry yeast.
- It’s fun to see the bread rise from the simple mixture of dried fruit and water! Plus, the slower pace is part of the process of bread baking 🙂
Let me know how your yeast water journey is going. Comment below or send an email with questions.
I’ll chat yeast water any time! Contact me at reciperose@rosemarymark.com
Very useful equipment I use all day long in my kitchen!:
The high capacity baking scale and Folding Proofer that’s also a slow cooker! affiliate links
How to Make Wild Yeast Water
Plan on 6-10 days for the first fermentation. After baking several yeast water breads with most of the water in the jar, it will take 1-3 days to refresh a new jar of yeast water. Use the spent dates to bake my Apple Date Snack Cake! Apple Date Snack Cake – Rosemary Mark
Equipment
- 1 quart-size glass jar preferably narrow mouth type
- 1 metal two-piece jar lid or plastic lid Plastic is good because metal can rust after a very long time. Do not use a leak-proof lid with silicon gasket. Other plastic lids and two-piece metal lids allow the slightest bit of gas to escape which can prevent build-up of fermentation pressure.
- 1 scale for measuring gram weights preferred although cups and spoons can be used
- 1 Pint size glass jar with lid for making preferment or use any covered container
Ingredients
Ingredients for starting yeast water
- 500 gr/ml tap water– if highly chlorinated, use a bottled spring water
- 80 grams dark raisins, untreated dried cherries, or whole medjool dates with pits— golden raisins can be tricky to ferment because of the sulfur; pitted dates tend to disintegrate more than whole dates
Ingredients for maintaining yeast water
- 350-550 gr/ml tap water
- 2 dates, or 30 grams raisins or dried cherries
- 35 grams (~2 tbsp) granulated sugar
- 2 grams (~1/2 tsp) Kosher salt
Instructions
- Heat the 500g water to 80-90F to help start the fermentation. Do not overheat.
- Pour the water into a clean jar and add the fruit of choice. Close with a lid*.
- Set the jar of water to ferment preferably at 75°F to 80°F. The oven with the light on can provide a warm temperature, but it must stay below 85F. Higher or lower temperature may prevent fermentation. My oven light heats the oven to 100F or more in about 3 hours which would damage the yeast.
- Twice a day, open and close (burp) the jar to oxygenate the water, then shake vigorously over the sink to catch any leakage. Burp the jar again and re-close. After 2-3 days, the water may become a little cloudy and should form bubbles on top that stay for a few minutes after shaking. At first the water will smell like fruit. As it starts to ferment you should notice a sharp kombucha or beer-like scent by the 6th or 7th day. If not, see #6 below.
- The water is ready when the fruit rises to the top and small bubbles are trailing up from the bottom before the jar is shaken. There should also be a release of gases when burping the jar.
- IF after 6 or 7 days there is little or no fermentation action, strain the fruit out and return the same water to the jar. Add 30 grams of new dried fruit, 30 grams of granulated sugar or honey, and about 350g of water or enough to fill the jar to the shoulder.
- Continue holding at 75°F-80°F, shaking twice a day until the fruit rises to the top and the water is bubbly. Look for a little sediment of yeast at the bottom of the jar. This should take 2-4 more days after the first fermentation, or this may happen without the second fermentation.
- The final test of fermentation is to mix a preferment or levain: To do this, stir together 100g yeast water, 50 grams whole wheat or rye flour, and 50 grams bread flour. A 1 pint jar and a chopstick for stirring work well, or a small covered bowl and spoon is ok. This mixture will be thick enough to nearly hold the chopstick. straight up.
- Let stand covered at 75-80F until at least double in volume and the mixture has a domed top, or it might go all the way to the top of the jar.
- Sometimes my cherry water preferment is double or more in 4-6 hours!
- The preferment is ideally used as soon as it reaches its doubled peak and is domed on top. However, I've refrigerated preferment for up to 24 hours and it worked fine along with additional yeast water per my recipes.
Maintaining your yeast water
- Store fermented yeast water in the refrigerator, preferably in the back where it is coldest, not on the door. After baking with the water a couple times and there is about 1-1/2 inches of yeast water in the jar, it's time to re-build the yeast water. Never use it all up or you'll have to start over with the 7+ day process. Follow the steps below to refresh.
- Remove the dried fruit if you haven't already and discard or save for other uses.* Leave the YW in the jar along with any residue/yeast at the bottom of the jar. *The fermented dates keep nearly indefinitely in the refrigerator, so I sometimes mash them into banana bread or muffins, and my Apple Date Snack Cake. There isn’t much flavor but it adds moisture, fiber, and prevents waste. (Fruit discard recipes to come soon on this blog.)
- Add tap (or spring) water to the shoulder of the jar, which is about 350-550g water (~2 cups), add 35g (2 Tbsp) granulated sugar, 2 dried dates (Medjool) and scant ½ tsp Kosher salt (or ¼ tsp table salt). Salt modulates fermentation which could prevent explosion, and may reduce chance of mold that could occur while the sugary mixture is feeding on the yeast.
- Close the jar with the lid, shake to dissolve and disperse sugar and salt. Burp to release air gases.
- Leave the jar closed at room temperature 2-3 days. This fermentation is less sensitive to temperature so I leave on the kitchen counter which is usually around 62-72°F. Once a day burp to release gases and let fresh air in, then tighten the lid and shake jar to mix well. If a day is skipped it will be ok but the fermentation gases could build up, so for safety it’s best to open and release every day. An active water may look and smell ready in one day, but I usually give it 72 hours before using or refrigerating.
- That's it! Your water will wait in the refrigerator for weeks to months ready to use without feeding or discard. Now and then you can open and shake to give it some air.
Notes
*The double lid could be a safety for releasing built up fermentation; a plastic leak proof lid still leaks slightly when shaking but doesn’t rust like metal lids.
-The amount of YW in a batch of bread dough can vary. If it’s been a couple months since I refreshed the water I might use a little more than if the water is fresher. As little as 10% in a recipe can work as long as there is a rise time of at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours, which varies by room temperature. You’ll be tempted to use 50% or more yeast water, but it is not necessary. 10-30% YW is adequate. Plus, you need to save some of the water to replenish for future use.
-Remember, yeast water fermentation and proofing will be challenged if held below 70F.
Use ‘spent’ dates in this cake Apple Date Snack Cake – Rosemary Mark and in One Bowl Almond Cherry Snack Cake -For more information on Wild Yeast Water: -Join the Facebook page, “Artisan Bread Baking with Wild Yeast Water”. -YouTube video the PPG Baker, “PablosWildYeastWater”.
Use ‘spent’ dates in this cake Apple Date Snack Cake – Rosemary Mark and in One Bowl Almond Cherry Snack Cake -For more information on Wild Yeast Water: -Join the Facebook page, “Artisan Bread Baking with Wild Yeast Water”. -YouTube video the PPG Baker, “PablosWildYeastWater”.
Rosemary, this is terrific that you’ve taken the time to explain and articulate the process for your readers. I will be sending folks your way to enjoy the benefits of baking bread with yeast water!
Thank you Jennie! You are still my Yeast Water mentor and I will be forever grateful that you shared this magical bread baking with me. 🙂
Thank you for this wonderful post and recipe after many years of baking with sourdough starter I’m about to make my first yeast water. I’m wondering if I need to use medool dates as I currently have an abundance of khudri dates (with pits) on hand.
Thanks.
Thanks so much for your message and trying Wild Yeast Water! Khudra should be fine- add a couple extra for good measure because I think they are smaller than medjool dates. Let me know how it goes!
This is perfect for me. I’m going to give this a go. Yeast water is a completely new thing for me!
Yeah! I’m here to coach if you need! Key is keeping the water and then the dough in warm enough place, ideally between 75-80F. Looking forward to hearing how you like using yeast water.