Firstly, thank you for your interest in Lesaffre products!
Whether you require yeast, taste enhancers, bread improvers or mixes and blends, please complete the “Contact us” form, providing as much information as possible.
Your enquiry will be sent to the relevant department who will get back to you as soon as possible.

Lesaffre is chiefly aimed at trade clients. Consequently, no samples, gadgets or advertising material is sent out to private individuals.

Fresh baker’s yeast stands up well to freezing and still retains its initial performance levels after one year stored at –18°C, on condition that it is defrosted in the refrigerator and used within 24 hours.

Yeast does not naturally contain gluten.

However, be sure to check the other ingredients in your recipes such as flour. Shops often sell gluten-free flour varieties such as corn flour which can be used for bread-making. 

Please see below a table showing the major allergens and information concerning their presence (or otherwise) in yeast.

MAJOR ALLERGENS Base substance or by-products	Found in yeast?
	YES	NO
Cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut or their hybrid varieties) and cereal-based products		X
Seafood and seafood-based products		X
Eggs and egg-based products		X
Fish and fish-based products		X
Peanuts and peanut-based products		X
Soya and soya-based products		X
Milk and milk-based products (including lactose)		X
Nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashew nuts, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachios, Macadamia nuts, Queensland nuts) and products based on these fruit varieties		X
Celery and celery-based products		X
Mustard and mustard-based products		X
Sesame seeds and sesame seed-based products		X
Sulphur dioxide and sulphite > 10 mg/kg		X

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• By hand:
  • Measure out the quantity of fresh yeast shown in your recipe;
  • Crumble the fresh yeast directly into the flour;
  • Mixing: begin kneading by hand and finish using the roller. Roll your dough out into a piece approx. 50 cm long and 15 cm wide. Fold the ends (top and bottom) in towards the middle. Rotate your dough piece ¼ of a turn and repeat this operation around 10 times.
• Using a mixer:
  • Measure out the quantity of fresh yeast shown in your recipe;
  • Crumble the fresh yeast directly into the flour;
  • Mixing: mix for 3 minutes at low speed followed by 5 minutes at high speed (speed setting No.2) to obtain a consistent dough.
• Using a bread making machine:
  • Measure out the quantity of fresh yeast shown in your recipe;
  • Dilute the fresh yeast with a little milk or warm water;
  • Pour the resulting mixture into the flour;
  • Mixing: select your programme and follow the steps shown in the instructions.

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The bread that we consume today is the result of a long heritage dating back at least 5000 years. This followed the discovery of a process for raising dough, which was unexplainable back then.
Several civilisations including the Egyptians, the Hebrews, the Greeks and later the Gauls and Iberians had mastered the technique needed to make fermented food products.  Bread, wine and beer were all obtained using empirical processes, even if these processes were unexplainable the time.
It was only in the 19th century that scientific progress finally revealed the secrets of yeast. It was the French chemist Louis Pasteur who between 1857 and 1863 proved that fermentation was caused by living micro-organisms. These natural contaminants found in grain and fruit were identified as being a microscopic fungus known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
However, the yeast industry actually started life in Austria in 1846, with the Mautner process, followed by Great Britain 1886 with the continuous aeration of the culture medium. Great progress was achieved in Denmark and Germany between 1910 and 1920 with the gradual sugar supply process in the presence of oxygen.
During the last decade of the 20th century, 2.5 million tonnes of baker’s yeast was produced around the world each year. This is the highest level of micro-organism production ever seen, thanks to the huge technical and scientific progress achieved and used by this industry. Thanks to its innovative processes, it has also benefited all fermentation industries in the biotechnology sector including the production of enzymes, amino acids, vitamins or therapeutic substances such as hormones, antibiotics and vaccines, etc.

To know more about yeast, please visit the website www.exploreyeast.com
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Baker’s yeast is a living product. Its cells have the ability to transform the sugar naturally present in flour into alcohol and carbon dioxide.  Is the carbon dioxide which causes your bread dough to rise.
Baking powder or chemical yeast is comprised of minerals salts and bicarbonate, instead of the living cells found in baker’s yeast. They react chemically when in contact with water.
Baking powders are suitable for sponge cake dough but should not be used in recipes for bread, pizza or brioches, for which baker’s yeast is ideal. Top of page

Fresh yeast is a baker’s yeast. The micro-organisms which comprise it are specific to the production of breads and pastries etc. They are different from those needed to produce beer or wine, and the yeast used to produce the latter is referred to as beer yeast or winemaking yeast.

 

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Fresh yeast contains water. It is marketed in the form of a block of white paste, and can be easily crumbled. It should be stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of between 0° and 10° C.
Instant dried yeast is a fresh yeast which has been dehydrated and which is marketed in the form of “noodles”. Sold in sachets of between 5 and 11 g in weight, this yeast variety can be stored for up to two years.
So called “rehydrateable” dried yeast also exists. This yeast variety is slightly more complicated to use as it must be diluted in warm water (or milk) before being added to the flour.

To know more about yeast, please visit the website www.exploreyeast.com
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Dietary yeast is a yeast variety that has undergone a specific treatment during the production process. This process makes it possible to improve the digestibility of the yeast while at the same time retaining:

• The proteins, rich in vital amino acids,
• The vitamins, particularly those of the “B” group,
• The mineral ingredients rich in phosphorus and potassium,
• Sugars.

On the other hand, this process destroys the yeast’s fermentation characteristics.  Consequently, it cannot be used for bread making purposes.
Dietary dried yeast is a balanced foodstuff. It is sold in dietary shops. Top of page