Dry yeast is essential for baking at home, and it can often go out of date before you know it, leaving you with an impromptu flatbread. To ensure that your yeast is always ready to use, you might want to freeze it!
Can You Freeze Dry Yeast?
Yes, you can freeze dry yeast for up to 6 months. The best way to do this is to place the yeast into an airtight container, removing as much excess air as possible. After that, place the yeast into the freezer.
Do Does Dry Yeast freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Dry Yeast? Yes
How to Freeze Dry Yeast
The best way to freeze dry yeast is to keep things simple. When you purchase dry yeast, itās dormant; too much exposure to air or water will āawakenā it, leading to the yeast spoiling over time.
Here’s how to ensure you freeze dry yeast properly:
- Pop Into a Container: Get started by placing the dry yeast into an entirely airtight container. You can use the container that the yeast itself came in, but if youāre unsure how airtight that container is, we would recommend sealing the container in a layer of cling film.
- Seal: Once the dry yeast is in the airtight container, press out as much air as possible, as this will greatly delay air exposure over time. Ensure the container is sealed at this point, whether with a lid or cling film layer.
- Freeze: Once the container is sealed and ready for freezing, place it into the freezer, where it will store without degrading for up to six months.
3 Tips for Freezing Dry Yeast
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing dry yeast to have the best results:
Moisture in the Enemy
Yeast is, technically, a living organism. This means that it needs water to return from being dormant, which is why proofing yeast in water is essential to several recipes. To be sure that your yeast remains dormant for as long as possible, be sure to keep moisture out of the container as much as possible.Ā
Steady Temperatures Are Best
When freezing anything, keeping it at a steady temperature is best, rather than in the door of a freezer, where the temperature is a little more variable. With yeast, warmth will bring it out of dormancy. Therefore, constant temperature with minimal variance is vitally important to maintain a dormant state.Ā
Freeze Unopened Yeast
You can freeze yeast whether itās been opened or not – the temperature of your kitchen will affect the dormancy of the yeast regardless of the moisture or air content of the container. Therefore, keeping unopened yeast frozen can be useful, as it will extend the storage life of the yeast itself.Ā
How Long Can You Freeze Dry Yeast?
You can freeze dry yeast for around 6 months. The thing that makes dry yeast a little trickier to freeze properly is that you must be wary of moisture, air, and temperature all at once.
Dry yeast is dormant, and too much moisture, air, or temperature can bring it out of that state, spoiling it over time.
Therefore, we suggest keeping all three variables as low as possible to ensure you get the maximum time out of your yeast.
Dry yeast will keep in the cupboard for around 12 months or until the expiry date. It must be kept in an airtight container, away from direct sunlight.
How Do You Defrost Dry Yeast?
Because dry yeast is typically packaged and shipped in very small flakes, it doesnāt need to be defrosted before use.
Instead, the process of cooking and baking with it is typically warm enough to defrost the yeast quite instantly.
A number of recipes call for yeast to be proved in warm water or milk, which will certainly thaw the yeast youāre using – even room temperature water would do that.
Can You Refreeze Dry Yeast?
Yes, you can refreeze dry yeast. This is because the small, individual flakes of yeast freeze and thaw very quickly, without much chance for moisture to be introduced or freezer burn to occur.
Therefore, refreezing dry yeast is totally on the cards. We recommend refreezing dry yeast if you donāt have immediate plans for the yeast youāre using, as it drastically extends the shelf life of the yeast drastically.
Does Dry Yeast Freeze Well?
Yes, dry yeast does freeze well. When we say this, we mean that there is no noticeable degradation in overall quality during or after the freezing process.
The freezing doesnāt affect how well the yeast works, which is what matters when the yeast is used for baking.
We would point out, however, that the reason you can only freeze dry yeast for a maximum of six months is that after that long in the freezer, it will begin to succumb to freezer burn – this will moisten the yeast, leading to it spoiling while itās still sitting in your freezer.
Related FAQs
If youāve still got questions about freezing dry yeast or yeast in general, then these may help:
Yes, fresh yeast can be frozen. Wrap individual pieces of fresh yeast in cling film and then pop those pieces of yeast into a freezer bag. 
When done properly, freezing yeast does not ruin it. It will freeze well and will retain its ability to help bread dough to rise.
