Food Storage Yeast Cakes from Hops
Channel: BexarPrepper
Date: 2012-01-07

I finally succeeded like they did in the 1800's
HOME MADE YEAST from (Bittersweet, Volume VI, No. 3, Spring 1979) by Patsy Watts, Photography by Mary Schmalstig 
The dry yeast cakes are made in part by boiling the blossoms of the hop vine. These flowers contain a fragrant yellowish oil called lupulin. The use of this oil as a preservative in beer and as a narcotic drug originated in Germany before Charlemagne. Since then its use has become wide spread and the vine cultivated in other nations, including America. 
The hop vine is related to the hemp and mulberry plants in the nettle family. The plant itself is twenty-five to thirty feet in length with rough lobed leaves and flowers that grow on catkin clusters. It is quite possible that many people in the Ozarks have never seen a hop vine, because although some Ozarkians have had limited success cultivating it, it grows best in sandy coastal regions. Ella Dunn, one of the few who has kept alive the tradition of making yeast.
Yeast Cakes from Hops 
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup potato water
1 cup flour
1 cup dried hops
2 Tbsp. sugar
4 cups corn meal (approx.)
1 dried yeast cake (optional) 
Boil 3 or 4 peeled potatoes in unsalted water. When done, drain the potatoes and mash them well, but save the potato water to use later. Cover the hop blossoms with water and bring to a boil. Drain off the water and save it, too. (Ella's mother dissolved a dried yeast cake left from her last batch into this water as a booster.) 
Put flour in a pan and slowly stir in the potato water you saved. Be careful not to use too much water. Mix slowly so that the flour won't be lumpy. If the mixture is too liquidy it might be necessary to cook it until it is a thick paste-like dough. 
Add mashed potatoes and sugar. Mix well and then slowly add the hop water until you have a medium soft dough. Let rise double. (about 2 hours) Then punch down and work in enough corn meal to make a stiff dough. Roll out the dough on a board to about 1/2 inch thick and cut into cakes. Let the cakes dry, turning them often to make sure they dry evenly. When you think they are good and dry, hang them up in a muslin bag for a few days to make sure they won't mold. After this you can store them in fruit jars or however you wish. (Should stay live for at least 6 months)