Hoshino natural yeast leaven (ホシノ天然酵母パン種) is one of the popular active dry yeasts among bakery and home bakers in Japan. The bread made with the yeast has a slight cheese-like aroma and a lot of umami flavor. I really love this yeast and I hope you to try!
Activating the yeast leaven is much easier than you might imagine. Because you just need to add water and mix, then leave it a couple of days at room temperature.
What is made out of Hoshino natural yeast leaven?
It’s made of the ingredients below.
- Flour
- Japanese rice
- Koji (fermented rice)
Hoshino yeast is a team of wild yeast. Because this yeast comes from Japanese rice and grow up with flour, rice, Koji and water.
Instructions
The best way to activate Hoshino natural yeast is to use a machine which can keep at 28°C (82°F) for 24 hours, for example yogurt makers. But don’t worry, you can active it at room temperature as I said.
STEP 1. Pour 2 parts lukewarm water to 1 part natural yeast powder put in a clean jar. If you use a pack of the natural yeast (50g), you will need 100g of lukewarm water. Then mix the yeast and water until crumble.
STEP 2. Loosely cover the top with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature until smooth. In the summer, it takes about for 24 hours, but in winter, it takes 1 or 2 more days. 28°C (82°F) is the best temperature for the yeast, so please try to find a warm place, not hot place, to put the jar during cold season.
When it becomes smooth and you can find the small bubbles, it’s ready to put in the fridge.
STEP 3. Storage it in the fridge overnight to stabilize as a starter.
How to storage Hoshino natural yeast?
Keep both the activated starter and unopened yeast powder in the fridge. The official Hoshino website suggests that you should consume the starter within 1 week. But from my experience, I can use it at least for half a year. Although the old starter takes longer time to rise the bread dough.
How to use Hoshino natural yeast starter?
Normally add 6 – 8% the starter for the total weight of flour in the recipe. If your recipe requires 500g of flour, you will need 35g (in the case of 7%) of the Hoshino yeast starter. The starter will naturally separate 2 layers in the fridge, so be sure to mix before using.
How to Activate Hoshino Natural Yeast Leaven
Ingredients
- 50 g Hoshino natural yeast leaven powder 1 pack
- 100 g lukewarm water
Instructions
- Put 50g of Hoshino natural yeast leaven powder in a clean jar. And pour 100g of lukewarm water, then mix until crumble.
- Loosely cover the top with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature until smooth. In the summer, it takes about for 24 hours, but in winter, it takes 1 or 2 more days. 28°C (82°F) is the best temperature for the yeast, so please try to find a warm place, not hot place, to put the jar during cold season.
- When it becomes smooth and you can find the small bubbles, it's ready to put in the fridge. Storage it in the fridge overnight to stabilize as a starter.
