Bread yeast fermentation on other things besides bread

[Shule]

You know how bread yeast adds not only fulffiness, but also taste and nutrients to bread? I thought about this and decided maybe it would be a great idea to let other things `rise` with yeast before cooking them. I mean, just for the flavor and the nutrients.

Right now, I'm soaking some wheat in warm water with bread yeast. I plan to slow cook the wheat afterward. We'll see what happens.

I may need to let it soak longer than bread dough takes to rise, though.

I'm thinking about trying it on beans, rice, and oats, too.

I'm also thinking about trying it in pasta sauce (prior to cooking). However, pasta sauce is pretty acidic; so, I might either have to reduce the pH first, go for a longer ferment, or hope the original yeast itself has enough flavor to make a difference.

[Shule]

So, basically, I'm talking about a quick ferment with bread yeast innoculation.

[bower]

I use bread yeast to make pastry with oil - and it does rise.
But other things than wheat flour won't rise - it's the gluten in wheat that becomes stretchy and allows bubbles to form.
I did make a gluten free pastry which I added yeast as usual, and it did add that taste, although no bubbles.

Nutritional yeast is I think even more nutritious than bread yeast. It's pretty delicious and packed with B vitamins. Usually sold as flakes. It's amazing on toast and on popcorn, but also adds umami flavor to vegetarian gravies, patties, and etc.

[Shule]

@bower
I wasn't talking about for the purposes of making things rise. Just for flavor and nutrients (no rising). That's why I surrounded `rise` with backtics (I wasn't really talking about rising).

[bower]

Yep, I should mention that the nutritional yeast flavor is different.
Personally I do love the flavor of bread yeast as well.

[Shule]

Well, the wheat is finished. The results are as follows:

It didn't actually seem to ferment very much in a short period. Maybe I should have added sugar.

The taste is still surprisingly about the same as without any yeast (a little different, but not a lot). I used a fair amount of yeast (and even added some onion and cabbage prior to cooking [after I was done letting the yeast grow]). However, it's more satisfying to eat. It does seem more nutritious and/or digestible. I do feel like the process did something, even if it's not reflected strongly in the taste.

Anyway, so it seems like the yeast didn't have access to enough food.

[worth1]

Sugar and grains are the food of yeast but if you use enough it'll turn to alcohol.

[Shule]

Well, I take back what I said about it seeming more digestible. That was the short term. In the mid-term, I think I've been reminded of my hypothesis that I have a yeast intolerance or allergy. I might try growing my own potato yeast starter, though, and see how that does (with something else instead of wheat).