Thread: Growing Yeast for Consumption

I'm looking for information on making nutritional yeast. I've found some info, but no step-by-step guides.

I am reluctant to experiment on myself without at least consulting with someone experienced in this field.

Yeast are pretty difficult to culture, they're very susceptible to contamination.

It would require some very careful sterile conditions and I would be weary of contamination if you're actually going to eat it.

but contamination is easy to spot from what I understand, it is fuzzy whereas yeast is not

the sterile conditions are not hard to make, i watched people do very similar things

Sterile conditions are not hard to make. The problem is that it is easy to contaminate sterile stuff.

I think I've found all the information I need, except how much B vitamins to feed it.

I've seen people do this on their kitchen table, a candle is really all you need, but my standards are a little higher. For convenience mainly I will be using a small walk in closet as my laboratory. Easy to sterilize and I can store everything I will ever use in there.

I think yeast may be able to produce B vitamins on their own, but I don't know for sure.

Yeah I thought that too, but I read that during their production they need to be fed B vitamins, I don't know how much of which ones.

Based on how capitalism works and comparing the price of yeast to the price of B complex pills, It would seem as though yeast does create some if not most of it's own B vitamins, but needs some to start with. This is not a very scientific approach, but why would companies go out of their way to make a very cheep product and use a more valuable product to do it with? I don't see that happening.

As long as the yeast makes more B vitamins than I feed them, I might be able to feed the dead yeast to the live yeast... and thus the blob came to be!

Yeasts (whterh Saccharomyces cerevisiae in particular or yeast-like fungi in general) are not difficult to culture, no more so than E. coli or staph. But you do have to follow aspectic technique. If you haven't that capability - don't try it for consumption. You'll generate trash and may make yourself ill.

If you talking casually - as in your kitchen, I suggest you buy some commercial yeast extract.

For info on growth, look up S. cerevisiae in Lodders "The Yeasts" - it will tell you the necessary cofactors and vitamins.

Great, big help... I think I have it all figured out, but you know, I forgot to research the basics. Thanks!

1: making a sterile environment is not hard, you just can't do it half assed
2: contamination is very visible
3: yeast is pasteurized before eating

... im not too worried

You can't count on contamination being "visible" - in terms of obvious mold growth. Bacteria and other yeast could well give a turbid broth and even colonies indistinguishable from S. cerevisiae.