How to Store Yeast: 3 Methods for Storing Yeast

Yeast is a dry ingredient instrumental to baking bread dough since kneading in yeast cells with bread helps it rise. It’s also an important ingredient in the alcoholic fermentation process, as yeast’s ability to feed and create carbon dioxide directly relates to how quickly certain beers and liquors progress to their final stages.

One of the most common types of yeast is active dry yeast—this common baker’s yeast lasts long and meets all the basic needs the ingredient is meant to address. Dry active yeast may not be the speediest riser, but it’s reliable, inexpensive, and easy to find. Other types of yeast include fresh yeast (also known as cake yeast) and instant yeast.

If you keep yeast in its unopened package, it can last around two years on average. Once you open that original packaging, its shelf life depends on where you store it. Storing it in the freezer will allow it to last longer than it would in the refrigerator, but the exact timeline will depend on the type of yeast you use. Vendors sell yeast in airtight containers and the key is to replicate those initial conditions as closely as possible. Whether you use a plastic wrap, a freezer bag, a glass jar, or something else, the key is to get as much air out of the new sealed container as you can and make sure it’s shut tight.

Although yeast lasts a long time in its original packaging, you should know how to keep it fresh after you break that initial seal. Consider these three approaches to yeast storage:

1. 1. Freezer: After you open a packet, you can prolong the yeast's shelf life for the longest amount of time by placing it in the freezer. This will prevent spoilage for six months if you’re using active or instant yeast and three months if you’re using fresh yeast. Make sure to let the yeast defrost before you try leavening bread with it.
2. 2. Pantry: To store your yeast at room temperature in your pantry or another dry place, it’s best to keep it in its original packaging. It will take two years before the yeast goes bad in this environment, so long as the package remains sealed. Consult the “best before” or expiration date as well. After you open the package, store it in the freezer or refrigerator.
3. 3. Refrigerator: Once you’ve opened yeast, move it to the refrigerator if you think you’ll use it in the immediate future. If it’s a block of fresh yeast, you’ll have two weeks. If it’s active dry or instant yeast, you have a much longer food storage timeline—either type of yeast should last at least four months.

Proofing yeast after you take it out of storage should be simple. Try this three-step easy method to test yeast:

1. 1. Add warm water to a cup. You can use hot tap water or bring some water to heat over a flame. In either case, you should aim for around 110–115 degrees Fahrenheit. Don’t let it get above 120 degrees, as you’ll begin to damage the yeast at this point—at 140 degrees, you’ll kill the yeast’s ability to rise or energize at any point in the future.
2. 2. Mix in yeast and sugar. Add one teaspoon of sugar to the water. Stir it in—this will be what causes the yeast to react and begin rising. After you let it sit for a minute or so, add two teaspoons of yeast and stir them in as well. Leave the mixture and hope for a quick rise of the yeast. If it froths up to the top, that indicates what you pulled from storage is still active.
3. 3. See if the yeast rises. Come back after about five to ten minutes of rising time. If the yeast granules are at the top of the half a cup mark, then they’re still active and can help the dough rise or assist in the fermenting process. Otherwise, if it hasn’t risen, discard the old yeast.

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