Is yeast gluten free? | King Arthur Baking

If you're baking gluten-free, you know this some unexpected ingredients may contain gluten. A common question we get: is yeast gluten free?

Yes, kind of yeast used for baking bread is gluten free. Bread yeast is a single-celled organism that consumes sugar and starch and produces carbon dioxide and alcohol through fermentation. This yeast, however, is a key ingredient in bread, which is traditionally NO gluten free. To understand this more, let's dig into the science of how gluten and yeast work together.

What is gluten?

Gluten it is formed when some flour and water are mixed together. Conventional wheat flour (eg the whole purpose, bread flourAND cake flour) contains two proteins necessary to form gluten: glutenin and gliadin. When water is added to these two proteins, they bind together, forming gluten. Mixing and stirring causes the gluten strands to bind together and create a network that gives baked goods structure – the more you mix, the stronger the gluten network will become.

And that's where yeast comes in: When yeast is added to the mix, that tough, elastic network of gluten traps the carbon dioxide the yeast produces, filling the dough like a balloon and causing the bread to rise.

Light gluten free bread use Gluten-free bread flour to approximate the taste and texture of wheat-based bread.

Can I bake gluten-free bread with yeast?

Yes! Because yeast itself is gluten-free, as long as you use gluten-free flour blends, you will have a 100% gluten-free bread. Gluten-free flour mixes typically combine non-wheat flours (such as rice or sorghum flour) with starches and other stabilizers to provide alternative ways to capture carbon dioxide produced by yeast without creating gluten. of King Arthur Gluten-free bread flour is specially formulated to work for yeast based recipes to make baked goods like artisan breadchewed bagelsor gooey-soft cinnamon rolls. It contains gluten-free wheat starch, which mimics the flavor of conventional wheat flour and thickens doughs so they are moldable. It can be substituted 1:1 for the bread or all-purpose flour called for in traditional yeast recipes, although you may need to make some changes.

How do I know if an ingredient is gluten-free?

To determine if an ingredient is gluten-free, you can first look on the product packaging for third-party certification, such as the seal from the Gluten-Free Certification Organization, which reads “certified gluten-free.” You can also search for the words “gluten-free,” “gluten-free,” or “gluten-free,” which are terms regulated by the FDA. Finally, you can scan the ingredient list for items like wheat (including spelt, emmer, farro, and durum), rye, barley, malt, and brewer's yeast (another type of yeast that's a byproduct of beer)—if any of these are included, the ingredient is most likely not gluten-free. (Although there are some exceptions, such as gluten-free wheat starch in gluten-free bread flour.)

Yeast from SAF AND red star (both made by the Lesaffre company) at the King Arthur store do not have third-party certification, but are listed as gluten-free on Lesaffre's website.