Working with Yeast

Doughs for breads such as pizza, calzone, focaccia and grissini are leavened by yeast, a living, single-cell organism that feeds on the starches in flour, converting them to alcohol and carbon dioxide. The action of the yeast creates pockets of carbon dioxide that, trapped in the dough, cause the dough to physically expand, or “rise.” In addition to sugar (or sugar in the form of starch), yeast requires moisture and a controlled temperature in which to reproduce.