The Fleischmann brothers invented a process for making cubes of compressed yeast in 1868 in Cincinnati. Their original Compressed Yeast Cake was the first commercially produced yeast. It marked the start of modern home and commercial baking in the United States. Commercial yeast consists of living microorganisms in suspended animation. When mixed with water and flour, they start growing and release carbon dioxide gas that makes dough rise. Yeast also produces chemical compounds that make bread flavorful. Bread without yeast would be flat, hard, and almost tasteless. The new Fleischmann's Yeast made:

• Bread and baked goods with a better flavor and texture than traditional home-brewed "starters." Those were wild yeast cultures that people grew themselves.
• Home baking simpler and more convenient, freeing homemakers from the care-and-feeding of homemade starters.
• Commercial baked products more uniform in quality.
• A hit with consumers, and still is America’s top-selling yeast.

During World War II Fleischmann’s research laboratories took convenience one-step further, developing Active Dry Yeast™, to ensure that American troops could enjoy home-baked bread. The new product needed no refrigeration, and the yeast went to work quickly right after addition of warm water. In 1984, yeast got another Fleischmann tweak with development of RapidRise™ Yeast, which makes dough rise up to 50% faster than regular active dry yeast. In 1993, Fleischmann’s introduced Bread Machine Yeast, specially formulated for those popular machines.

A Revolution in Baking
Cardboard bread. That’s how some people describe bread made without yeast. "Unleavened" bread is flat, dry, and crispy as a cracker. Try matsah, the bread traditionally eaten during the Jewish Passover holiday, to see the world of difference yeast makes. Yeast gives bread, hot dog rolls, pizza crust, cinnamon buns, and other baked goods a lighter texture and a wonderful flavor and aroma. Bakers just open the cupboard and reach for a little packet of dry yeast, add it to the mixing bowl, and the microorganisms come to life and start working almost instantly. Baking good bread wasn’t always so easy.


The Science Behind the Invention
"The Oldest Organism Cultivated by Humans"
People have been growing yeast in homemade "starters" to make bread for more than 4,000 years. However, it wasn’t until 1857 that the French microbiologist Louis Pasteur discovered that yeast is alive, a microorganism visible only through a microscope. Charles and Max Fleischmann invented a way of growing those microbes, harvesting them, and putting them into suspended animation in little cubes. They also successfully sold the cubes to consumers, making Fleischmann’s yeast the most widely used in America.


Back to the Future
Humble Yeast: A Champion of the Genetics Revolution
When Charles and Max Fleischmann were alive, yeast was a tool for making bread rise, brewing beer, and making wine. Never did they dream that Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which they packaged for home and commercial bakers, would become a key tool in genetics research and biotechnology.