Trying to make bread, but have run out of yeast? Gorham native, Eric Mosher Young has got you covered. He wanted to help other bread makers who were finding the grocery shelves empty of more than just TP during the pandemic.

Yeast, an essential ingredient, was not to be found as many people began baking their own bread during quarantine. So Dr. Young, a Chemical and Biological Engineer, assistant professor and researcher at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), made an instructional video with his young sons, Fletcher and Jasper, showing how to make homemade yeast and bread. Their step by step tutorial can be found here and also on the Gorham Times Facebook page.

Young explained that homemade yeast can be made with just two simple ingredients: flour and water (and some time and attention). The process is easy – it relies on capturing natural yeast which can be found everywhere. Young said, “By leaving water and flour out to ferment, you’re catching colonies of wild yeast. You might also capture ‘good bacteria,’ or lactobacilli. This all becomes a bubbly chemical that is perfect for making bread like sourdough.”

When the yeast is ready, small bubbles will rise to the top and it will smell good, and yeasty, like bread. If it smells funny or sour in not a good way, throw it away and start over. Young notes that while it takes more time to create a natural yeast for baking bread, the finished product will also be more flavorful. Along with directions for making natural yeast, his video includes many helpful bread making tips. He encourages people to try making yeast as a fun, family science project with a delicious final product. Be adventurous. Try substituting other liquids, such as a craft beer, instead of water.

For Young, making natural yeast is much more than a culinary achievement. It is closely tied to his professional work. At WPI, he leads a research group in synthetic biology that focuses on genetically engineering yeast to make useful products like biofuels, chemicals and medicines. He also teaches chemical reactor design and biochemical engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He said, “My branch of research is about finding more uses for yeast, sort of using yeast as a “cell factory” to create all kinds of useful, sustainable, environmentally friendly chemicals, such as corn ethanol that is added to gasoline. It is found in many delicious and useful products such as bread, beer, wine, and spirits, too.”

Young has a B.S. from Orono in Chemical and Biological Engineering, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas. Dr. Young has been published in engineering journals and has won a number of honors and awards in his field of Chemical Engineering. But when he is home making yeast, bread, or other baked goods with his kids, he is just “Dad.”

Family is very important to Young. While he did not grow up in Gorham, he has strong ties here on both sides of the family and he spends his summers and holidays in the area. “Gorham is a really beautiful place,” said Young, “I hope it never loses its New England farmland charm as it grows and changes.”

His mother is Margaret “Peggy” Mosher, GHS Class of 1980. He said, “The Mosher family has been in Gorham since 1736 – almost 300 years – and operating the historic Longview Farm on Mosher Corner for about as long as Maine has been a state, since 1828.” His father is Richard “Dick” Young, GHS Class of 1976. He said, “The Young family has been in Gorham for 250 years. My brothers still operate Flaggy Meadow Farm on Flaggy Meadow Road, which has been in the family 100 years.”

Young spoke about the importance of the many family traditions that have arisen over the years. He said, “I grew up going to two giant Thanksgiving dinners – one with the Young family at the Odd Fellow’s Meeting Hall in Gorham Center (we now meet at the Buxton Center Baptist Church), and one at Longview Farm with the Mosher family. Typically I’d see around 100 family members in one Thanksgiving weekend.” To these old traditions, Young now can add the new ones of making bread and instructional videos with his sons.

Young is married to Danielle Tardiff of Brewer, Maine, where they both grew up. Their sons are Fletcher, 7, and Jasper, 2. Eric Young can be reached at his email address: emyoung@wpi.edu.