Water in pizza dough

[007bond-jb]

by Pete-zza  I live outside of Dallas, and the water here is virtually undrinkable, never mind using it to make pizza dough.  One local pizza maker recently described the Dallas water as being "so hard you could break your nose splashing handfuls of it in your face in the morning."  I have tried just about every kind of water in my doughs, from expensive bottled waters, sparkling and non-sparkling, imported and domestic, and have not been able to detect any difference.  I now just use the inexpensive jug water. The label says that it is municipal water treated by carbon filtration reverse osmosis, ultraviolet treatment, microfiltration, and ozonation.  The spring water version I use is treated in the same way but without reverse osmosis.  I suspect all of this treatment robs the water of some flavor enhancing components and may even affect the fermentation process.  But that's the way it is.

Hey Pete I know this old but when traveling to anywhere USA I notice a lot of different tasting tap water. I live in Baton Rouge & I am in the Plumbing and HVAC business, Baton Rouge tap water is the best tasting and softest water of any I've ever tasted. I have had water tested from customers private wells along with B.R. tap water for comparison & the BR tap is among of the purest in the country. Why, the wells which are all over town are deep some down to 3000 feet our average elevation is 32ft above sea level. BR Water Co. dosen't treat or even filter the water its not needed.(the health dept requires clorine to be added but BRWC uses the minimum required & you cant taste it) To test this I installed a 10 micron whole house filter on my main, & after 1 year the cartrige was still clean & white as snow. What most people dont realize is the air in our homes has more contaminates then the worst city tap water. Test it for youself take a strong flash light 6volt at least , set the light on a countertop shining across a room move back from the light & look ALMOST into the beam. Want to see more? Get a clean tee shirt or towel and snap or shake in the beam. Make you wanta wear a dust mask huh? My point is it realy the water from these citys or the air that makes the pizza taste different?

[Jack]

 I live in Baton Rouge & I am in the Plumbing and HVAC business, Baton Rouge tap water is the best tasting and softest water of any I've ever tasted.

Do you mean Baton Rouge, LA?<sarcasm>  I've been down there quite a bit, twice this year, and I've found the water to be loaded with sulphur, making even showering in the hotel difficult.  The hotels were the Sheraton Downtown Convention Center & Holdiay Inn South/Airline Hwy.  On the other hand, I'd kill for a resturant like Perraines (sp?), here in the Northwest. 

I do agree on the softness of the water though.

Jack

[Pete-zza]

007bond-jb,

I wouldn't think that the air quality or particulants would be a factor in pizza making, at least in any way that you would be able to detect. As far as the water is concerned, I'm sure that any water that meets federal/state/local requirements will work in pizza even though it may not taste good. Not too long ago I went online and checked the water quality report that my city is required to make available to its citizens. The report indicated that the my local water meets all the requirements, even though I still think it tastes lousy and don't use it in my pizza dough. My favorite tap water has always been the NYC tap water. I would use that anytime in making pizza dough, just as many pizza places in NYC do.

Peter

[007bond-jb]

I don't know Pete,  if a kitchen is smokey & the product is left out it would absorb that flavor. like dough balls or toppings on a prep table. We do work for many restaurants the owners will not maintain any equipment unless its comletely broken down. Then if its not some thing needed to prepare the food they won't bother to fix it, unless the health dept. or fire marshal pays them a visit. Burned exaust or supply fan,"not needed open the back door", we see this all the time. What i'm saying is if they are mixing up a large batch of dough or proofing & its smokey the doughs gonna take on that flavor. One more thing Hey Jack hotels are also famous for not maintaining equpment, comercial hot water heaters have to cleaned or flushed more often than residential ones  to remove the mineral build-up in their storage tanks, which causes odors in the water.

[Jack]

One more thing Hey Jack hotels are also famous for not maintaining equpment, comercial hot water heaters have to cleaned or flushed more often than residential ones  to remove the mineral build-up in their storage tanks, which causes odors in the water.

OK, I'll buy that.  When I first read your post I didn't think we were talking about the same town.  Yuk!

Jack