Water Quality

[Pete-zza]

From time to time, members will raise questions about water quality in the context of pizza or other doughs. Recently, a member asked me privately for information on water quality, and having done a lot of searching, I came up with a fairly long list. I thought that revealing the list and making the list a sticky might be helpful. There are actually more posts and threads on the forum dealing with water quality but in my opinion they do not add materially to the list I created. I should also mention that links to the PMQ Think Tank forum, which is primarily visited by professionals, will not work. That is because PMQ went to new system software. But if one registers with the PMQ Think Tank, its archived material may be searched. With all this said, here is the list (in no particular order):

https://www.pmq.com/in-lehmanns-terms-bread-and-water/

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=853.msg7747#msg7747,

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=1795.msg15897#msg15897,

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=11587.msg106301#msg106301,

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=12296.msg116469#msg116469,

Reply 13 at https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=4517.msg38039#msg38039,

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=57183.msg573982#msg573982,

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=31666.msg314447#msg314447,

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=32225.msg318770#msg318770,

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=5526.msg46748#msg46748,

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=9472.msg81984#msg81984,

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=31584.msg313741#msg313741, and

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=14927.msg148084#msg148084.

If I come across other materials on the subject of water quality that I think may be of interest to our members, I plan to add them to the above list. In the meantime, if someone asks a question about water quality, I (or others) can refer them to this sticky.

Peter

[Ryan R]

I have always used Costco brand (Kirkland) brand bottled purified water. It has minerals added for taste.

Ingredients:
   Purified Water, Potassium Bicarbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Calcium Citrate, Sodium Chloride and Magnesium Oxide.

I just bough the Kirkland brand Filtered Water Pitcher and began using it for my SD Starter that I began 14 days ago.

My question is: By using this filter, am I negatively/positively impacting the qualities of the water and its impact on the starter (and later for use in the actual Dough)?

I don't mind the extra step, as I enjoy the journey and even minute improvements. I searched, but couldn't find enough data to see how those ingredients could help/hurt.

Any feedback would be appreciate with the knowledge that this is just a small detail.

[texmex]

I have always used Costco brand (Kirkland) brand bottled purified water. It has minerals added for taste.

Ingredients:
   Purified Water, Potassium Bicarbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Calcium Citrate, Sodium Chloride and Magnesium Oxide.

I just bough the Kirkland brand Filtered Water Pitcher and began using it for my SD Starter that I began 14 days ago.

My question is: By using this filter, am I negatively/positively impacting the qualities of the water and its impact on the starter (and later for use in the actual Dough)?

I don't mind the extra step, as I enjoy the journey and even minute improvements. I searched, but couldn't find enough data to see how those ingredients could help/hurt.

Any feedback would be appreciate with the knowledge that this is just a small detail.

"The idea is simple: minerals dissolved in water (mostly magnesium and calcium) can help proteins in the flour bond together more tightly, forming a stronger gluten structure, the network of interconnected proteins that give dough its strength and elasticity. So the higher the mineral content of water (measured in parts per million, or ppm), the stronger and chewier the dough. In theory, it makes sense, and is easily provable in a laboratory. The more interesting question to me is, are the effects of the minerals in the water (referred to as Total Dissolved Solids, or TDS) significant enough to be detected by a normal eater in real-world situation?"  -- J. Kenji López-Alt



https://slice.seriouseats.com/2010/01/does-nyc-water-make-a-difference-in-pizza-quality.html

[foreplease]

And if they are significant enough to be discernible, is stronger and chewier the direction you want your own idea of your target (or ideal) pizza crust to take? Many of us are interested in several styles, methods, etc.


Years ago, I tried several bottled waters in pizza and bread dough as well as for all soups.I thought I detected an improvement for soup but not for bread or pizza. What I found out is that I still had a lot to learn about using low levels of yeast, hydrating various flours, and managing fermentation whether room temperature or cold. And that water temperature probably has a bigger impact on the baked pizza or bread than water quality (within reason). Our municipal water is pretty good as-is is what I concluded.

[Ryan R]

Tony - If I could get my dough to levitate...that's how light I would like it. Haha. I am going for Neapolitan-ish style.