Bryan wrote:
>There are way too many 'acceptable' elements such as lime, calcium,
>chlorine, etc. in U. S. tap water that will change the texture,
>taste, baking qualities of a good bread. Bottled water is 'pure'
>water without all the chemicals added
Sorry, but this is just utter nonsense. Elements such as "lime,
calcium" and all the other minerals that are in water are "in water"
naturally no matter what the water source. Be it a deep water or a
shallow water aquifer well, a lake, a river, a water reserve, a
spring or a glacier (and even rain) - all contain many
minerals. Water treatment facilities (be they for tap water or for
bottles water) do not add any minerals to water. The only way to
remove these minerals from water is to distill the water, but
distilling once only partially removes minerals. To achive a 90%+
reduction in minerals one must triply distill the water. Water this
pure is not recomended for baking, it is a very aggressive solvent
and without the trace minerals can actually cause microoganisms to
die as the elements in the microrganisms (like calcium, sodium and
potasium - which are needed for any living cell to live) are
extracted out. Deepending on the exact conditions this might
actually kill the yeast in your dough.
Yes, tap water contains a very, very, very small amount of chlorine
that is added as a disinfectant and most communities add an extremely
small amount of flourine (to prevent tooth decay). The trace amounts
of these two elements in your tap water does not affect the taste of
the water. Now here is a shocker for you, one fourth (25%) of all
bottled water sold here in the states comes directly from the
tap! Thats right, they turn on the city water facaut at their
bottling plant and fill those bottles that you buy in the grocery
store with plain old tap water.
Some bottled waters do come from springs, but that does not mean they
are "pure" - some of these sources actually contain more minerals
than your tap water. There are very few regulations that govern
bottled water. Bottled water is NOT required to be disinfected, no
tests are required for E. Coli or Fecal Coliforms, they are required
to test for bacteria once a week (whereas, tap water is tested
hundreds of times a month), bottled water is NOT required to be
filtered for pathogens or have a strictly protected source (tap water
is), bottled water is not required to test for Cryptosporidium or
Giardia viruses (tap water is).
I know of one "Spring Water" bottled water source that was actually
from an industrial parking lot next to a hazardous waste site....yummy.
Now, don't get me wrong. Some tap waters or local well waters do at
times have off tastes. These off flavors are mainly due to sulpher
compounds in the water. These occur natuarally in some areas and may
be extracted under different conditions throughout the year (this is
why the taste of some water varies over time throughout the
year). If you live in one of these areas and can taste differences
in your water then by all means find a source of bottled water that
you like the taste of and use it in your baking. However, if you
like the taste of your tap water - save yourself some money and bake
without concern.
Chemist Tom