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Gertoshav Gertoshav is offline
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Default Water, is it an issue?

Has anybody had any problems because of the additives in municipal water supplies? I have been a sourdough baker for a long time. Never used to have any difficulty. Then the last few times, I have had a hard time keeping my starter (some call it a sponge) alive. And I got to thinking. If they have added chlorine to the water, and I believe they have, does it kill the part we as sourdough baker are trying to keep alive. How about floride, which is a known toxin?

Assuming for a moment that my guess is right, what to do? Can the chemicle be boiled away, or does the water boil off leaving a stronger concentration of chemicals than before? Do I begin to buy bottled water for this? But I don't know which are just tap water from another source, and which are as they come out of the groundsource. Comments, Ideas, suggestions?

I should note two things in my case.

First I refuse to use any commercial yeast of any kind. I'm a bit of a purest I guess.

Second, I have to start over with a new starter (sometimes referred to as a sponge) each year because we need to toss it each year because of the biblical feast of Pesach/Passover.