Using Bottled Mineral (Bubbly) Water
Hey Folks,
A while back I posted a question about water. Expressly asking about using bottled mineral water, the bubbly type. I received many good comments and advise, which I thank all of you for.
So,,,,, yesterday I made my French bread using a local bottled mineral sparkling water. Mainly because I wanted to experiment and because my municipal water is very bad and not constant. The only constant thing about it is it's not constant..... (mainly chemical smells)
Anyway, the night before I concocted my Poolish using the mineral water, the next morning I mixed my rough dough also using the mineral water and kneaded it into the Poolish to form my dough.
Well, I am amazed and very happy with the results. The appearance, crumb, and color is, maybe, slightly better, but the flavor is seriously better.
I'll run one more batch for comparison....... Oh, the photo's above are of my test loafs.. two Baguetts and one "Blunt-Batard".
So I guess the talk about breads made in areas with a special local water could be true.... (?)
See ya,,,,
I must have missed your post about bottled water. It certainly sounds interesting. Another thing to add to my list of things to try!
Bakingmadtoo,
Thanks for your comment...... Yesterday I used the mineral water in my Sour Dough recipe. It worked good. Again, nothing earth-shocking, but I think it might enhance the flavor over my local tap water.
So I figure if I'm not happy with my municipal water service why not buy a few bottles of the sparkling water. I don't get the "fancy" stuff from France etc. just local brands. And it's not soda water or tonic water.