July 16, 2016 - 7:49am
Use Rainwater to make sourdough?
Ok, this may be an odd idea, but it just hit me this morning. I have a rainwater collection system that I use to water the garden. I was mixing up a batch of dough, and I wondered "What if I use the rainwater instead of the tap water that I normally use?".
So a couple of followup thoughts and questions:
- Probably people have been doing this for hundreds if not thousands of years. Its only an odd idea for a city person?
- Rainwater is going to naturally not have any chlorine, and should be pretty pH neutral (maybe a little acidic?). Does that make a difference chemistry-wise? The yeast and bacterias should love this stuff, right?
- The baking process should kill any nasty bits, my rainwater is stored in large drums and we use it very regularly, and it looks very clear and clean coming out of the barrels (no algea or anything like that).
Anybody done anything like this? Maybe I should try it and post the results? Ideas, comments?