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My sourdough starter was a mess for months until I switched from tap water to bottled
I've been trying to make a good sourdough for about six months now. My starter, which I named 'Bubbles', was always sluggish. It would barely rise, and my loaves were dense and flat. I was using filtered water from my fridge, thinking that was enough. Last week, I was talking to a baker at the farmers market in Springfield, and she asked me point blank, 'What kind of water are you using?' I told her, and she just shook her head. She said even filtered tap water can have chlorine that kills the wild yeast. I switched to plain bottled spring water that same day. The difference was huge. Bubbles doubled in size in just four hours, and my next loaf had an open crumb and a proper ear for the first time ever. It seems like such a small thing, but it made all the difference. Do you think the water source is that critical, or was I just doing something else wrong that the water change fixed?
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lilyhayes6mo ago
Interesting. I've always just used tap water and my starter is fine. Could it have been something else, like the temperature in your kitchen?
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corah756mo ago
Wait, you use straight tap water? That's wild... our city water has so much chlorine it kills everything. I had to switch to filtered or even bottled water just to get my starter going at all. Maybe your local water is just softer or something? I'm honestly shocked it works for you.
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tessaperry4mo ago
It's funny how we think we're doing the right thing with something like filtered water, but then one little change shows you how wrong you were. It makes me wonder how many other things in life are like that, you know? Like, we spend all this time and effort on the big stuff, but it's the tiny overlooked details that are actually the key. I've noticed it with my own hobbies too. You tweak one small thing you didn't think mattered, and suddenly everything clicks into place. People get so focused on the main event, they forget that the foundation has to be solid first. Your starter probably needed that clean water all along, it just took someone pointing it out to you.
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