My sourdough starter was a total flop until I switched from tap water to bottled

I live in Phoenix and our tap water is super hard, which I think was killing the yeast. After two weeks of flat, sad starter, I bought a gallon of spring water from the store (the cheap kind, about $1). The difference was crazy, it doubled in size in just 3 days. Has anyone else had their local water mess up a recipe like this?

4 comments

4 Comments

stone.daniel3mo ago

Sounds like you just got lucky with the timing.

violag803mo ago

Guess luck plays a bigger part than we admit, @stone.daniel. Like when you finally buy concert tickets and the band announces a second show the next day. Or you hold onto a stock for months, sell it, and then it skyrockets. Timing feels like skill but often it's just being in the right place at the right time. Makes you wonder how much control we really have, doesn't it?

nelson.gavin3mo ago

Yeah, and the worst part is you can't ever know which one it was.

wade_kelly7720d ago

That whole thing about "timing feels like skill but often it's just being in the right place at the right time" really hits home. I've noticed a bigger pattern with stuff like this where we think we're doing everything right but the smallest variable we can't control throws the whole thing off. Your water hardness killing the yeast is a perfect example. I've had similar luck with my truck's air conditioner lines freezing up on certain days and not others, and after a dozen service calls I finally realized it was tied to the humidity outside more than anything else. We tend to blame ourselves or our methods first when half the time it's just invisible factors like water chemistry or the weather. It makes you humble pretty quick.