My sourdough starter went from flat to puffy in 5 days after I switched to filtered water

For 2 weeks my starter barely bubbled and I was about to toss it. Then my neighbor said our tap water has too much chlorine for wild yeast. I switched to a Brita filter and within 5 days it was doubling in size after feedings. The change was so obvious I took photos to compare the third and seventh day. Now I keep a pitcher of filtered water on the counter just for baking. Has anyone else noticed a difference with water quality for starters?

3 comments

3 Comments

markl7516d ago

Wait, are you sure it wasn't just your starter finally waking up on its own? I've seen plenty of people use straight tap water with no issues, their starters just take a little longer. Honest question, did you check the chlorine level in your tap water or just assume it was the problem? Also, filtered water can strip out minerals that yeast actually needs, so I'm not convinced it's always better. Could be a coincidence that your starter was ready to take off right when you switched.

allen.quinn16d ago

Yeah but you're kinda missing the point with the "coincidence that your starter was ready to take off" part. I've been baking sourdough for years and dealt with multiple starters that flat out refused to bubble for weeks on end. Switching to filtered or bottled water was the only thing that consistently woke them up for me. Not every tap is the same obviously, some places have way more chlorine than others. But I've heard way more success stories from people ditching tap than sticking with it. And that "minerals yeast needs" thing is overblown, there's plenty in the flour itself.

leo60316d ago

Are we really turning this into a science experiment over a jar of flour and water? It's a starter, not a nuclear reactor. People act like if you don't have the perfect pH balanced moon water it's doomed. I've seen tons of people on here who just use whatever comes out of the tap and their starter is fine after a week or two. You probably just hit the point where it was gonna take off anyway, and the water switch was a nice placebo for your own peace of mind.