Figured out why my sourdough kept flopping after 14 tries

I was using tap water straight from the faucet for my starter... turns out the chlorine in our municipal supply was killing the yeast. Letting the water sit out overnight fixed everything in one loaf. Has anyone else dealt with city water wrecking their fermentation?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencerfisher9d ago

City water might be the issue but I wonder if the temp of your tap water is also working against you. Cold tap water in winter can stall a starter out, especially if your house is drafty. I let my water sit out for chlorine but also microwave it for like 15 seconds to take the chill off before I feed my starter. My first few loaves were hockey pucks until I figured out my kitchen was too cold for the yeast to really get active. The chlorine is real though, I switched to bottled spring water once and my starter went nuts in like two days.

spencer4075d ago

Gotta push back a little here, @spencerfisher. My tap water was definitely the problem but temperature wasn't it, the chlorine killed everything dead before it could even try. Letting the water sit uncovered for 24 hours fixed my starter overnight, no microwave needed. Think people overthink the temp stuff when the real killer is just chemicals in the supply line.