I finally figured out my sourdough starter was failing because of my Fairbanks tap water

After my fourth starter died in two months, a friend in Juneau asked if I was using filtered water. I was using straight tap water, which up here can have a lot of minerals that mess with the yeast. Anyone else in a hard water area have a go-to fix for this, or a specific filter you use?

3 comments

3 Comments

matthewh282d ago

My well water killed my starter too!

river_scott2d agoMost Upvoted

Our old farmhouse well water is so full of iron it turns everything orange. I had to switch to bottled spring water for my sourdough, which felt ridiculous but worked. The chlorine in city water can be just as bad for the microbes. Testing your water's pH and mineral content is a good next step.

oscarcraig2d ago

Holy crap, river_scott, your water turns things orange? That's wild. I can't even imagine pulling a white shirt out of the wash and it's stained rust colored. No wonder your sourdough gave up, that's like trying to bake with liquid metal. Bottled water does sound silly but you gotta do what works.