bake - April 2019 - 30

breads

The Importance of

Water

Quality

BY DIDIER ROSADA, RED BRICK CONSULTING

Baking high quality products requires a

equipment. Three factors must be taken

solid combination of baking skill, a well-

into consideration when thinking about

balanced formula, excellent ingredients,

water quality: taste, chemicals content,

functionality and performance. Over the

and minerals content.

course of the years, great attention has
been paid to the flour specifications, but

Taste

water, this simple ingredient, is too often

An unusual bad taste or bad smell identi-

forgotten and taken for granted.

fied in the water could alter the flavor
of the final product. This could happen

Water is the second larger ingredient of a

at some certain times of the year, for

dough system, making it as important as

example after strong rains or during the

flour for the baker. Most of the time, we

change of seasons, where water supplies

think that "water is water" and as soon as

and treatments could vary. It is also

it is potable, it can be used in baking.

common belief that water from certain
parts of the world can have a direct

It is common to realize that bakers are

impact on the flavor of the final products

not giving enough attention to its charac-

(New York water, for example).

teristics and how it can affect the quality
of the final products. However, a deep

Chemical content

understanding of the functionality of this

Depending on the natural quality of

ingredient in baking can reveal that water

the water, water companies are adding

quality is as important as flour quality.

different level of chemicals to transform
it into safe and drinkable water. Chlorine

Water's functions in baking are multiple;

is one chemical that will have the more

some of them are obvious, others some-

noticeable effect on the dough, particu-

times underestimated by the bakers. The

larly on the fermentation activity. Yeast,

goal of this article will be to describe

being a natural microorganism, is chlo-

the several roles of the water during the

rine sensitive. Tests have shown that at a

baking process and to understand how

level of 10 PPM of chlorine in the water

a change in its quality or characteristics

the yeast performance will be negatively

can affect the consistency of the final

affected in a dough system. A high level

products, therefore the need to have

of chlorine could also affect the function

water as consistent as possible.

of some flour components like enzymes.
A slower enzymes activity will also affect

Regardless of its origin, water must be

the rheology of the dough as well as the

drinkable to be used in baking. Most of

fermentation activity.

30 < APR 2019 | bakemag.com

to elaborate dough. However, technically

Mineral content

speaking, the quality of the water could

The mineral content will determine the

have some effects on the dough char-

hardness and the softness of the water.

acteristics, bread characteristics and on

The main ones being calcium, magne-

the proper function of certain pieces of

sium and sodium. Hard water contains

JOHN UNREIN

the time, regular tap water can be used
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