A. HARD WATER This is water which contains appreciable amounts of the carbonate or sulphate of magnesium or calcium. One very noticeable feature about hard water is the great difficulty with which it forms a lather with soap. Water containing only the carbonates is called “Temporary” hard water, because these carbonates will separate out when the water is boiled and can be removed thus rendering the water soft. Water containing sulphates is termed “Permanent” hard water inasmuch as sulphates do not separate out when the water is boiled. Inasmuch as some mineral salts tend to strengthen the gluten, a certain degree of hardness in water is therefore desirable. Furthermore, the sulphate assists to a small extent in furnishing mineral nutrition to the yeast. However, an excessively hard water retards the progress of fermentation by toughening the gluten too greatly. Increased amounts of yeast usually will assist in overcoming this condition by bringing about a more vigorous conditioning or softening of the gluten,—thus preventing coarseness and harshness in the finished loaf. B. SOFT WATER This is water which is relatively free of the carbonates or sulphates of Calcium or Magnesium. Soft water forms a lather freely with soap. Real soft water used for bread making has a tendency to soften the gluten and result in a soft sticky dough. This condition, while not lessening the activity of the yeast, considerably offsets the usual beneficial effects of the fermentation process in the dough batch, unless more salt is used. The use of Arkady eliminates the undesirable effects of soft water by supplying the necessary mineral salts for optimum gluten development and healthy dough fermentation. As a person that has had, made and eaten pizza all over North America and Western Europe, I think water is very important, fmed your pizza looks fantastic, and prob tastes even better!!!! However, your using a sourdough crust, sourdough has a tremendous amount of converted proteins which will add to the crispness of the crust. I was just in chicago, in a randon bar and ordered a pizza, the crust was beautiful. The hard water definitely helps, it makes the dough making process easier.
