Daisy;
I have no idea about the hardness/softness of the Detroit water you were getting, but as was mentioned, the municipality providing the water will give you the necessary data on water hardness/softness. I’m guessing that your dough might have been developed with softer water than you now have available, hence the increased calcium content of the water is creating a tighter, stronger dough than you previously had. The test for this is to increase the absorption of your dough by 2% and see if that gives you an improvement. There is also one other aspect of the water that you need to look at for comparison of what you previously had to what you now have and that is water pH. Again, your municipality supplying the water can give you that information. You want to look for a water pH as close to neutral (7.0) as possible. If the water is below 7.0 it is considered to be acid which is good for your dough as yeast likes an acid environment, but if the pH is above 7.0 it is said to be alkaline (yeast does not do well in an alkaline environment), so you would need to add an acid to your dough to correct the alkaline condition of the water. The most commonly used food acid used to treat this condition is monocalcium phosphate (MCP). This is readily available from most distributors supplying the baking industry. The amount to use will vary with the pH of the water. Here in Manhattan, Kansas our water is in the 8.0 to 8.2 range (quite alkaline) and we correct for this be adding 0.25% MCP to all of our doughs. MCP is a dry, white powder, and you just add it to the flour when you begin mixing. You might check around with some of the local bakeries to see if they have some that they can share with you for testing. If you do this, keep in mind that it may also be referred to as “acid type yeast food”, while the two are not the same, the acid component of the acid type yeast food is MCP, with this product you might want to start at a level of 0.375% of the total flour weight.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
