Ask anyone what makes a dish tasty and you’ll get all sorts of answers from seasonings, fresh ingredients, brands, cooking times and everything else in between. Yet, one of the most popular ingredients that often gets overlooked is the quality of water you use. From washing vegetables to cleaning plates, water is used in almost every stage of the cooking process. That’s why using filtered water for cooking has become an industry trade secret among chefs. Many even prefer making ice for drinks using only filtered water.
Washing With Filtered Water is Critical
Before they get washed, your fruits & vegetables could be contaminated in a plethora of ways. During the growing phase, they may be contaminated by animals and harmful materials present in the soil. After produce is harvested, it changes many hands before reaching your home. Poor hygiene among workers and transport conditions also contribute significantly to the quality of produce. Contamination may also occur in your own home through inadequate storage and during food preparation. If you are washing your produce with unfiltered water, you might not be washing them after all. Here’s why? Whether you’re on well water or public water supply, the water in your home could contain many contaminants such as iron, magnesium, calcium or other organic compounds. The water from public water supply often contains chlorine or chloramines which are added to disinfect the water before it reaches out to your home. And not to forget, contaminants such as herbicides and pesticides which are often used on the farms to protect the produce from insects and bugs, might still be on your food after rinsing them off. These pesticides travel through sewers from your home to treatment plants where they remain untreated throughout the treatment stage. So while you might be trying to clean your produce from the chemicals used on the farm, you might still be washing them with water that contains the very contaminants you’re trying to rid your produce of.
Why Cooking With Filtered Water Matters?
Water disinfection by chlorination eliminates most waterborne contaminants, however, problems remain. Unfiltered tap water can contain large amounts of chlorine and other by-products that negatively affect your health and cause water to taste odd. Using unfiltered water for cooking also impacts the taste of the dish. Chemicals in water mix with your food flavours, change its taste and even its colour. However, once you remove the additives and chemicals, the dishes would turn out better, look more colourful, and appealing. Some of the benefits of cooking with filtered water include:
Improved Taste
Tap water treated with chlorine can alter the taste of your drinking water – and the food you cook in it. That’s especially true for foods that absorb water to reach their proper consistency, such as pasta or rice. Filtered water has the power to transform the taste of every single meal you cook. A water filter can cleanse your water, remove the bad taste and leave you with overall better water highlighting the authentic flavour of your food.
Vibrant Colours
Chlorine is an active ingredient in bleach. Using unfiltered water to cook strips the food out of its natural colours. The result isn’t the healthiest for family meals. Not only will your food taste better when you start cooking with filtered water, but you can expect your food to look good too. With a vibrant and brighter look, your whole family would start enjoying home-cooked food.
Better Baking Results
Minerals such as calcium, magnesium and chlorine that find their way into your home’s water affect the performance of ingredients like yeast. The minerals in your water change the gluten structure of the dough, impeding the fermentation process. Using filtered water will result in better freshly baked items taking your baking game to a next level.
Consider a Reverse Osmosis System
From better tasting & looking food to keeping your family safe, filtered water offers a host of benefits which most people are unaware of. You’ll never have to worry about the contaminants in your drinking water once you make a switch to filtered water. Investing in a reverse osmosis system is an affordable and highly effective solution to ensure drinking water is pure & safe. Our RO systems feature multi-stage filtration technology that removes 99.9% contaminants from your drinking water and improves its taste. Check out our range of reverse osmosis systems and make a switch from tap water to filtered water.