Yes, you read that right. We recently came across a short article on a news channel’s site in the Bethesda, MD area which stated that a local pizzeria used a water filtration system — and that some people believe its pizza tasted more like pizza from New York because of the purified water.
Some say its the water that makes New York pizza taste so good. Flippin’ Pizza uses a water filtration systems to make our local water taste more like New York’s. ( source )
So if we read that right, locals in Bethesda, MD believe one of the secrets to making great New York style pizza involves filtering their own water so that it more closely resembles that of New York’s. Kind of interesting, don’t you think?
Naturally the question on OUR minds sounds a lot like… “What kind of water filter do they use?”
We checked the pizza place’s web site ( www.flippinpizza.com ) to see if maybe they had leaked the brand and type of water filter they use, but no luck. We did, however find this statement that the proprietors made about their pizza:
A real, honest pie. An old-school, ‘I’m from Brooklyn and you’re not’ pizza. So welcome to Flippin’ Pizza. A New York original, since 2007. ( source )
Didn’t figure we’d get much info from New Yorkers, but hey… If you don’t try, you’ll never know. So fuhgettaboutit already!
Better water can make food taste better?
We figure, as you probably already have, that truly rotten water would ruin the taste of anything. But, since we do try to educate with more than just our opinions around here, we decided that we needed to find some scientific proof that our opinion had real merit.
In comparison to taste thresholds in spring water, the recognition thresholds are higher using tap water, and lower using deionized water. When using deionized water, sour was detected by all subjects at the lowest concentrations. Iron(II)sulfate could best be matched to metallic sensation in deionized water. Results indicate that taste sensitivity is influenced by water quality. ( source )
For those who don’t speak ‘science talk’, the folks conducting the study discovered that participants in the study could more easily recognize distinct flavors in spring water and deionized water than in tap water.
We suppose that means when people try to add a hint of flavor to a soup or other dish using tap water, it takes them more seasoning to accomplish that task. Now if you consider that some seasonings, like salt, can harm a person if ingested in too great a quantity for too long a time, then that means tap water makes it easier for that harm to happen.
Getting back to the taste issue, though, if you consider that pretty much all municipalities add some form of disinfectant (often an oxidizer such as chlorine) to the water they distribute, it would make sense that the oxidizers would act on, and attempt to destroy, anything they encounter — including seasonings and natural flavors in foods.
Additionally, if water has too high or low a pH, it may act to oxidize or reduce naturally occurring chemicals in a food that would otherwise impart the food’s natural flavor into dish.
So, for all you aspiring chefs and cooks out there, as well as all the Ramen Noodle eating folks like so many of us at the Water Testing Blog, using filtered water may increase the flavor in your dishes and allow you to fully enjoy the flavors you work so hard to create.
Test your drinking water before choosing a drinking water filter
Having your water tested will give you the opportunity to select the perfect water filter for your water. Simple at-home drinking water test kits from WaterSafe and SenSafe can provide important information you will need when selecting the appropriate water filter for your home or business.
Note: Drinking water test kits from those companies only give you some of the information you will need to make an educated decision when choosing a water filter. Having your water tested by a certified water testing lab such as National Testing Laboratories will give you a lot more detail and make your water filter decision that much easier.
Most importantly, though, certified water testing labs like National Testing Laboratories will test for many dangerous chemicals and compounds that home drinking water test kits cannot.
We sites to research water filters
Over the years we have seen a lot of water filter web sites come and go and the ones we will list here have not only endured the test of time, but they have grown and adapted well to the public’s ever-changing water filtration demands.
We present these in no particular order.
WaterFilters.Net — www.WaterFilters.net
FilterWater.Com — www.FilterWater.com
FiltersFast.Com — www.FiltersFast.com
IsoPureWater.Com — www.IsoPureWater.com
