Pro tip: boiling pasta water is better for bread than tap water

I kept getting dense bread loaves and couldn't figure out why until an old baker at a farmers market in Austin told me to use cooled pasta water for the dough. The starch in the water helps gluten develop way better. Has anyone else tried substituting cooking water in other recipes?

2 comments

2 Comments

robinf511mo agoMost Upvoted

bro i feel your pain on the dense loaves. i tried so many times to get that airy texture and it just wouldnt happen. that austin baker knew what was up, the starch really does make a huge difference. i started using pasta water for my pizza dough too and it got way more flexible and bubbly on the crust. its crazy how such a small thing can change the whole outcome, honestly just makes me wonder what other random kitchen tricks im missing out on.

emery_flores1mo ago

oh man, i mean i get it but is it really that serious? like breads dense, so what? slap some butter on it and youre good, yknow? people act like the texture of their loaf is a life or death thing sometimes.