Tried making bread with potato water instead of regular water

I had some leftover water from boiling potatoes last Sunday and figured I'd use it in my pizza dough instead of tossing it. The crust came out way fluffier than usual and had this weirdly good flavor I still can't place. Has anyone else experimented with this or is it just a fluke?

2 comments

2 Comments

terry_barnes13d ago

Gotta love how the stuff we usually throw away often ends up being the secret ingredient. Feels like half the best cooking hacks come from just not being wasteful with random kitchen scraps.

ellis.susan13d ago

A neighbor of mine is actually a retired baker and he told me once that the starch from potato water feeds the yeast, giving it more to eat and making the dough rise better. I tried it in my sourdough starter a few weeks ago and it went absolutely crazy, like doubled in size way faster than normal. The flavor you noticed might be from the minerals and starch that leach out of the potatoes during boiling, it gives the bread a kind of earthy, subtle sweetness that can be really nice in crusts.