How does that Taste?
It’s a hot, muggy night. You can’t sleep, so you wander downstairs for something cold. You open the refrigerator, and yes, you’re so excited to see your all-time favorite! You bite into that pink, sweet as sugar, juicy-ripe watermelon. Your thirst is quenched. Now switch gears. It’s lunch packing time for the kids. You pull from the crisper some sweet and plump, mouth-watering grapes. Washing them under the tap water, you dry them, and pack them in bags. Off to school they go. Now it’s time for an iced-cold, strongly-brewed sweet tea. Nothing like it on a hot summer day. Well, you ask, why are we talking about this?
You know that water touches everything in our lives in some way, especially our food and drink. The real question is, what’s in that water that’s touching our lives even at the level of sustenance? What’s inside that water is inside of us. What you put into your mouth you ingest. It’s used by the cells and metabolized by the body. And if water is contaminated in any way, how does this truly affect our food and drink? And how does all of this taste for you?
Cleaning Affects.
It’s now weekend. There’s a special holiday, and Aunt Sue has gone for the freshest and best foods possible. She’s serving her daughter’s favorite, chicken with rice and vegetable stir-fry. She wants to include only organic veggies and meat. Keep in mind, most people don’t buy everything organic. And we have no control over some of this food while it’s growing or at certain stages of production. However, we do have control when the food reaches our homes. Organic or not, we still clean those veggies, fruits, herbs, chicken, fish and other meats.
When you clean foods, you have to wonder, what’s in the water you are using? Is there a residue left on your fruits and vegetables? Maybe there is a sulfur taste added, or maybe they taste bitter or unusually strong. Is there a chlorine after-taste?
Clean Up Time.
Let’s fast forward a little. It’s time for cleaning up the dishes, cups, cutlery, pots, pans and you name it. It was a big celebratory dinner. The food left behind is scrubbed off by either us or the dishwasher. But now you have to ask, is there any contaminating residue left from that working water – specially for the next use?
Is there a strange smell left behind? Is there residue on your pots and pans? Do your glasses feel filmy? These may be just some of the external side effects.
Ice And Your Beverages.
After dinner everyone retreats to the white wrap-around porch for relaxing and some freshly squeezed lemonade, with lots of ice cubes, in a recently cleaned cool glass. The sun’s going down and conversation is lite. Do you sense something, maybe a “funny taste” in your drink – even getting by the lemons? What about the ice cubes? Are they cloudy or are they clear? All beverages, in one way or another, are affected by water. What’s in the water becomes part of the beverage, and this includes your pop, tea, coffee, popsicles and more.
You ask, isn’t freezing items enough, right? It’s easy to assume that freezing temperatures would prevent concerns like E. Coli. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The ice you consume from restaurants, gas stations, quick marts, and vending machines could still be contaminated from so many touch points.
In most cases, your ice may not be contaminated by E. Coli, but cloudy ice cubes are still very common. This comes from the water source, and it points out water purity concerns.
Cooking And Baking. The Finishing Touch.
The moment has arrived. That smell, that warm aroma of hot apple pie. Cinnamon and sugar and sweet apples are wafting through the air. The finishing touch of the evening—homemade pie.
Baking and cooking in general is an art and a science. Knowing this, you must also wonder how the water you use, not only in cleaning food, but also in baking and cooking can create problems. For example, dissolved minerals in hard water can change the structure of gluten and also impact the performance of ingredients like yeast. Depending on how hard your water is, minerals can produce undesirable results such as tough and rubbery dough. Hard minerals make it more difficult for proteins in flour to absorb water.
Cooking and baking with contaminated water absorbs in the food. Boiling noodles, rice, meats and eggs are some other ways food is affected. Dissolved minerals in hard water can also affect the texture and appearance. Vegetables may become tough. Chlorine that’s added to city water for sanitization can affect the taste, and it could have a “bleaching” effect.
Know Your Water.
It was a wonderful evening enjoyed by all. The food was magnificent, the lemonade delicious, and the pie scrumptious. And luckily Aunt Sue has a water treatment system in place, plus crystal clear ice cubes. Gordon Brothers wants you to ‘Love Your Water’ like Aunt Sue.
Whether baking pie, cooking chicken, vegetables and rice, crushing ice for your lemonade or washing grapes, it’s important to know what’s in your water. We are here to get you the best water on tap. For a free in-home water analysis by one of our water professionals call 800-331-7611 or visit www.gordonbroswater.com. Our experts can customize a system to fit your needs and your budget. We can’t wait to hear from you! And remember, you can’t know what’s in your water until you get it tested.