Water: A Critical Ingredient for Pizza Restaurants

Ripe tomatoes. Creamy mozzarella. Flavorful dough. High-quality water.

You might have guessed three of those ingredients that contribute to a pizza restaurant’s success, but maybe not the last one.

Many don’t realize that water is an ingredient in cooking. At pizza restaurants, it’s all about the dough, and water is a key ingredient.

The balance of minerals in water – hardness – has a large role to play in the pizza dough. Too many minerals from harder water can affect the yeast’s fermentation and how the dough rises. Water that is too soft can make the dough too sticky and unmanageable, and mixing more flour with sticky dough only dries it out.

With each pizzeria having a specific recipe for their dough, there might be a specific hardness needed to meet their recipe. A water filtration system ensures the consistency in dough that restaurants rely on to protect their brand and serve the best possible pizza to their customers.

For pizza restaurants, a water filtration system provides high-quality ingredient water that removes turbidity (dirt and particulates) and cysts that may otherwise be added to the dough. A carbon filter removes foul tastes and odors that may result from the chlorine or chloramine in the water.

If Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) levels are higher than the EPA acceptable limit (500 ppm), a reverse osmosis (RO) system should also be incorporated into the location. The RO system should include a blending valve to add the RO water with incoming water. This will allow the pizzeria to dial in the correct amount of TDS and hardness minerals for their recipe.

If a pizza restaurant also serves other Italian dishes, such as pasta, the chef may utilize a countertop steamer to speed up service. Water filtration systems impact steamers because they protect the equipment from costly maintenance and repairs (i.e. scale reduction) — prolonging the life of the equipment. Additionally, fountain beverage machines and ice machines benefit from high-quality water — both through better-tasting water and improved equipment performance.

When built and configured for an operation’s specific needs, a water filtration system will both reduce the downtime for equipment and improve the water quality for foods and beverages at pizza restaurants.

Have questions about water filtration? See if they’re answered by our knowledgeable team in this article: Ask the Experts: 3 Quick Questions about Water Filtration.