Cooking with Spring Water: Why Your Water Matters for Pasta, Rice & Soups

The water you cook with affects the taste, texture, and quality of your food more than you might think. From pasta and rice to soups and stocks, using premium spring water instead of tap water can elevate everyday meals into something exceptional.

Why Cooking Water Matters

Water is often the primary ingredient in cooking — it's what pasta absorbs, what rice steams in, and what forms the base of soups and sauces. When you use tap water with chlorine, minerals, or off-flavours, those characteristics transfer directly into your food.

Premium Australian spring water like Little Hampton or Peninsula Springs offers:

• Clean, neutral taste with no chlorine or chemical aftertaste
• Natural mineral balance that enhances rather than masks flavours
• Consistent purity for reliable cooking results
• No contaminants that can affect texture or appearance

Cooking Pasta with Spring Water

Pasta absorbs a significant amount of water during cooking — up to 60% of its final weight. Using spring water ensures your pasta tastes clean and allows the sauce and ingredients to shine.

Why It Makes a Difference:

• No chlorine taste that can clash with delicate sauces
• Better texture and mouthfeel
• Cleaner finish that doesn't leave a chemical aftertaste
• Ideal for fresh pasta where water quality is even more noticeable

Pro Tip:

Save a cup of your spring water pasta cooking water to add to sauces. The starchy, mineral-rich water helps emulsify and bind sauces beautifully without introducing off-flavours.

Cooking Rice with Spring Water

Rice is almost entirely cooked in water, making water quality critical to the final result. Whether you're making risotto, sushi rice, or simple steamed rice, spring water delivers superior results.

Benefits:

• Fluffier, more separate grains with better texture
• Clean taste that complements rather than competes with seasonings
• No mineral buildup or discolouration
• Perfect for delicate rice varieties like jasmine, basmati, or arborio

Cooking Ratio:

Use the same water-to-rice ratio you normally would, but upgrade to spring water for noticeably better flavour and texture. For most white rice, that's 1.5 to 2 cups of water per cup of rice.

Making Soups & Stocks with Spring Water

Soups and stocks are where water quality matters most — the water is the foundation of the entire dish. Using spring water ensures your carefully chosen ingredients aren't masked by chlorine or mineral flavours.

Why Chefs Choose Spring Water:

• Allows the true flavour of vegetables, herbs, and proteins to come through
• Creates a cleaner, more refined broth
• No chemical taste that can overpower delicate seasonings
• Better clarity and appearance in clear broths and consommés

Best For:

• Chicken, beef, or vegetable stocks
• Clear broths and Asian-style soups (pho, ramen, miso)
• Delicate seafood bisques and chowders
• Pureed soups where water is a primary ingredient

Other Cooking Applications

Steaming Vegetables

Spring water creates clean-tasting steam that won't leave mineral deposits or off-flavours on delicate vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, or green beans.

Blanching

When blanching vegetables for salads or meal prep, spring water preserves their natural colour and flavour without introducing chlorine or metallic notes.

Cooking Grains & Legumes

Quinoa, couscous, lentils, and beans all absorb water during cooking. Spring water ensures they taste clean and fresh, especially important for grain bowls and salads where they're featured ingredients.

Making Sauces & Gravies

When recipes call for water to thin sauces or create gravies, spring water won't dilute flavour or introduce unwanted tastes.

Coffee & Tea

While not cooking per se, coffee and tea are 98% water. Using premium spring water dramatically improves the taste of both:

• Coffee tastes smoother with better clarity of flavour notes
• Tea steeps with purer, more delicate flavours
• No chlorine or mineral interference with subtle aromatics

Learn more in our guide: Best Water for Coffee and Tea.

How Much Water Do You Need?

For everyday cooking, keep a supply of still spring water on hand:

• 750mL glass bottles — Perfect for smaller cooking tasks and recipes
• BPA-free plastic bottles — Convenient for larger pots of pasta or soup
• Bulk options — Stock up for regular cooking needs

The Taste Test

Try this simple experiment:

1. Cook two batches of plain white rice — one with tap water, one with spring water
2. Taste them side by side with no seasoning
3. Notice the difference in flavour, texture, and finish

The difference is subtle but unmistakable — and it becomes even more noticeable in dishes where water is the star ingredient.

The Bottom Line

Premium spring water isn't just for drinking. When you cook with water that's naturally pure, mineral-balanced, and free from chemicals, your food tastes better. From everyday pasta and rice to refined soups and sauces, the water you choose makes a measurable difference.

Explore our still water collection and discover how Little Hampton and Peninsula Springs can elevate your cooking.