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I found a recipe for homemade ramen noodles that calls for 'baked baking soda'. Based on some research, baking sodium bicarbonate will convert it to sodium carbonate. Na2CO3 is more basic than NaHCO3 and apparently basic water is good for chewy noodles.

Sodium carbonate is also known as washing soda. Can I use store-bought washing soda instead of making my own baked baking soda?

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    A quick Google search says that washing soda is already sodium carbonate, but as for whether it is food-safe I don't know.
    – mbjb
    Aug 20, 2020 at 0:51
  • Is baking baking soda really THAT cumbersome a process?
    – PoloHoleSet
    Oct 15, 2021 at 15:32
  • I'd rather buy it
    – Ethan Reesor
    Oct 23, 2021 at 19:20

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No, you cannot use normal washing soda for cooking because you cannot count on the purity of the product.

Even if the chemical formula is identical, the standards for manufacturing chemicals intended for human consumption are considerably higher than those for cleaning.

You can, however, purchase food-grade sodium carbonate as a food additive from a variety of manufacturers.

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    Some cleaning agents might actually be food grade. E.g. the citric acid I buy for descaling is, because it is meant to be used on kettles, coffee machines etc. But you should definitely check the individual product and not just assume it is going to be fine.
    – Matthias Brandl
    Aug 20, 2020 at 11:43
  • I can't imagine paying several dollars for purchasing the food grade version as opposed to baking 25 cents worth of baking soda in the oven for an hour.
    – PoloHoleSet
    Oct 15, 2021 at 16:01

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