53
votes
How can I tell if this is baking soda or powder?
Baking powder contains starch, which is insoluble.
Baking soda is completely soluble
Take a small bowl, and put 1/8 tsp of the substance in the bottom.
Add water.
If the substance is bicarbonate ...
- 1,065
35
votes
Accepted
Can I use baking powder in place of baking soda for dipping pretzels?
No, you cannot use baking powder to dip pretzels. To get their characteristic color and crust, pretzels are traditionally boiled in lye. Another alkaline solution, i.e. those containing a base, can be ...
- 3,520
35
votes
Accepted
How can I remove the smell of bicarbonate of soda?
Generally when one is cooking chickpeas with soda to soften them, one par-cooks the chickpeas with just water and soda, drains them, rinses them, and then finishes cooking them with the other ...
- 65.5k
26
votes
Accepted
Baking soda as a substitute for baking powder
Baking powder contains baking soda, plus acidic ingredient(s).
If you have cream of tartar, you can make baking powder directly:
2 parts cream of tartar
1 part baking soda
1 part corn starch
...
- 2,474
24
votes
How can I tell if this is baking soda or powder?
Lick your finger
Dip it in the jar
Lick finger again.
If it tastes of:
Soap: Soda
Very faintly of soap and faintly of starch and slightly fizzes in your mouth: Baking powder
- 5,837
14
votes
Accepted
Soda Bread disaster
The fat in the milk is a red herring here. At best, you would have to be a professional baker who knows the same recipe by feel to be able to notice the tiny difference made by 2% vs. 3.8% milk in ...
- 140k
13
votes
How can I tell if this is baking soda or powder?
Double Acting Baking powder has baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) AND two acids it in Single Acting only has one acid
You can use this property to test by mixing the unknown substance with some plain ...
- 3,486
12
votes
Accepted
Irish soda bread kneading process
You don't knead soda bread for long, some methods call for no kneading at all. One reason is texture, soda bread should be a bit crumbly, stretchy isn't what you are aiming for. The other reason is to ...
- 77.2k
12
votes
How can I remove the smell of bicarbonate of soda?
I don't think you can remove the smell, it might be best to throw those ones out and start again.
You have added a lot of bicarbonate for the amount of chickpeas. Recipes that include bicarbonate ...
- 16.2k
11
votes
Accepted
Cleaning with baking soda stains?
Aluminum is attacked by alkalies - while lye (typically from automatic dishwasher detergent) is the more common issue, baking soda is a weak alkali and will have the same issue.
Other than re-...
- 19.1k
10
votes
How can I tell if this is baking soda or powder?
Mix some with water. Baking soda will do nothing. Baking powder will bubble somewhat
- 2,107
10
votes
Can I replace baking soda with bread flour in a cake recipe that already has baking powder?
No. Not at all.
Baking soda is a leavening agent. Together with baking powder it gives your cake lift and airiness. Bread flour is just flour with a higher protein content. If anything, it will make ...
- 16.5k
8
votes
Accepted
What provides the acid for leavening in this banana bread recipe?
Most of the ingredients in this recipe are acidic.
ph values:
flour 5.5-6.5
brown sugar slightly acidic
bananas 4.5-5.2
butter 6.1-6.4
The salt is neutral and the eggs are not acidic, ph 7.1-7.9
...
- 5,458
8
votes
Accepted
Interpreting a recipe from Mrs Beeton: "carbonate of soda"
There are many mentions of carbonate of soda in the Book of Household Management, and also two mentions of bicarbonate of soda (to preserve milk, and in a recipe for light buns). It has a specific ...
- 1,994
8
votes
Accepted
Will frozen mangos work as a substitute for apples?
You probably don't need to worry, but I'd add a little lemon juice anyway.
E450 reacts with baking soda (technically E450 can describe a few related compounds, of which only some are used as raising ...
- 45.2k
8
votes
How can I remove the smell of bicarbonate of soda?
It's pretty unusual to add the bicarbonate during cooking.
The way they taught me, the bicarbonate goes in the soaking water. You let sit overnight then throw away the water with the bicarbonate, ...
- 545
7
votes
Soda Bread disaster
Whole milk is 4%, so double the fat. 400ml of 4% has 16ml of fat while 2% has 8ml of fat and 8ml more water. 8ml more water will upset the balance a bit but shouldn't be enough to make the dough too ...
- 77.2k
7
votes
Accepted
How can I skin hazelnuts at home?
There are really two methods. The roasting method, where the nuts are roasted, then placed in a kitchen towel, and the skins are rubbed off. The second is the blanching method, where you blanch for ...
- 76.9k
6
votes
Baking soda as a substitute for baking powder
Baking powder and baking soda ARE NOT THE SAME THING.
Baking powder is a mix of soda and an acid that reacts to produce gas that will leaven (rise) the cake.
Baking soda is only 1/2. It has a ...
- 79
6
votes
How to bake baking soda to produce sodium carbonate?
The temperature needs to be high enough, that's all. 450°F should work fine. (2-5 hours is a little silly, since the reaction is pretty quick once the baking soda itself is up to temperature.)
If ...
- 30.2k
6
votes
heat-induced leavening agent
Kind of - you can use eggs as leavening. Actually what happens here is that beaten egg retains air in the form of bubbles. The air expands when heated, creating a leavening effect. It doesn't escape ...
- 16.2k
6
votes
Will frozen mangos work as a substitute for apples?
Diced raw apples would not provide significant leavening to a batter they were mixed into, so I wouldn’t worry about that aspect. Frozen mangoes will be much softer (particularly once cooked), and ...
- 30.2k
5
votes
Why is baking soda included in sourdough cracker recipe?
In addition to leavening, baking soda increases the PH of the dough. Since your recipe uses sourdough starter, it may be fairly acidic. Adding baking soda will make the dough less acidic. The PH level,...
- 3,520
5
votes
does washing vegetables and fruit with baking soda make sense?
A recent study {1} supports the use of baking soda to wash fruits in order to reduce the presence of pesticides. The study
was summarized by https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-10/acs-...
5
votes
What to do with butter that has been mixed with baking soda?
Honestly, if you really don't want to throw it away, I would suggest sticking it in your freezer, and slowly using it up when you need baking soda and don't mind a bit of added butter. Baking soda is ...
- 11.8k
5
votes
How can I skin hazelnuts at home?
I too scoured the internet for methods and found the two methods found in moscafj's answer. However, I found both approaches so frustrating and time consuming that I was considering abandoning ...
- 151
5
votes
Accepted
heat-induced leavening agent
Ammonium carbonate:
Ammonium carbonate may be used as a leavening agent in traditional recipes, particularly those from northern Europe and Scandinavia (e.g. Speculoos, Tunnbröd or Lebkuchen). It was ...
- 720
4
votes
Can powdered citric acid be used instead of baking soda?
No, those are absolutely not the same thing. They're completely different compounds: baking soda is sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), and citric acid is C6H8O7. And they're not even similar chemically: ...
- 58.4k
4
votes
How to make adjust a recipe for red velvet cake when increasing the quantity?
I know some disagree, but I always have learned that recipes can start breaking down if more than doubling or halving. Ratios can start changing and need adjusted, and then there is the cooking time ...
- 8,642
4
votes
Interpreting a recipe from Mrs Beeton: "carbonate of soda"
Further evidence it refers to carbonate and not bicarbonate: I made the the recipe using both (a half quantity of each, with the sodium carbonate made by baking sodium bicarbonate).
A different ...
- 45.2k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible