![]() Some recipes do call for using a single leavener and, in fact, there is a common pneumonic device to help you remember the benefits of using baking powder versus soda: “Powder puffs. Baking soda also weakens gluten, which helps things like cookies or pancakes spread out while keeping them soft and chewy rather than overly dense. If the biscuit example doesn’t have you convinced, you should also know that baking soda enhances browning, which gives baked goods their appealing golden hue. Even though the ingredients are both adding air during the baking process, they’re complements, not substitutes. Many recipes need both kinds of reactions to achieve the intended overall balance of flavor and texture, which is why you’ll often see both baking soda and baking powder in a recipe. In baking as in life, it’s all about balance. Combining the two leavening agents produces a biscuit that is both light and tangy. But to get the rise you want without killing the tang (which would be the result of too much baking soda), you’ll need to incorporate baking powder as well, taking advantage of the delayed double-action to add even more levity. ![]() Instead, you can use a bit of soda because the immediate chemical reaction with the buttermilk gives the biscuits a big lift right out of the gate. But tangy buttermilk is one of the hallmarks of any good buttermilk biscuit, so you don’t want to completely neutralize the acid in your biscuit dough. Buttermilk is acidic, so your impulse might be to reach straight for the baking soda. In most cases that means soda plus powder.īuttermilk biscuits are a useful example. Not good, right? The amounts of acid and sodium bicarbonate in baking recipes must work in perfect equilibrium for the baked item to reach the right level of airiness. Push this too far by adding too much baking soda, and the recipe could end up with an unpleasant soapy flavor. In practical terms, this lessens the sour flavor of ingredients like lemon juice and apple cider vinegar, meaning less tartness in your final dish. It also neutralizes the acid, raising the overall pH and making the batter more alkaline. For one, when you mix baking soda with an acid, it doesn’t just create CO 2. If it’s really as simple as whether or not a recipe has an acid in it, then why all the fuss about when to use baking soda versus baking powder-and why do some recipes call for both? Well, it turns out that reality is a bit more complicated. Why do some recipes contain both baking soda and baking powder? In fact, 1 teaspoon of baking powder has approximately the same leavening power as just ¼ teaspoon baking soda. One other side effect of the additional ingredients in baking powder is that the mix is less concentrated (and thus less powerful) than baking soda. (If you’re having flashbacks to the papier-mâché volcanoes you made for the science fair, you’re on the right track.) When sodium bicarbonate comes into contact with an acidic liquid-think buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, molasses, coffee, citrus juice, or vinegar- it produces carbon dioxide gas, and those bubbles produce the lift that you’re looking for. Let’s start with the science: Baking soda is the commercial name for sodium bicarbonate. So, what’s the difference between baking soda and baking powder? Still, while they look the same, sound the same, and do virtually the same job, they aren’t substitutes for each another-at least, not entirely. Cakes, muffins, scones, quick breads, and basically anything you’re baking that doesn’t include yeast (a biological leavener) or beaten eggs (a mechanical leavener) rely on these compounds to produce a light texture or “crumb.” It’s totally fair to be confused because baking powder and baking soda actually do have a lot in common: They’re both chemical leaveners, which means that they add volume to baked goods by generating gas during the mixing and baking of a batter or dough. We’d be lying if we said we hadn’t wondered the same thing once or twice in the past before tying on our aprons. ![]() No matter where you are on your baking journey, at some point you’ve probably asked yourself, “what’s the difference between baking soda and baking powder?” It’s a reasonable question: They’re both plain white powders and their names certainly sound similar.
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