What is the difference between baking soda and baking powder? Why do some recipes call for one, some for the other, and some call for both?
Baking soda, or bicarbonate of soda, releases carbon dioxide when it comes into contact with an acidic liquid. The resulting air bubbles help whatever you are baking rise.
Now, baking soda can be a great leavener if you have an acidic ingredient in your recipe, like buttermilk or lemon juice. But if you don’t have enough acid in your dough, your baking soda needs a little help.
This is where baking powder comes into play. Baking powder is simply baking soda, with added acid salts. The salts and the baking soda do not react together when dry, but when combined with a liquid, they will create carbon dioxide bubbles are produced to help leaven the dough.
So now we have baking powder to leaven no or low acidity recipes, and baking soda to help acidic goods rise. Why do some recipes, then, call for both baking powder and baking soda?
Sometimes, you want to neutralize the acid in a recipe. The baking soda achieves this, and the baking powder actually achieves the leavening.
Substitutions
What do you do if you don’t have any baking powder? Simple! Substitute with a mixture of two parts cream of tartar with one part baking soda.
And if you don’t have any baking soda? Just replace with baking powder, and increase the amount by two or three times. Be warned, however, that this could affect the final taste. You may be better off just running to the store to get a box of baking soda!
Very informative! Thanks for the information!
Really interesting! I <3 these posts! We must plan the Red Mango meet soon! The thing on my schedule is an exam from 7:15-9:15 on Thursday. It is only 50 mult choice questions, so I'm guessing it will take only an hour. So…if people want to do it Thursday, 8:30 would work for me!
Learn something new every day
I’m saving this info, I know I’ll need it some day!
I actually just learned this at Christmas time. I was making a cookie recipe that called for cream of tartar and basking soda. I didn’t have any cream of tartar so I called my mom (She’s a foods and nutrition teacher.) and she told me I could just use baking powder instead.
you are so smart!!
oh, look. i already commented on this post. and here i am again, looking up information on baking powder. dear brain food. i love you. the end.
thanks for sharing these tidbits, i always get cranky when a recipe calls for something that i don’t have on hand and hadn’t thought about these substitutes before! have a great sunday
I was just organizing my cabinet and was reading the back of the baking soda box with all the possible uses for it. Isn’t it odd that it can be used for baking and to clean silver?
Really? I don’t think I knew that!
Whoa! This is really cool. I have always wondered what each one did to your food. Now I know!
I am having a Savvy Eats moment… might be a year later, but this is so helpful. I’ve always wondered the difference!