Baking Basics - Baking Powder Vs Baking Soda
Sometimes a little knowledge of the ingredient we use can help make us better equipped for the job; in this case better bakers. What is baking powder? what is baking soda? Why are they important in our baking. This post explains the difference between them both and more.
When you just start baking; one of the confusing and curious questions you ask yourself is
- What is Baking Powder?
- what is Baking Soda?
- Why are they so important in baking?
- how are they different from each other?
- Do they have substitutes?
- Can they be omitted in a recipe?
- What happens if I don't have it at home?
- How does it effect my recipe?
The most common or worst scenarios in baking
Not to scare you but a few of us who bake often might go thru these which results in us going to dig for answers to the above?
- You start baking your favorite recipe when you suddenly notice.
- No baking powder and only have baking soda?
- Or your baking powder is expired!!
- The worst is when ย you already baked the cake or cookies only to realize that they are all baked flat because the leavening did not work!
Did any of you these above scenarios get you to this post?
The first time I went digging for answers was when my cookies were flat out and mom said - your baking powder must have expired.
What? It has an expiry? Where? How? read read read.. over the years we've learned some from reading and some by trail and errors. ย Making a food out of yourself in the kitchen can be a great learning experience - ask me how I know?
Anyway, so let's explore Baking powder vs baking Soda - shall we?
Nah I'm not going to bore you with details and tell you the chemical and alkaline etc.... Let's keep it simple to how it's important to our baking - shall we?
First off.... the basic difference.
Baking Soda also called Soda Bicarbonate
- Pro - Releases Carbon dioxide which helps cookies and bread rise.
- Cons โ also produces sodium carbonate, which doesn't taste good and can give your baked goods an weird after taste.
- Cakes can be crusty with hard crumb.
- Too much can lead to reddish ting.
- Works best used when you are using an acid ingredient such as Lemon juice.
For example. Do not Substituting Buttermilk with Milk in a recipe. Your taking away the acid โ instead add lemon juice to the milk so the baking soda can work better.
Baking Powderย
- Baking powder is basically just baking soda with acid added in.
It has just enough acid to use up the sodium carbonate. Making it more safer to use. - Baking powder works in two stages โ as soon as you add it to the batter and then when it is heated in the oven. Therefore it is better to bake the batter as soon as it is combined.
- Hence the practice grease and line pans first so you donโt waste time once the batter is ready.
- 1 tsp. baking powder has 1/4 tsp. baking soda the rest is the acid such as cream of tartar and cornstarch.
Storage and Shelf life
- Chemical leavening like baking powder and baking soda lose their potency after a while, especially if they are stored in a warm kitchen or if not sealed tightly.
- Itโs best to buy them in small quantities or thrown when not used for long.
- The best way to find out is to test them when not used for long.
How to test Baking Powder Vs Baking Soda.
- Testing is really simple and easy so it's best test rather than take chances.
- The easiest and quickest way to test Baking Soda is to put it in a small bowl, add a little vinegar to it. If it bubbles up it's good. I bet you now remember those volcano experiments we did as kids in science class. Yup! that's the same.
- A simple way to test Baking Powder is just put it in a small bowl, add some water. It should immediately foam up. It if does it's good!!
Can you substitute one for the other? ย Baking powder Vs Baking Soda?
Well, as I said above baking powder is usually made with Baking Soda, plus some acid such as cream of tartar and cornstarch to keep it from caking up.
Honestly it's best not to substitute baking soda for baking powder - why?
If you going to substitute baking powder for baking soda -you going to need a lot more of the baking soda. For example one tsp of baking powder has only 1/4 tsp of baking soda - so if you recipe says 1 tsp of baking soda you would need 4 tsp of baking powder. Right? Not to mention you are also going to add all that extra acid (cream of tartar) and cornstarch with it. So you may end up with a bitter taste.
On the other hand you can easily substitute baking powder.
Baking Soda is of course three times as powerful as baking powder so you will need to use much less in the recipe. And you will need to increase the amount of acid in the recipe which means ย you just need to add either a little bit of cream of tartar or vinegar or lemon juice.
Baking Powder - best to be made fresh at the time of baking of course.
For one tsp of baking powder - you would add 1/4 tsp of baking soda + 1/2 tsp of vinegar or lemon juice.
So here's today's Tip Thursday. You can find more onย Pinterest and Save a collection of these.
Don't forget to save this Baking Basic Tip Thursday for later . You can find a collection of my recipes and tutorials here on Pinterestย
Baking Powder Vs Baking Soda - Tip Thursday Baking Basic
Shivanthi
Day 5 done
YENG CHOW
DAY 5 DONE
Lydia
Day 5 done. God bless
Pat
Day five done. I can't wait to start baking
Albertina Lizwe
Day 5 done
Aliya
Day5 Done
Viny
Day 5 done
Grace
Day 5 done
Diane P.
Day 5 done. I've always wondered, when baking and you can't place all your baking pans in the oven st the same time, is it better to put that batter in the fridge or leave on counter? Thanks Veena.
Veena Azmanov
Diane. In some recipes, it's ok to leave half the batter out (not in the fridge unless you live in a hot and humid place)
But, batters that have whipped eggs, for example, need to be baked immediately
Diane P.
This is good to know. Thank you.
Sabrina
Day 5- Done
Naledi
Day 5 done
Ethel Mkwananzi
Day 5 Done
Cosma Paula
Day 5 Done... Thank you
Chandra Persaud
Day #5 done
Zubaidah Aboosali
Week 1 day 5 done
mayleen Ortiz
Day 5 done
Divya
Day 5 done
Barb
Day 5 done. Thank you for the tips on testing and substitution.
Niroo Sinha
Day 5 Done
Ashu Jain Gupta
Day 5 done
Melinda
Done
Sumra Ashfaq
Day 5 done
Gincy
Day 5 complete. Thank you
Bhakti Makhaani
Day 5 done. Thank you!
Adriana
Day 5 done thanks
p.k. singh
day 5 done
Sharleen
Day 5 done. another great lesson Veena. But what is the reddish ting that baking soda leads too? Thanks again
Veena Azmanov
What reddish thing?
Sharleen
Under BAKING SODA ALSO CALLED SODA BICARBONATE one of the bullet point was too much leads to reddish ting. That point was unclear to me. Sorry.
Veena Azmanov
Oh that.. yes, too much baking powder in a cake (especially when you add twice by mistake) the baked cake can have a reddish color to it.
Sheryl
Day 5 done
Preeti
Day 5 done
Thank you ๐
Portia
Fay 5 Done
Susan Kelley
Day 5 Done
Kasamba M Kalinda
Done Day 5
Kumud
Day 5
Done
Louella Fonseca
Day 5 Done
Patricia
Day 5 done
Elizabeth Madan
Day #5 DONE. Thank you Veena. Getting a good understanding now
Sophie
Day 5 DONE
Esther,
Day 5 Done
Elda
Day5 done
Aarti
Day 5 done
Aisha
Day 5 done
Pฤฑnar
Day 5 done
Mercy
Day 5 done.Thank you for the insight
Ramya
Day 5 done. Very useful
Nandrianina
Day 5 done
Irene
Day 5 Done!! .. Thank you Veena!!
Anna
Thank you day 5
Deepthi
Week1Day5 done
Kajal Gupta
Day 5 done
Marie Schneider-Loos
Day 5 done
Najma Kanchwala
Day 5 done. Thank you
Akosua
Day #5. Done. Thank you
Shenaz
Day 5 done. Thank you
Nandi
Day 5 done. ๐
Tanu mittal
Thank you mam
Sindhuja
Day 5 done
Sunitha
Day 5 done
Thank you
Mfon
Day 5. Done
Nasreen Suffee
Day 5 Done
Maria B Rugolo
DAY 5 - DONE! What a fantastic help! You are wonderful!!
Veena Azmanov
Thank you
Plat
Day 5 done
Thank you
Julie
Day 5 done and thank you
Ziv Azmanov
Thank you Julie.
Bruce
Day # 5 DONE
OOPS My baking powder expired 2 years ago.
Veena Azmanov
Yes, baking powder needs to be checked for expiry often
Sheryl
Day 5 done
Bhaavi
Hi.. day# 5 done. I have one question: usually I ve noticed 1/4 tsp baking soda goes for 1 tsp baking powder. But why in some recipes baking soda is just double the amount of baking powder? Like in tiramisu if I remember. How do you decide the ratio of two if you are to alternate any particular recipe?
Thank you
Veena Azmanov
Baking soda and baking powder are used depending on the list of all ingredients. For example, most cakes use baking powder but when you add acid ingredients you use baking soda too. I have explained this in my post. So it is not necessarily double but rather in reference to ingredients used.
Fred
Day 5 done
Veena Azmanov
Thank you
Veronica Dias
Day 5 done
Siphelele
Day #5 done.
Veena Azmanov
Thank you
Monica
Day 5 Done
This was a great insight into the science of these two very important ingredients. Thanks for sharing
Sheryl
Day 5 done
AHUVAH FRANCIS
DAY 5 DONE
Veena Azmanov
Thank you
Mindy Coy
Day #5 Done
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Mindy
Michele
Day 5 done
Veena Azmanov
Thank you
Zolisa
Day 5 Done
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Zolisa
Angie Hickok
day 5 done
Veena Azmanov
Thank you
PADMA GANISAKRAN
Day #5 Done
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Padma
Mame Recckio-Wolfe
Day #5 - done!!!
Veena Azmanov
Thank you Mame
Gladys
Day 5 done
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Gladys
R CHERRY
DAY 5 DONE
Veena Azmanov
Thank you
Ruthie
Day 5 done
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Ruthie
vani
day 5 done
Marian
Day 5 done
Veena Azmanov
Thanks, Marian
Janet
Day 5 Done
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Janet
Monica Andrade
I really LOVE your live for what you do. And sharing with us is UNBELIEVABLE. Thank you so much for everything. And dont worry about the ones that worry about the ads, they have no idea how expensive is to do what you are doing. ?
Veena Azmanov
Thank you so much Monica. Appreciate the support and kind words
reefat cakes
I really appreciate, it helpful
Veena Azmanov
Thank you Reefat.
Lakshmi
1tsp baking powder, 1\4tsp baking soda,1\2tsp lemon juice , for 1cup flour?
Veena Azmanov
Yes, Laxshmi. That's sounds about right.