But because yogurt is sour, I then add a bit of baking soda to the batter after the presoak, to neutralize that sourness. This is to make the minerals in the flour more absorbable, and to partially break down the gluten and other proteins for easier digestion. I presoak my flour in a yogurt-water solution overnight, before mixing up the batter. The trick is coming up with the right proportion of baking soda and baking powder, when developing your own recipes. For example, buttermilk dinner rolls baking soda neutralizes the sourness (acidity) of the buttermilk. Similarly, when yeast is used as the main leavening agent, baking soda can be added to neutralize acids in the dough. In this case, the baking powder does most of the leavening, and the soda neutralizes the acids that would give a sour taste, and to increase the tenderness (crumb) of the final product. One might ask, why do some recipes call for both baking soda and baking powder? This is common when a recipe contains a little bit of acid, but not enough to activate the baking soda on its own. Recipes with both baking soda and baking powder 2 parts arrowroot powder (or 1 part cornstarch)įor each teaspoon baking powder called for in the recipe, use 1/4 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp cream tartar.Sift together the following, and store in an airtight glass jar: I prefer to use arrowroot because commercial cornstarch is made from GMO corn. So it’s best to buy aluminum-free baking powder, or make your own, using arrowroot or cornstarch to absorb moisture. However, I must point out that most commercial baking powders contain aluminum salts to absorb moisture that would otherwise destroy the leavening power of the mix, and aluminum can be toxic. Thus your batter doesn’t need to contain an acid (buttermilk, yogurt, lemon juice, etc) in order to rise, because the leavening agent (baking powder) contains the acid. Upon contact with the liquids in the batter, the cream of tartar forms tartaric acid, which in turn reacts with the baking soda to release CO2 gas. Some enterprising baker figured out that you could combine baking soda with a salt of tartaric acid (cream of tarter) that would remain an inert powder until added to a batter. Other uses: removing certain stains (see Baking soda and stain removal (1)), for absorbing odors, and for brushing teeth. (4)Īnd it can be used to reduce the acidity (increase the pH) of a dye solution, as demonstrated by Joan G.
(Other batter acids include buttermilk, sour cream, chocolate, cocoa, honey, molasses, brown sugar, fruits and maple syrup).
This gas creates bubbles in the mixture, effectively causing it to rise. On its own, it won’t cause a rise, but in the presence of an acid such as vinegar, lemon juice, yogurt, it reacts to release CO2 gas. Soda’s ability to convert to CO2 when in the presence of an acid is how it works as a leavening (rise agent) in baking. It is the HCO3- part of baking soda that does all the work by picking up another H+ ion (from an acid) to produce CO2 gas and H2O (water). The pH of baking soda is 8.1, slightly alkaline. It is considered a buffer, meaning that it can bring the pH of an acidic or an alkaline solution toward neutral. It’s chemical formula is NaHCO3 and dissolves into water in its ionic form: Na+ and HCO3. Baking SodaĪlso known as sodium bicarbonate, baking soda is one of two salts of carbonic acid (dissolved CO2). As an adjunct to that discussion, I’d like to expand a bit on each. At our September Gathering on Natural Dyes, these common household substances were discussed.
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