Baking Powder/ soda

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Forum -> Household Management -> Kosher Kitchen

Baking Powder/ soda

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Yael

Mon, Jun 06 2005, 3:25 pm

whats the difference between baking powder and baking soda?
why do some cakes call for one not the other, and some need both?

miriam

Mon, Jun 06 2005, 3:56 pm

Baking powder is baking soda + an acid. Sometimes they add extra stuff for double action.

613

Mon, Jun 06 2005, 4:04 pm

cool... you learn something new everyday!

Tefila

Mon, Jun 06 2005, 4:11 pm

from experiance baking powder is more important then the baking soda infact when I've run short of the soda I've noticed no difference!!!

motheroftwo

Mon, Jun 06 2005, 5:08 pm

I think I read this once but don't take my word for it. Baking powder will make the batter rise without heat. Baking soda needs heat to rise. Or maybe the opposite, don't remember Scratching Head

chen

Mon, Nov 14 2005, 3:21 pm

Mother of 2, you were right the second time. Baking soda will release CO2 gas as soon as it hits any acid in the batter. Batters like this must go into the oven or frying pan ASAP after mixing or the gas will dissipate and you'll have a dense lump. Double-acting baking powder releases some gas upon hitting the batter, and releases more gas when it is heated. With this kind of leavening you can wait a while before putting the cake in the oven.

Baking soda remains active just about forever until it is used. baking powder has a finite shelf life. Single-acting baking powder has a shorter shlf-life than double-acting. Exposure to air and moisture will shorten the shelf-life of either type.

Tefila

Mon, Nov 14 2005, 5:13 pm

Wow chen Thanks 8)

shayna82

Mon, Nov 14 2005, 5:31 pm

all I know is that using too much can ruin a cake or cookies, belive me.. What

Tefila

Mon, Nov 14 2005, 5:32 pm

Especially baking soda yep embarrassed

Tovah

Mon, Nov 14 2005, 6:00 pm

I always wondered what the diff is mind u I only use baking powder since I never have baking soda.

chen

Mon, Nov 14 2005, 6:10 pm

here's something funny I found out recently: in hebrew recipes, "soda lishtiyah"--literally 'soda for drinking"--means baking soda. carbonated water, aka seltzer, aka soda water, is something like 'mei soda' . (Not to be confused with "mei sotah" ). good thing I checked before trying the recipe. I wondered what value 1/2 teaspoon of seltzer would have in a cake batter

Tefila

Mon, Nov 14 2005, 6:12 pm

Quote:

good thing I checked before trying the recipe. I wondered what value 1/2 teaspoon of seltzer would have in a cake batter

sarahd

Tue, Nov 15 2005, 5:35 am

Baking soda is mainly good, AFAIK, for making a chocolate batter blacker. OTOH, it gives a very distinctive (yuck) taste to the cake. Other than that, I use it only for chocolate-chip cookies.