Baking soda is one of the most common cooking ingredients that every home baker should take the time to understand.
Used as a leavening ingredient, baking soda features in countless recipes for bread, pancakes, waffles, cakes, muffins, and more.
Learn how it works and when you might use it, and get better results in your kitchen.
What is Baking Soda?
Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate in its pure form.
On its own as a dry ingredient, it is essentially inert.
However, when mixed with an acidic activator-like lemon juice or cream of tartar, it begins a chemical reaction that breaks down the compounds to produce carbon dioxide gas.
A similar chemical reaction also occurs when the heat is applied, so the baking soda can be used without an acidic ingredient in some foods.
This gas contributes to the leavening process.
You can incorporate baking soda into food that needs volume.
Flatbread, pancakes, and even cookies are all examples.
Baking soda won’t rise as much as yeast so it’s not ideal for all types of bread, but it is used widely in several specialty products.
Baking soda is sometimes confused with baking powder.
There are similarities but the two ingredients are quite different.
Baking powder contains baking soda along with an activating ingredient.
The two aren’t interchangeable, so if a recipe asks for baking soda, that’s the ingredient to stick with.
What is the Advantage of Baking Soda vs. Yeast?
Yeast is also a leavening agent, but it has different uses than baking soda.
Yeast is most commonly used in bread.
It also causes a chemical reaction, where the yeast consumes sugar to produce gas.
This helps the bread to rise, allowing the dough to double in size before you even start baking.
Yeast takes longer to activate, which is why breadmaking typically involves two stages of resting before cooking begins.
Baking soda is fast-acting.
It produces gas immediately when exposed to heat or acidic ingredients.
The difference between the two is the reason why baking soda isn’t used in traditional bread recipes.
It doesn’t have the long-acting leavening power of yeast so it isn’t ideal for standard loaves of bread.
However, it can be used in flatbread, scones, and other bread that is cooked quickly.
When Should You Use Baking Soda?
Baking soda is one of the most important baking ingredients to keep in your kitchen.
Thankfully, it’s also one of the most affordable.
If you intend to bake often, you can keep your shelf stocked with this 1-Gallon Natural Baking Soda for Cooking.
Although it might be tempting to use baking powder instead, this could result in unwanted flavor and consistency.
Use baking soda any time that a recipe calls for it.
