I use baking soda when i make cookies, what does it do to the dough, exactly? and why don’t i use it when i make a cake? i thirst for baking soda knowledge, quench me!
Baking soda just creats some fluff by releasing “air” when disolved, or creating a slight rising effect relative to other rising techniques.
Sodium bicarbonate= baking soda
related news:
Now, baking POWDER goes a “fluff” beyong because it adds a starch that makes dough rise in cakes and biscuits.
But, regular baking soda adds just a little fluff. That’s why baking soda is found in cookies more often, and baking powder gets the “fluffier” jobs, like cakes.
Strictly a guess, but I think baking soda is a rising agent. I would guess that it makes the cookies more “cake-y” than they would otherwise be.
why don’t i use it when i make a cake?
Another, even wilder, guess: Do you use self-rising flour? If so, it already contains something that takes the place of baking soda.
Anyone with actual knowledge out there?
RR
When baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) gets wet, it releases carbon dioxide gas. When it gets wet with stuff that’s acid, like vinegar, it releases even more carbon dioxide gas. You put tiny amounts in some kinds of cookies to give them that little bit of fluffy “lift” that distinguishes a nice soft cookie from a hard crunchy cracker.
You do put baking soda in some cake recipes, but since the acid and the soda begin to react as soon as they get put together, if you don’t pop the cake in the oven immediately, you’ll lose some of the effect.
More than you probably wanted to know about baking soda and baking powder.
Baking powder is baking soda plus tartaric acid. I use a combo of both in pancakes, as most people do. You can also use yeast in pancakes. They accomplish the same thing: release of carbon dioxide causing the dough to rise.
Besides the baking powder being many times faster than yeast, are there any advantages of one over another, i. e. taste? smell? reputation with other cooks you hang with?
I tried making some cookies without baking soda once. it’s great if you want decorative rocks. not so great if you want something edible.
Well, they were edible when they came out of the oven, but when they cooled… rocks.
I’m not a cook, but I can do pancakes, and IMHO it’s a matter of taste and smell. BTW, I also use yogurt in my batter. Not only do I like the taste, but it adds “fluff.”
I would like to add that Baking Soda is among the most useful products on Earth that cost less than $1.
It’s a fantastic cleaner - I used to live with some really messy housemates who always spilt green cordial on the countertop (which was grey). I tried everything on the market to get the stains out, and in the end I discovered baking soda was the most effective - dump some on the stain, rub with a damp cloth, rinse the spot - no more stain.
Also, about 12 months before someone had spilt beer in the middle of the loungeroom carpet, and no one had ever cleaned it up. So there was this wonderfully unattractive stain in the middle of the floor. I mixed baking soda to a paste with water, scrubbed it in, left it to dry, vacuumed it up - no more stain.
Mr Cazzle bought a second hand computer, but the price had been written on in permanent marker. He went through the cupboard trying to find something to clean it off with. My heavy duty cleaner took the bulk of the marker off, but you could still see it. I sprinkled on some baking soda, then poured on a little vinegar, scrubbed at it some more, and the marker vanished completely.
It’s incredible stuff. So cheap, and so much more effective than commercial cleaning solutions that cost 4 times the price.
(Think I could get a job with the baking soda advisory board??)
Are you sure? When I mix baking soda and water, no fizz. Add vinegar, fizz.
Yes, the duckduckgoose is correct. No fizz does not mean that carbon dioxide gas isn’t being released, it just means that less of it is being released than in the vigourous vinegar-baking soda reaction. This is because the pH of water is much higher than that of vinegar. The reaction still takes place all the same.
Too much of one of these has a bitter taste to me. I’m not sure which it is, but I never knew what made baking powder different before. I’ll have to pay more attention now.
Carbon dioxide is somewhat soluble in water.
While I haven’t the patience to look up the actual thermodynamic data, I suspect–like most rxns–it speeds with heat.