Baking powder and baking soda powder are both pastry leavening agents, can they be replaced by each other? Why?

In the daily baking learning process, it is often encountered that questions like this: Can invert sugar be replaced by glucose? Can NH pectin be replaced with gelatin? Can baking powder be replaced by baking soda? ... Wait a minute.

Baking soda and baking powder are two kinds of materials that must be used in baking, and their role is as a fluffy agent to enhance taste, so it is often found in baking recipes, but can the two be replaced? Let's analyze it!

Baking soda baking soda

It is mentioned in the junior high school chemistry book that the chemical name of baking soda is sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), which is an alkaline substance. Therefore, when it is used in baking, it must be combined with acidic liquids such as yogurt, vinegar, lemon juice, coffee, honey, etc. to produce chemical reactions.

Principle and scope of application

Due to the acid-base neutralization reaction, carbon dioxide gas will be produced in the material, and then the dough and batter will expand and bulge, making the finished product more fluffy, such as the sponge cake and chiffon cake that we are very familiar with, and the sponge-like tissue with fine pores in the cake body is the credit of the fluffing agent.

In addition to cakes, baking soda can also be added to the biscuits to achieve a crispy taste.

Other effects and effects

In addition to the fluffy effect, baking soda also has the function of coloring. However, it should be noted that if baking soda is not completely neutralized with acidic substances, its residual part will make the pastry taste bitter and soapy. Also, baking soda enhances the browning reaction, making the finished product darker – so chocolate roasts like to add more baking soda powder to add color, and it looks as if it contains a lot of cocoa. Another point is that because the time it takes for baking soda to neutralize the acid and base is quite fast, it is necessary to send it to the oven as soon as possible after adding the fluffing agent, otherwise the air in the dough will quickly dissipate, making the final expansion effect bad.

Baking powder

Baking powder, also known as hair powder, is composed of alkaline baking soda powder, acidic substances (such as tata powder, aluminum salts) and dry media (such as corn flour, which helps absorb moisture and buffer the occurrence of acid-base effects).

Principle of action

Because the ingredients contain both acid and alkali, they can form their own chemical reactions, produce carbon dioxide, and make the batter expand, so even if there is no other acidic liquid in the recipe, baking powder can be used.

Baking powder can produce chemical reactions on its own, as long as it is combined with liquids and in contact with moisture, carbon dioxide is produced.

Most baking powders sold on the market are double-reactive (double-acting) leavening agents that act in two stages: when mixed with the liquid, part of the gas is released, and when it is heated in the oven, there is a second reaction, which causes the dough to expand again. Because of this property, baking powder has greater elasticity in use, and there is no need to rush to send batter or dough into the oven.

Because it does not have to consider the acidic raw materials of the formula, nor is it as easy to produce a bitter taste as baking soda, and does not affect the color of the batter, baking powder has become the most commonly used leavening agent.

Can the two be replaced?

As mentioned above, both of these leavening agents use the principle of acid-base neutralization to produce gas and create a sense of air; so if there is no added acidic liquid in the recipe, it will be noted that the use of baking powder is required, and if you switch to baking soda powder, there is no chemical change.

So, the conclusion should be "baking powder can replace baking soda, baking soda powder can not replace baking soda", right?

But the correct answer is that it is not recommended to replace the two at all. Because only about 1/3 of baking soda (alkaline) in baking powder, the ratio of acid-base substances cannot be equal, and replacing baking soda with baking powder will cause problems. For example:

a. Replace with 1:1, the result is that the alkaline composition is not enough and the acid produces enough air, and the finished product collapses.

b. Increase the amount of baking powder, replace baking soda with 3 times the amount, but at the same time, the acidic components and dry medium in the baking powder are also increased by 3 times, resulting in a taste of the finished product and a significant bitter taste to eat; or the chemical reaction is too fast, the gas is instantaneously generated but immediately degassed.

summary

Baking soda and baking powder have a role to play in their own recipes, making your baked goods fluffy, light or crisp in different forms, and many times they even need to be used at the same time; each recipe you see is the best proportion carefully mixed and calculated by the developer, so it is not encouraged to replace the ingredients arbitrarily, otherwise it is easy to fail.

In your learning process, is there a problem similar to whether some kinds of materials are interchangeable? Leave a message to tell us! Maybe you can dig up the secrets again!