Each good mother, and even more so grandmother, periodically spoils her family with various muffins, cakes, pancakes, pies and generally various pastries. Therefore, in the kitchen cabinet there is always soda or a baking powder (baking powder), and most often both.
Many people know that these two powders are interchangeable, but what are the proportions of baking powder instead of soda? This is where the snag often happens.
What is soda?
The chemical formula of soda is NaHCO3. It is also called sodium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate. When it reacts with acid, soda breaks down into salt, water and carbon dioxide. The last element makes the dough lush and porous, loosening it. Soda without acid is a so-called baking powder.
What is baking powder?
Baking powder is a mixture of soda and acid (most often they use citric acid). In addition, an inert ingredient is added to it - flour or starch, sometimes powdered sugar is added. Soda and acid are in such a ratio that there is no residue during the reaction. That is why the baking powder does not “quench”.
Extinguish or not?
About baking powder has already been written above. But what to do with soda? In some cases, it must be quenched with vinegar, and sometimes added in its pure form. What's the secret? The thing is that if there are no acidic ingredients in the test, such as kefir or sour cream, then the effect of soda as a baking powder will be minimal. Of course, when the dough goes into the oven, the decomposition of soda into water, sodium carbonate and carbon dioxide will certainly happen. But this is not enough, since the reaction will not pass completely, and the dough will not be loose enough. Moreover, ready-made pastries are likely to have an unpleasant aftertaste of soap.
It is for this reason that it is recommended to extinguish soda with vinegar, but many do it not quite right. How does most housewives do this? Soda is poured into a spoon on the eye, then several drops of vinegar are dripped there by the same principle and sent to the dough. What is wrong here? The reaction is almost useless, as it occurs in the open air, and should occur directly in the test. And then it would be necessary to ask the question: how much to add a baking powder instead of soda, so as not to suffer with quenching?
Why does the dough rise?
Yes, baking, of course, will rise if the reaction is wrong, but this is because the proportions were not respected. Part of the soda remains outstanding, it is these residues that loosen the dough. In order not to be tormented by the question of whether it is possible to add baking powder instead of soda, you just need to mix the ingredients correctly. That is, add soda to bulk solids, such as flour, and vinegar to liquid. It is better to use lemon juice instead of vinegar in this situation. After this procedure, you need to knead the dough quickly and immediately send it to the oven.
Why add soda and baking powder at the same time?
It has already been said that the proportion is correctly observed in the baking powder and there is no residue left after the reaction. But sometimes you need to knead the dough with the addition of sour cream, yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese, whey, fruit juices, berry purees, vinegar, honey, chocolate, citric acid and other similar products. And such ingredients cause an increased acid reaction. And here the question is no longer whether it is possible to add a baking powder instead of soda. Soda in this situation is needed as an addition to the baking powder.
Sometimes the question arises about what are the proportions of the baking powder instead of soda, but more often the opposite is true. It is the baking powder that is not always in the kitchen, but soda happens even with the most lazy housewife. If you whip up and do not adhere to clear proportions, then one teaspoon of baking powder can be replaced with a half of soda. How many baking powder instead of a teaspoon of soda? Inverse proportion. That is, you need two teaspoons of baking powder.
Some recipes
As mentioned above, soda is part of the baking powder. Only to it in the right proportion is added more acid and most often flour. Therefore, to prepare the baking powder on your own is not difficult. And to calculate the proportions of the baking powder instead of soda will also not be difficult.
Recipe 1
Soda refers to citric acid and flour in a ratio of 5: 3: 12. This means that five grams of soda needs three grams of citric acid and twelve grams of flour or starch. It is enough to mix everything and the baking powder will be ready. Get an analogue of the standard pack.
Recipe 2
Mix a tablespoon of soda with the same amount of starch and add twenty grams of citric acid.
How to replace baking powder with soda
If the recipe indicates that one or two teaspoons of baking powder is necessary, then it will be enough to put half a teaspoon of soda. If the baking powder is needed less than a teaspoon, then soda instead should be put in half.
What are the proportions of baking powder instead of soda? Everything is exactly the opposite. If the recipe indicates half a teaspoon of soda, then you need about one and a half tablespoons of baking powder.
Important: if honey is one of the ingredients, then soda must be added.
Some nuances
Once again, it is worth voicing that soda should not be changed to a baking powder if chocolate, molasses, brown sugar, fruit juice, kefir, sour cream and other dairy products are present in the recipe. Soda is about four times stronger than baking powder. Allowable baking powder: one teaspoon per glass of flour. In this case, soda needs four times less, that is, about one gram. Soda can be added to neutralize acid. In this case, you need to add half a teaspoon of soda to a glass of sour cream or kefir.
For example, if you cook early ripe pancakes with kefir, then according to the recipe there are two glasses of fermented milk product. In this situation, you need to add a teaspoon of soda, diluted in a glass of water. But you only need to do this immediately before frying. So first you need to knead the dough, which will be much thicker than needed for pancakes. When water with soda is added, the dough will become the necessary consistency.
And so, almost every recipe has its own nuances. Each experienced hostess has her own little secrets. Many empirically calculated the correct proportions. Young hostesses, of course, are difficult in this regard, they have to trust the cookbooks and the Internet.