With everyone spending a lot more time at home this year, perhaps you were one of the people inspired to whip up some homemade bread – and why not? Studies have shown it can help with anxiety.
Or perhaps the latest series of Bake Off helped persuade you to dust off the apron and get busy in the kitchen.
If you’re more of a newbie to the scene though you might have encountered some initial hurdles, like working out what the difference is between baking soda, bicarb soda and baking powder.
Worry not dough, we are here to help. Read on to find out…
What is the difference between bicarbonate of soda and baking soda?
Bicarbonate of soda (sometimes called bicarb or bicarb soda) is a pure leavening agent.
Leaving agents in baking are substances that cause expansion of doughs and batters by the release of gases within such mixtures.
Bicarbonate of soda is an alkaline substance and is used in recipes that mix moisture with an acidic ingredient like lemon juice or chocolate together to make batter rise.
Baking soda is, in fact, the very same thing.
It’s just a case of semantics – in the UK we call it bicarb soda, while recipes from America might refer to it as baking soda.
What about baking powder?
Baking powder, on the other hand, is a different substance altogether.
It is bicarb soda pre-mixed with a dry acidic ingredient that causes baking to rise when mixed with wet ingredients.
It is usually two parts cream of tartar to one-part bicarb soda.
When you add moisture to the powder, it gives off carbon dioxide which aerates and lightens a mixture.
Bicarb soda is much more powerful than baking powder, so you can’t easily substitute one for the other without properly amending the recipes.
A good rule of thumb is thinking of bicarb as three or four times stronger, so if the recipe calls for a teaspoon of baking powder, substitute it with ½ a teaspoon of bicarb soda.
You’d also need to add more acidity to offset the bicarb, so mix it with an additional teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar.
MORE : Four Bake Off-worthy recipes you can make with these 10 store cupboard ingredients
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/29/is-bicarbonate-of-soda-the-same-as-baking-soda-13672243/
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