The Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder

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I will tell you this…Cooking Savory is Free-Style…You can add and take away any ingredients that you like and the measurements do not have to even be exact to have an awesomely good meal.

However…Baking is an Exact Science…You must use exact ingredients and measurements until you know how certain ingredients react with others.

With that being said if you ever have a recipe that calls for baking powder and you find yourself without it in your kitchen…please….please…please…do not substitute in baking soda and think that it will be okay. I will tell you from experience and with love that it will not.

Baking soda and baking powder are very different and when used in baking recipes they will produce a different outcome and so today I will take a little time to share with you the differences between the two.

Baking Soda or Sodium Bicarbonate when it meets with heat at any point of the baking process it forms gas or carbon dioxide and this gas is what gives rise to cakes, cookies, and biscuits. Now Baking Powder is a mixture of baking soda, powered acid, and cornstarch. While they both act as leavener, the baking powder mainly releases gas in the oven during and throughout the baking process to give rise to the batter.

Still not making any sense??

Well the main take away to remember with all of this is that baking soda neutralizes the acid and baking powder gives the recipe rise.

If you find a recipe that calls for both baking soda and baking powder, then do not be alarmed because this just probably means that your batter contains more acid that need to be neutralized.

Hope this Helps.