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This Ingredient Will Raise Your Baked Goods – and Your Revenue
It’s December, the season of baked goods – from Christmas cookies to hearty breads that will keep you cozy and nourished as the temperatures drop. There’s a special ingredient that is common among home bakers, small food businesses, all the way up to large scale food production: the humble (yet sort of magical) baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate. This ingredient will raise your baked goods – and your revenue.
But what exactly is sodium bicarbonate, where did it come from, and why do your biscuits fall flat without it? In this article, we’re exploring the surprising history and the mysterious chemistry of this multifaceted ingredient.
In this article, we’ll explain:
1. What is sodium bicarbonate?
2. How does baking soda make baked goods rise?
3. Baking soda versus baking powder
4. History of baking soda
5. Where to buy sodium bicarbonate
What is sodium bicarbonate?
Sodium bicarbonate, otherwise known as baking soda, is a crystalline substance, or more commonly a fine white powder that wears many hats. Not only is it used as a leavening agent in commercial and home baked goods, it is also a popular cleaning agent, and a “kitchen therapy” for things like athletic performance, indigestion, and tooth whitening.
Chemically speaking, sodium bicarbonate is a salt which dissociates in water to form a sodium cation and bicarbonate anion, according to the equation:
NaHCO3 (aq) → Na+ (aq) + HCO3– (aq)
Sodium bicarbonate creates a basic solution upon dissociation, because the bicarbonate ion has the ability to pull a hydrogen ion off of the water molecule, leaving free hydroxyl ions. Baking soda imparts a mildly salty, alkaline taste to baked goods in typical quantities.
How does baking soda make baked goods rise?
During baking, sodium bicarbonate reacts with weak acids such as citric acid, lactic acid, or tartaric acid from other ingredients. For example, citric acid is found in citrus, lactic acid in milk, and tartaric acid in bananas. The chemical reaction looks like this:
NaHCO3 + H+ → CO2 + H2O + Na+
The carbon dioxide generated during this reaction creates gas bubbles inside the baked good, while the heat from the oven evaporates moisture. As a result, the baked good rises. You may observe this reaction taking place more directly if you like to use baking soda and vinegar to clean. The fizzing is caused by the production of gas molecules when sodium bicarbonate reacts with the hydrogen ions from acetic acid.
Alternatively, baking soda can react in the presence of heat without the help of a weak acid. In this scenario, the chemical reaction looks like this:
2 NaHCO3 → Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2
The presence of the sodium carbonate among the reaction products may result in an undesirable soapy taste. Also note that two molecules of bicarbonate are now required to produce the same amount of gas. That is why it is usually preferable to include a source of hydrogen ions during baking.
The presence of other ingredients can further affect how much bread rises. For example, table salt, or sodium chloride, modulates the ionic strength of the solution, which changes to the extent to which sodium bicarbonate dissociates.
Baking soda versus baking powder
Baking powder is another type of leavening agent. It contains about one-third sodium bicarbonate, in addition to an acidifying agent, such as cream of tartar. This helps to produce more gas while reducing the production of sodium carbonate during leavening, ultimately improving rise and flavor.
History of baking soda
Believe it or not, baking soda got its big break initially due to concerns over the “unhygienic nature of yeast.” In the wake of Louis Pasteur’s scientific discoveries, yeast was suspected to be an “agent of decay.”
Early promoters of chemical leavening agents, including sodium bicarbonate, seized the opportunity to market their more sanitary, health-conscious option as a replacement for unreliable yeast fermentation.
In addition to these imagined benefits, baking soda offered several very real advantages over domesticated yeast or traditional sourdough fermentation. It was much faster, more reliable, and didn’t require a pre-baking rise time.
Ultimately, domesticated yeast technology improved and baking soda did not succeed in replacing it as a leavening agent. On the other hand, baking soda found an unanticipated, parallel market for quick breads, cookies, and biscuits, and is still used today.
Where to buy sodium bicarbonate
Lab Alley is your proud supplier of all things sodium bicarbonate. We offer the highest quality food grade, pharmaceutical grade, and Kosher options for all of your industrial baking needs. Sodium bicarbonate is offered from small to bulk sizing to suit our diverse range of clientele.
Shop today on our easy-to-navigate website, where you can enjoy transparent pricing, no-hassle ordering, and speedy delivery.
Where to Buy Fireplace Bioethanol
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Conclusion
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