What's the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder?

The two aren't interchangeable -- baking powder consists of baking soda plus other stuff. Learn how both work -- and how to make baking powder from soda -- in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,
Lauren fog O bomb here. If you're in the mood
to make some kind of baked good, the recipe you
grab will almost certainly call for baking powder or baking soda.
That's because both ingredients are leavening agents used to make
your favorite baked goods light, fluffy, and moist. But while

(00:24):
baking powder and baking soda are similar, they're definitely not
the same. Baking soda is made from one ingredient, sodium bicarbonate.
Sodium bicarbonate is alkaline, sometimes called a base, and its
job is to react with some kind of acid in batter,
such as buttermilk, yogurt, brown sugar, or vinegar, and upon reacting,

(00:44):
release carbon dioxide bubbles that help your baked goods rise
and become light and fluffy. This reaction happens immediately when
the baking soda and acid come in contact with each other.
On the other hand, making powder is a combination of
sodium bicarbonate plus two acids that are stable in a
dry room temperature state, often those acids being mono calcium

(01:05):
phosphate and sodium aluminum sulfate. These two additional ingredients work
to extend the leaveting process and mean that you don't
necessarily have to add any acids to your batter. When
you stir dry baking powder into a wet batter or dough, First,
the mono calcium phosphate hydrates and can react with the
sodium bicarbonate to produce carbon dioxide bubbles. Then, when you

(01:27):
put your unmaked goods in the oven, the combination of
heat and moisture will allow the sodium aluminium sulfate to react,
giving off a second burst of gas. This two stage
activation process, which gives baking powder the tag double acting,
means you can delay baking the batter or dough for
up to twenty minutes without much affecting its leaveting power.
Recipes using baking soda, on the other hand, require immediate

(01:51):
baking for the best results, since baking soda alone reacts
to an acid as soon as the two are mixed,
the dough will only deflate from there. But if you've
got only baking soda on hand and need baking powder
no worries. You can substitute baking soda for baking powder
with two precautions. First, you need enough acidity in the

(02:11):
mixture to activate the baking soda. Uh say, one cup
of butter milk or a teaspoon of lemon juice per
half teaspoon of baking soda. Second, you have to calculate
the proper amount of baking soda to use. Baking soda
is four times stronger than baking powder, so a recipe
calling for a teaspoon of baking powder translates to a
quarter teaspoon of baking soda. If you happen to have

(02:35):
cream of tartar at home, you can make your own
baking powder by combining it with baking soda. A quarter
teaspoon of baking soda and five eighths of a teaspoon
of cream of tartar will be equal to one teaspoon
of baking powder. A cream of tartar is another powdery
acid potassium by tar trait. Baking powder was actually originally
a combination of cream of tartar in baking soda. It

(02:55):
first debuted in England in the late eighteen forties, but
at the time of tartar was pricey, and being that
it's a byproduct of the wine industry, Americans had to
import it from Europe. So in eighteen fifty six, an
American chemist created modern baking powder, which substitutes mono calcium
phosphate for cream of tartar. Unfortunately, while it's relatively easy

(03:17):
to substitute baking soda for baking powder, the opposite is
not true. If a recipe calls for baking soda and
all you have is baking powder, it's best not to proceed,
as baking powder is a combination of at least a
couple ingredients. Since baking soda is again stronger than baking powder,
you'd need three or four times the amount of baking

(03:37):
powder and a reduction in salt and other acidic ingredients
in the batter to approximate a substitute, and it's likely
that the texture and flavor of the finished product will
not be what you were going for, even with your
best efforts. Also, a caveat when using either baking soda
or baking powder, measure carefully. Too much baking soda can

(03:58):
cause your baked goods to fall, while too much baking
powder can lend a bitter taste to your goodies, and
too little of either of these leavening agents can result
in dense, heavy goods without enough Rise. Today's episode was
written by Melanie Red Zekie McManus and produced by Tyler Clang.

(04:18):
Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works.
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