"leavener" news and stories

After busily cleaning out the pantry, I discovered two open, but only partially used, containers that I didn't know I had. One was baking powder and one was baking soda. It's always useful to have extra on hand in case of a baking emergency, but I figured that it would be a good idea to test them to see if they still worked, since chemical leaveners can lose their potency over time for various reasons, including poor storage conditions.

The procedure for testing these two products is simple. Get out two small glasses or bowls and fill one with 3-4 tablespoons of white vinegar and fill the other with 3-4 tablespoons of room temperature water. Add about 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to the bowl containing the vinegar and the same amount of baking powder to the water bowl. Each mixture should fizz up, with the soda/vinegar producing a bigger reaction. If they both work, mark the containers with the date and check them again in 6-12 months (if you haven't used them up by then) to make sure they're still active. And if they don't fizz up, you better stop by the store before the next time you want to whip up a batch of cookies.

Cream of tartar is potassium hydrogen tartrate, which is an acidic salt. Grapes are the most common natural source of tartaric acid. During the wine production process, a sediment forms as a result of combining potassium hydroxide with the tartaric acid, leaving a white sediment: cream of tartar.

A combination of cream of tartar and baking soda was the original baking powder. Baking soda reacts almost instantly when exposed to wet/acidic ingredients, but the addition of cream of tartar tempers the effect of the baking soda and delays the rising reaction – which will produce a higher rise in the oven. Unlike baking powder, however, cream of tartar will not lose it potency over time, so you can buy a jar and keep it in your kitchen cupboard forever.