KitchenSavvy

Baking Soda and Baking Powder - The Saga Continues

What on earth!   Here is my internet journey, seeking the answer to "Baking soda vs. baking powder."

1. Baking powder can replace baking soda
2. Baking powder cant replace baking soda
3. Baking powder can't replace baking soda and vice versa.

Here are some excerpts:

• "You can substitute baking powder in place of baking soda (you'll need more baking powder and it may affect the taste), but you can't use baking soda when a recipe calls for baking powder." http://chemistry.about.com/cs/foodchemistry/f/blbaking.htm /li>
• "In recipes calling for baking powder, baking soda can be used, along with some cornstarch and cream of tartar. Baking powder cannot, however, be used to replace baking soda." http://kitchensavvy.typepad.com/journal/2005/01/baking_soda_vs_.html
• "While you can't swap baking soda for baking powder, or vice versa ..." http://www.asianonlinerecipes.com/food_articles/baking-soda-baking-powder.php

So which one is it?

If baking is all about accuracy, then why is it that I constantly find conflicting information, all from experts?  How does anything ever get baked and turn out edible, if everyone has so many different opinions?

I am starting to believe that bakers are actually other-worldly beings that are unknowingly just manipulating ingredients with their minds.

--Curtis

OK, before you go reporting a Close Encounter, let's see if we can set this straight.

First, just a touch of chemistry.  Baking soda or bicarbonate of soda (NaHCO₃) is a mild base that has a number of applications in baking.  Among those are to cause chemical leavening by releasing bubbles of carbon dioxide gas when combined with an acid, and changing level of acidity or basicity of a recipe.

The acidity/basicity can be important in a number of ways.  For example, cookies that are slightly basic will spread more and brown more than ones that are slightly acidic.  If you are making a chocolate cake that is too acidic, it will turn the chocolate color from dark brown to light brown to red.  That's part of the secret to a Red velvet cake.

Baking powder is baking soda with an acid added to cause the chemical leavening.  The type of acid varies with different formulations and applications, as can be found in the KitchenSavvy article mentioned above.

As discussed in Let Them Eat Cake, as well as the above KitchenSavvy article, when recipes use both baking soda and baking powder, there is usually another acidic ingredient such as molasses, brown sugar, buttermilk or sour cream that combines with the baking soda to create bubbles.

So, which of the above is it? 

Since baking powder contains baking soda, you can indeed use it to replace baking soda.  The problems is that the leftover acid that is not neutralized in your recipe will affect the flavor and may also affect the result.  A cookie that is supposed to spread during cooking likely won't, and it may not brown properly, or may end up over cooked if you try to brown it enough.  Also, the final color of the product may not be what you expect since the product is acidic.  So, point 1 above is technically correct, as far as it goes, but you may not like the result. 

If you insist on trying, though, you will need up to four times as much baking powder as the amount of baking soda that was called for in the recipe.   Just don't say I told you it was a good idea!

Point 2 is correct, since what you are actually doing when you combine baking soda with cream of tartar is making your own homemade baking powder.  What you are really doing is substituting baking powder that someone mixed up for you with baking powder you made yourself.  The cornstarch is just filler to make up 1/4 more so the total volume works out the same but isn't really necessary.

And point 3 is correct, since you can't just swap them one for one.  As the referenced site goes on to explain, if you don't have baking powder you can make your own homemade stuff by using 1/4 the volume of baking powder specified of baking soda plus 1/2 the volume of cream of tartar.  Since you need to include the cream of tartar, you are really not just substituting one for the other.

The postings referenced in points 2 and 3 pretty much agree in what they say.  The problem with the first reference is it ignores the other aspects of food chemistry that come into play when you start altering the acid/base ratios in recipes.

Hopefully, all of this helps.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

TaDa

Breadmaker Jewish Rye Bread
(click for recipe)

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Insalata Caprese Six Ways

Those who follow this blog know that one of my all time favorite salads is Insalata Caprese.  Two years ago, I wrote a post about the joy of fresh foods from our local Farmers' Market and how much I enjoy making a Caprese salad with fresh ingredients.

For those readers who don't recall the previous post, an Insalata Caprese is nothing more than sliced fresh tomatoes, basil, mozzarella cheese and olive oil, seasoned with a little salt and pepper.  If you wish, you can add a little balsamic or wine vinegar to brighten the taste, but I often let the acidity of the tomatoes round out the flavor of the dish, without adding vinegar.

It is said that we taste first with our eyes.  Well, last fall when Pat and I traveled Europe, I had several Caprese Salads.  It interested me how different restaurants interpreted the same ingredients in different ways.  Here are pictures of six of the Caprese salads I had:

Viaduc Cafe, Paris, France	Terrazza del Chiostro, Pienza, Italy
I Quattro Gatti, S. Gimignano, Italy	Unknown Restaurant, Venice, Italy
Osteria Enoteca Ai Artisti, Venice, Italy	Emerald Princess,  Somewhere in the Mediterranean

The first of these salads, top left, was served in Paris at le Viaduc Caf, 43 Avenue Daumesnil, 75012, where it as billed on the menu as a mille-feuille of tomato and mozzarella, playing off of the visual of a layered napoleon.

The salad at Quattro Gatti in San Gimignano looked most like what I serve at home, so I quite liked its appearance, but I think of all of them, my favorite was the one served at the Terrazza del Chiostro in Pienza.   The garnish of pesto in the two corners frames the salad, making it tempting even before it is tasted.

The rest of them?  Pretty much uninspired.  While I liked much of the food on board the Emerald Princess, the Caprese salad looked more like a tired poached egg served on wilted greens.

These pictures show clearly how the same ingredients, more or less, can be presented in various creative ways, and the effect that appearance can have on how we anticipate a dish will taste.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Storing Fresh Eggs

What is the best way to store fresh, uncooked eggs?

--Sharon

Eggs should be bought from the seller's cooler and kept in the refrigerator, at a temperature between 32°F (0°C) and 40°F (4°C).  They should be consumed by the "best before" date on the package, or if there is no date within one week of purchase.

Some sources recommend not using the egg holder that is built into the door of some refrigerators, since the eggs are exposed to warm air each time the door is opened.  I'm not sure how much difference that makes to the shelf life, but I still prefer to keep the eggs in their original carton so that I know what the "best before" date is.  If you do keep them in the package they came in, never move eggs from an older carton into a newer one.  If you do that, you may end up with eggs that have been "upgraded" several times and are no longer safe to eat.  I keep my eggs on the lowest shelf, since it is a little cooler than higher shelves.

According to Harold McGee, eggs that are stored on their side have a bit better chance of the yolk being centered when they are hard boiled.  If this matters to you, then store the eggs in their original carton but stand the carton on edge.

While there is some romance to the idea of a wire basket of fresh eggs on the counter, this should not be done.  Eggs spoil much faster at room temperature.  Also, don't buy eggs that have been left out for display, for instance at the local farmer's market, as you don't know how long they have been at room temperature or maybe even warmer.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

A Pizza Find

For years, I have been trying to make a good thin crust pizza.  When my wife and I were in Italy several years ago, we really enjoyed a pizza we had in Rome, near the Trevi Fountain.  The crust was so thin and crisp that it was almost cracker like.

I tried everything I could think of to make a crust like that -- varying the water/flour ratios, making the dough with or without olive oil, rolling the crust thinner, using different oven temperatures, placing my pizza stone on a rack as high as possible in the oven, super-heating the pizza stone for a few minutes using the boiler before putting the pizza into the oven, even changing the order of ingredients on the pizza.  These all made some difference.  None of them gave the crust I was looking for.

Then, this past weekend, I pulled "Brother Juniper's Bread Book" by Peter Reinhart off the bookshelf and turned to his section on pizza.  In the inset on Memorable Pizza there was a suggestion I hadn't even thought of trying -- that the pizza stone should be put on the bottom shelf or even right on the floor of the oven and pre-heated for at least 20 minutes at 500°F (260°C) or higher.

Since I use parchment paper to keep the crust from sticking to my peel (actually an old piece of 1/8 inch plywood) I have to keep the temperature at or below 450°F (232°C), but I could certainly try putting my pizza stone on the floor of my oven.  My oven is electric, but the heating element is under the floor so that isn't a problem.  Other than that, I made a plain lean pizza dough with just water, flour, yeast and salt.  No fat, no sugar and no flavorings.  I rolled a thin crust and assembled the pizza in the traditional North American order of sauce, ingredients and finally the cheese on top, and baked it for 13 minutes.

I knew as soon as I sliced the pizza that this was the missing link.  I could hear the knife crunching through the crust.  The result was the cracker thin, crunchy crust I had been trying for.  Because the stone had been heated directly by the element, the crust cooked quickly, before the other ingredients could make it soggy, as sometimes happens.

I know there is still some room for improvement.  Next time, I need to let the dough relax a bit more as I roll it out, and I think I'll try adding a little oil.  Both of those should help the overall texture, but I'm pleased with the result so far.

So, if you have been trying for that thin crunchy crust too, try lowering your pizza stone.    It may just be the secret you are looking for.

If there is nothing to get in the way, try putting the stone right on the floor of the oven. If you have an electric oven with the element above the floor then you will need to use a rack in the lowest position and put the stone on that.   If you are worried about safety, or the warranty on your oven, you may prefer to use a rack at the lowest position.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Making Cinnamon Rolls with Self-Rising Flour

I have a question about self-rising flour. I have a recipe that calls for yeast and warm water. I was wondering if I can substitute self-rising flour and avoid all the yeast and it's complications (like water at 110 degrees etc.)? The recipe is for cinnamon rolls.

Thank you so much for your help.

--Shannon

Self-rising flour is a lower protein all purpose flour with baking powder and salt added in.  The amount of salt varies by maker.

You could substitute self-rising for bread or regular all purpose flour but what you will end up with will be more like a cinnamon tea biscuit.  In bread making, proteins in the flour form glutens that trap carbon dioxide gas produced by the yeast, similar to a balloon filling with air, to make the product rise.  During baking, evaporation of alcohol also produced by fermentation of sugars by the yeast cause the bubbles to inflate further.  Because yeast produces lots of gas over a long period, the gluten structure is needed to trap the gas and make bread recipes work right.

Unlike bread, cakes, biscuits and cookies don't rely on gluten to trap gases.  Instead of releasing lots of gas over a long period, baking powder releases relatively less carbon dioxide fairly quickly, mostly as the product is baking.  Starch in the flour or proteins from other ingredients like eggs set as the gas is released.  A balance of ingredients, temperatures and timing need to work together to make the the product set.

Self-rising flour is used in cakes and biscuits, not breads, and shouldn't be kneaded like bread.  If you do knead it, any gluten that forms will work against the baking powder, resulting in less rise and a flat, tough result.  So if you replace the yeast and flour in your recipe, you shouldn't knead the dough, which in turn means that you will end up with a cake or biscuit like texture.

Beyond that, you will likely need to reduce the amount of liquid since lower protein flour absorbs less water.  The amount of water you want to use will be enough to make a dough the consistency of rolled biscuits.  You will also want to reduce the salt in the recipe if your self-rising flour contains salt.  The exact amount you need to reduce it by is not easy to predict but may be as much as 1/2 teaspoon per cup of flour.

You may find that you need to alter the amount of fat in the dough, too, to get a satisfactory texture.

Finally, you may need to increase or decrease the amount of sugar in the dough to get the right balance of flavors.

The exact amounts for all of these changes is hard to predict, since they depend on the initial recipe, as well as other factors and personal tastes.  A better starting point might be to begin with a recipe for rolled biscuits using self-risng flour and take it from there, rather than starting with a yeast recipe.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Removing Mushroom Gills

Is it necessary to remove the gills in mushrooms while cooking?

-- Sneha

There are a few reasons why you might want to remove the gills from mushrooms, but none of them is absolutely necessary.

If you are making a light colored sauce, such as a mushroom cream sauce, you might want to remove the gills from your mushrooms, particularly older mushrooms that have their gills exposed.  The reason for this, is that the gills can discolor your sauce and make it dirty brown rather than light and creamy looking.

If the mushrooms are older and the gills are already exposed, there is a chance that dirt or even insects may be caught up in the gills.  This is especially a problem if they are wild, foraged mushrooms.  To avoid having grit from the mushrooms get into your food, you might want to remove the gills.  Also, the gills of older mushrooms may have more intense flavor.   For a lightly flavored, more delicate sauce removing the gills may be desirable.

When making stuffed mushrooms, you might want to remove the gills just to make it easier to stuff them, and to make more room for the stuffing to fit.

To remove the gills, first break away the stem by bending it back and forth.  It should break off right where it joins the cap.  Then use an teaspoon, the kind you stir your tea with, not the measuring spoon, and scrape the underside of the mushroom with the edge of the spoon.  The gills should come away into the spoon.  Go back and clean up any missed spots or pieces that got left behind.  Finally, wipe the inside of the mushroom cap out with a dry cloth or paper towel.

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If you have food or cooking questions, send them to Questions@KitchenSavvy.com



Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Can I Use Olive Oil to Marinate Beef

I have a family favorite flank steak marinade that uses vegetable oil.  Can I substitute olive oil (health reasons) and get the same taste and marinade?  I am worried that when the meat is marinaded over night in the refrigerator that the olive oil will harden.  Thank you for your assistance.

--Sandy

The reason for using fat of any sort in a marinade is because many flavor compounds dissolve in fat, but very little or not at all in water.  The oil carries those flavor compounds onto the surface of the meat.

Very little oil is actually needed to accomplish this.  Only enough to lightly coat the meat.  For a typical marinade, a few tablespoons of oil per cup of other liquids should be enough.  The exception, of course, being pastes that are made of herbs puréed in an oil base, like pesto.

Contrary to popular belief, the oil does not help to tenderize the meat.  Marinades only penetrate the outer 1/8" (3 mm) or so and therefore can not affect the interior.  Since the meat is made up largely of muscle fibers which are saturated with water, it is almost impossible for the oil in particular to penetrate even that far.

So, to answer your question, olive oil will be perfectly fine, as it doesn't have to stay liquid to do its job.  In fact, I use olive oil for marinades all of the time.

In order to be sure that the oil soluble flavor compounds are carried to the meat, finely chop any fresh herbs that you use, and mince or press garlic.  Combine the herbs, spices and other flavoring ingredients like garlic with the oil before adding the other liquids.  Also, I am a fan of putting the meat and marinade into a resealable plastic bag, since this allows you to redistribute the marinade by "massaging" the meat through the bag.  This helps distribute the oil, and therefore the flavors, over the surface of the meat.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Adjusting Cheesecake Recipes for Different Pan Sizes

I have a recipe for a lemon marble cheesecake that I am making for Easter Dinner. I have several question for you. I would like to make this in a larger size pan but have been unable to find the volumes for any cheesecake pans. Do you have any idea of the volumes on say a 9 1/2 inch, 10 inch and 12 inch springform pans? Also after adjusting the recipe quantities are there any other considerations I might need to take besides increasing the baking time?

--Karen

First, thanks for getting the question to me ahead of time.  So often I get questions right when the problem arises.  By then, its too late to answer in time to be of help.

According to Corriher, in her new book BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking, springform pans may not actually measure the same diameter as they are labeled. The Food Lover's Companion does give the volume for a 9 ½" x 2 ½" springform as 10 cups, and a 10 ½" x 2 ½" springform as 12 cups.

If you have the pans on hand, you could just fill them with water using a measuring cup and see how much it takes, but since springform pans leak, you need to line them with something to keep the water in.  To do that, just open kitchen garbage bag and put it into the pan, the same as if you were lining a pail.  Let the excess drape around the outside, and then fill the bag inside the pan with water until it comes close to the top of the pan.  The water will push the excess plastic out to the edges of the pan, so your measurement will be pretty close.  It is probably best to do this in the sink to avoid a mess.

Alternatively, you can calculate the volume of the pans using the formula:

V= H x Π x r²

where:

• H is the height of the pan, measured inside from the bottom to the height you would fill it;
• Π is the constant 3.1416
• and r² is ½ the measured diameter of the pan squared.

Thus, for a pan which measures 9 ½" diameter and 2" high inside, the volume will be:

V = 2 x 3.1416 x4.75 x 4.75

V = 141.76 cu in

Since 1 US cup = 14.4375 cubic inches, the pan would hold about 9.8 cups or say 10 cups even.

If you are using a larger pan, but plan to fill it to the same depth, then you can just square to ratio of the diameters to get the scaling factor.  A 12" pan will hold 1.6 times as much as a 9 ½" one [(12/9.5)²].  I actually recommend this, as it will cause less problems in terms of cooking time.  If the pan is filled to the same depth, then the cooking time will remain close to the same (see Scaling Recipes).

Armed with the measured or calculated volumes of various pans, you can now scale your recipe.  I recommend against scaling a recipe by more than a factor of two.

Start with the number of eggs in the recipe.  In the above example of going from a 9 ½" pan to a 12" pan, if the original recipe calls for 4 eggs, then the scaled recipe will need 6.4 eggs.  Now you have a problem, the 0.4 of an egg.  The easiest thing to do will be to use 6 eggs, and scale everything by 1.5 instead of 1.6 . Scale the rest of the ingredients accordingly and proceed.

Just one more note, though.  If you are scaling by volume, and the recipe calls for a crumb crust on the bottom of the pan, scale the ingredients for the crust by the ratio of the diameters, as above.  If you don't, the crust will be too thick.

Make and bake the cheesecake following the hints in the posting How Can You Prevent a Cheesecake from Cracking?

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward

Cuisinart Convection Breadmaker - Not Ready for Prime Time

For Christmas this year, I asked for and was given a Cuisinart Convection Bread Maker, model CBK-200C.  If your idea of a bread maker is, "I'll set this up and have fresh bread when I get home from work," or "when I get up in the morning," then the CBK-200C is probably not the one for you.

I have only had it for three months, and have only used it on weekends, but I have encountered a number of problems.

More an aggravation than a problem, I don't see any indication whether the recipes  are for United States or Canada.  Canadian flour tends to be higher in protein than its southern counterpart so we need to use less of it to get the same rise.  Since the product label on the machine and the manual both say Cuisinart Canada, I would have expected the recipes to be suited to Canadian ingredients.  Maybe not!

The first time I used my new bread maker, I tried the recipe for a 2 pound loaf of  "Basic White Bread-Machine Bread."  It is a good thing I was there to watch over things.  Not just once but twice I had to reach in by hand and tear out chunks of wet dough during the baking cycle as the bread rose until it touched the underside of the window in the lid.  OK, I'm used to correcting recipes for bread makers, but in the end the largest loaf I can make uses a mere 2 2/3 cups of flour.  That is even less flour than is given in the 1 1/2 pound recipe in the book that came with it.

Another aggravation, and admittedly this is partially a matter of taste, is that I find the cooking time to get a perfect crust on the basic white bread recipe is half way between the light and medium crust settings.  At the light setting, I find the crust dull and flavorless, but at the medium setting it is over cooked and so dry that it tears the roof of my mouth.

I have noticed that if I leave the machine alone to do its stuff for the entire cycle, some of the damp flour collects in two corners of the pan and doesn't get mixed in during kneading.  If I'm lucky, it may stick to the dough during the first rising, but it may also just stay there creating unpleasant lumps in the corners of the bread.  To be sure of a proper loaf, with no caked flour corners, I need to stop the machine and reach in with a scraper to get the flour out of the corners.

The second time I used the machine, the pan jumped its guides and twisted around in the machine.  To hold the pan in place, there are two metal springs attached to the inside of the oven.  On the narrow sides of the pan there are corresponding metal tabs that are supposed to catch either side of each spring to hold the pan in place.  These tabs are quite small and don't appear to be adequate to hold the pan as it gets jostled about by the kneading of the dough.

Equally as poor is the design of the drive.  Both the plate in the base of the oven which engages the crossbar on the shaft holding the paddle and the crossbar itself are made from stamped metal.  This means that the sides are not perfectly perpendicular.  If the pan lifts up even a slight amount, as it seems to do during kneading, then the plate and crossbar slip.  The plate is then free to turn a half turn before slamming into the crossbar again, making a loud banging noise.  Again, it is a good thing I was around to hear the ruckus.  It wouldn't take long with it running like that for something to break.

Twice now I have had the paddle lift completely off of the drive shaft.  The first time, I didn't know, but found out when I went to take the paddle out before final rise.  The second time, today, I happened to be in the kitchen and heard the motor free wheeling during the initial knead.

Something like half of the times I have used this machine, something has gone wrong.  The pan has shifted, the drive mechanism has slipped due to the pan moving up, or the paddle has come off during kneading.  This is definitely not a machine I feel I can trust to do the job right when I'm not around to watch over it.

My rating for the Cuisinart Convection Bread Maker -- several slices short of a full loaf.

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Due to the volume of questions received, not all can be answered.
© Lost Hobbit Enterprises 2004 onward