Rising to the Occasion
Substituting Baking Soda for Baking Powder in a Recipe (goes in the center of the page)
A Science Fair Project
John Smith (goes in the center of the page)
January 2001 (goes in the center of the page)
Mrs. Cline (goes in the center of the page)
Scientific Question
Can you substitute baking soda for baking powder in a recipe?
Hypothesis
I believe that I can substitute baking soda for baking powder because baking soda has some of the same ingredients as baking powder. The baked good may come out slightly different if I substitute baking soda for baking powder, but the food will still
eatable.
Materials List
Recipe
9
Procedures
1. Read recipe ahead of time to know what I am to do.
2. Follow the directions on the recipe (Beard, 1972) to gather the materials for the project.
a. 1 cup of all purpose flour
b. 1 cup of cornmeal
c. 2 tablespoons of sugar
d. 4 teaspoons baking powder
e. Baking soda or cream of tartar
f. 2 eggs, beat them slightly
g. 1 cup milk
h. ¼ cup melted butter
i. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
j. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry mix and add the beaten eggs, the melted butter, and milk. Stir the mix to a smooth batter consistency. Fill the baking pan with the paper muffin baking cups. Fill the baking paper cups with the mixed batter until they are two-thirds full. Bake at 425 degrees for fifteen to 20 minutes, check to see if they brown before time is up so they do not burn. Check to see that the muffins are baked through.
k. Note: start each muffin with the same amount of batter. Quickly smooth
the batter in the cups with a spoon or spatula. Remove any spilled batter
on the baking pan with a wet paper towel.
3. Put on the oven mitts to put the pans into and take out of the oven.
4. Put the baking pan on a cooling rack after they are moved from the oven. Let muffins cool for a few minutes before tipping them out of the pan onto a plate. Caution they are still hot!
5. Make one batch of muffins using the above ingredients/ directions. Wash all utensils before making new batches. Make four more sets of muffins using the following amounts of cream of tartar and baking soda.
a. 0 teaspoons of cream of tartar, one and a half teaspoons of baking powder,
b. 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar, one teaspoon of baking soda,
c. 3 teaspoons of cream of tartar, one and a half teaspoons of baking soda,
d. 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar, two teaspoons of baking powder.
6. Label each batch of muffins as they come out of the oven. Don’t mix them up.
7. Compare the four different batches of muffins:
a. Note extremes in baking times for the batches.
b. Note how they look, smell, and taste.
c. Measure the height of each muffin
d. Compare the texture of the muffins by slicing a muffin from each batch in half.
e. Taste a muffin from each batch.
f. Record observations.
G.. Clean up mess in the kitchen so Mom doesn’t get mad!
Background Research
Baking soda and baking powder are used in baking. They look almost the same. Many inexperienced bakers get them mixed up. Sometimes bakers have run out of one of these two items when they are in the middle of baking. You must use the correct item in
the correct amounts or your baked good may not come out as you had planned.
You may use baking powder and baking soda when you bake from scratch or from a boxed mix. They are added to recipes when baking to cause the dough to rise. The dough rises because carbon dioxide is produced. Baking soda is in baking powder, but they are used in different baking situations. Baking soda is made of pure sodium bicarbonate. Baking powder is known as sodium bicarbonate or bicarbonate of soda. It is about four times stronger than baking powder. It has a chemical reaction when it is added to ingredients
2
like honey, chocolate, yogurt, vinegar, citrus juice, sour cream, cocoa, fruits, maple syrup, molasses or buttermilk. There has to be an acidic ingredient and moisture in the mixture.
Baking powder and baking soda are dry powder mixtures that have corn starch to serve as a filler and keep the ingredients dry, sodium bicarbonate to act as a base, sodium aluminum sulfate and monocalcium which are acids. It already has the acidic element in it as cream of tartar. The corn starch absorbs moisture. A chemical reaction will not happen until the liquid is added to the mix. The first reaction happens when the moist ingredient is added to the mix. It also has starch which is a drying agent. These ingredients dissolve when the liquid elements are added and react with the acid elements. Gas bubbles are created. When placed in a hot oven the bubbles expand. They become trapped in the batter which is supported by the flour and egg protein ingredients. Recipes will tell you whether you need baking powder or baking soda. Many boxed mixes already have the ingredient in the prepackaged mix. The taste and texture of
the baked good may be slightly different depending on whether you used baking soda or baking powder and how much of it you used. Bicarbonate acids, sodium aluminum sulfate and monocalcium phosphates in the baking powder neutralize each other. This happens so the batter does not taste sour if it is too acidic or bitter if it were too basic. There are air spaces in baked goods. The type and amount of leavening ingredient can create too many or too few air bubbles. Too few or too small air bubbles may create a baked good that looks and feels like a brick. The baking soda may leave a slight bitter taste unless another acidic ingredient is used to balance it. Cookie recipes usually have baking soda in them. Other mixes using
3
baking powder have ingredients to change a bitter taste into something more pleasing. You usually use baking powder in cake and biscuit recipes. Baking soda can cause a reddening of the batter if it is baked with cocoa powder. This is a reaction known to create Devil’s Food Cake. You can store baking soda in a sealed container in a cool dry spot for a long time
You can test the quality or freshness of baking powder by dropping a small amount of it into just- boiled water. If the baking powder: if it foams vigorously it is still good. If the baking powder sinks to the bottom it is no longer good. The chemical reaction causes bubbles in the batter when the ingredients are first mixed. The reaction increases when the mix is placed in a heated oven. The reaction causes the dough to rise or expand. You must put the mix in the oven right away or the mix will not rise. It will fall flat. This has happened to many people when they bake. If you use too much baking soda the batter could rise too quickly and then fall. The air bubbles become too large too soon and break. The batter will have a crumby texture a soap-like taste. If you use too little baking powder the batter will not rise enough and it will be doughy in volume and taste. The chemical reaction that takes place looks like
this: NaHCO3 + H+ -----> Na+ + H20 + CO2
(soda) (acid) (sodium) (water) (gas)
Baking powder comes as single or double-action baking powder. You need moisture to start the chemical reaction in single-action baking powder. You can let a mix with double-acting baking powder sit for a while, 15-20 minutes, baking because some gas is created when the mix is at room temperature. Most of the gas is created when the
4
mix is placed into a heated oven. Most boxed mixes sold in the United States are double-action powdered mixes. Sometimes you can substitute baking powder for baking soda when you are baking. You might have to use more baking powder in the recipe and you may notice a change in the taste of your baked good unless you add an ingredient to balance it. You can’t use baking soda in a recipe that tells you that you need baking powder because it is not acidic enough to make the mix rise in the oven. You can make your own baking powder by mixing cream of tartar with the baking soda. You must mix one part baking soda with two parts cream of tartar.
Sometimes a baker wants a quick chemical reaction to happen. They may use ammonium bicarbonate or ammonium carbonate. Some cookies and éclairs, and cream puffs are examples of when a quick reaction time is necessary when baking. A strong ammonia (NH3) smell is created in this reaction. The smell disappears from the baked good. These baked goods also have a strong metallic flavor which many people do not like. These baked goods do not store well because of this reaction. The reaction looks like this: NH4HCO3 -----> NH3 + H20 + CO2.
Some bakers do not use baking powder or baking soda to create a reaction. They use baker’s yeast. Yeast is a plant that is so small it is microscopic. It makes carbon dioxide from starch or sugars. It can be bought in a dry active form or a compressed form. Baker’s yeast acts biologically with egg whites, which leaven by the pockets of air that are formed from being beaten with a whisk. Steam created in the oven also helps leaven the batter. Most people prefer to use baking powder instead of baker’s yeast
5
because yeast two to three hours to make bubbles.
Bakers should remember to mix the dry ingredients in a recipe separately from the wet. They add the wet ingredients later to keep the reaction process from happening too soon. You should mix the briefly so they are moist. This keeps the gas from escaping too soon. If you stirred for too long a period most of the gas bubbles would escape from the mix before it is even placed in the oven.
There are many brands of baking powder for sale in supermarkets. Those who bake should compare brands. Cook's Illustrated's March 2003 published results of a baking powder test. The many powders tested showed similar results. They concluded that these results could be due to the US FDA regulations which require all baking powders to release at least 12% CO218. They also believe that the acid-base chemical reaction itself resulted in close performances by the baking powders. The amount of gas bubbles released were slightly different. There were some metallic tastes in some powders, too. They concluded that the leading brands were interchangeable with one another. These results are good in situations when you are baking to an altitude of 3, 000 feet (910 m). Above that altitude, the amount of baking powder and baking soda in a recipe should be reduced.
When shopping for baked goods bakers should compare brand prices and quality of ingredients. They may save some money if they buy a brand that is on sale. They should check the expiration dates. They should not use a product if the item has past the expiration date. They should check to see it the item has met food inspection regulations. They may want to purchase an item that is manufactured in the United States and not a
6
foreign country. They do not want to use a package that has been opened, is damaged or appears to have been tampered with. Bakers should become familiar with the different brands and note how each performed when they personally used them. They consult other bakers or books and websites of professional bakers. Bakers should learn from their own experience which baking powders give the best taste and texture, bakers should always consult the directions a recipe calls for. They may consult hot lines and customer service support centers for additional information.
Bakers follow many tips they learn from reading many books and sharing recipes with other people. Bakers also learn by experience. Some tips are very helpful. You should not use butter, margarine, oils or lard if the recipe says to use shortening. You may use margarine if the recipe says to use butter. You should place a pan in the center of the oven so it can heat evenly. If you have more than one pan in the oven at a time you should place them both as close to the center as possible. You should not put the pans so close together that they touch one another. Cookies and cakes should be placed on racks to allow them to cool. When baking you should use a cookie sheet that is cool so cookies won’t spread. You should tap the crust of bread and hear a hollow sound to know that the bread is done.
Many tips will help you save time and effort. If you are baking with pies with two crusts you should make a decorative design on the top crust. This allows steam to escape and keeps the bottom crust from becoming soggy. Some bakers use a pastry cloth to roll out cookies and to knead dough. This cloth is prepared by sprinkling and rubbing it with flour. More flour can be added if the sough begins to stick. The pastry cloth needs to be
7
washed after it is used. The cloth is stored in a tightly sealed plastic bag. You should preheat the oven before you begin so the oven will be ready to use when you need it.
Bakers can watch many television cooking shows, look up recipes on the Internet or browse through countless cookbooks available at book stores. Long ago people baked in stone ovens. They built ovens out of stone and brick. They heated the oven with firewood. It was more difficult to bake with these ovens. You did not have as much control over the baking process. You can see some old stone ovens in photos of old home kitchens. Some old houses that are museums may have an old stone stove in the kitchen.
Today, electric stoves and ovens make cooking more reliable. You have more control over the baking process. The latest stoves have many features to make baking a joy. The ovens have timers, item selection settings and self cleaning options. Baking is a lot less work and a lot more fun today than it was a century ago. People often design their entire kitchen around a stove. Many people have a professional chef stove put in a newly designed kitchen. Stoves come in many sizes, gas or electric, and in many colors. These things do not make cooks better, but they make the kitchen look nicer. The kitchen is a more important room in your home today because it is often open to the family, dining or living room so the cook-baker is part of the activity that takes place when preparing a meal or entertaining. Many people redesign a kitchen when they buy a home.
8
9
Observations and Results
In completing my experiment I did not notice any difference in the mixing of the batter of two batches of muffins. One batch, a dozen corn muffins, made with baking soda looked the same as the batch, one dozen muffins, made with baking powder when the ingredients were mixed in the bowl and when they were poured in to the muffin tins.
Both batches of muffins baked in the same twenty minute period at 425 degrees. Both batches were the same golden brown color and smelled the same. Both batches of muffins had air bubbles in the spongy texture when the muffins were cut in half. Both batches of muffins tasted dry and had the same flavor. Both batches of muffins rose the same height. One batch of muffins was not better than another. Both could have been sweetened with more sugar in the recipe or more made more tasteful by topping them with butter and jam.
Variables
The use of the baking soda in place of the baking powder is my independent variable. The look, texture and taste of the muffins is my dependent variable. I will follow the same recipe, use the same ingredients and follow the same procedures when baking two sets of muffins. These are my control variables.
Conclusion
I did not find any difference in baking corn muffins using baking soda instead of Baking muffins with baking powder. My hypothesis was proven true. I could replace baking powder with baking soda because they are made up of the same material and have
similar properties.
10
Works Cited List
Alden, Lori. "Leavens." The Cook's Thesaurus. Lori Alden, 2005. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. http://www.foodsubs.com.
Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder." Welcome to Kitchen Savy. Lost Hobbit Enterprises. , 2004-7. Web. 26 Nov. 2010.
(this line is indented)http://kitchensavvy.typepad.com.
"Chemistry of Baking Ingredients 2: Can Baking Soda Substitute for Baking Powder in a Recipe?." Science Buddies . Science (this line is indented) Buddies, 2002-10. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. http://www.sciencebuddies.org.
Granseth, Sandra. Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. Better Homes & Gardens Books, 1981. Print.
Helmenstine, Ph.d., Anne Marie. Anne Marie’s Chemistry Blog. About.com Guide. about.com Chemistry, 2010. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. (this line is indented) http://chemistry.about.com.
"Joy of baking." Tested Baking & Dessert Recipes. Simon & Schuster, 2010. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. http://www.joyofbaking.com.
“TLC: Cooking. “What is Baking Powder, and How Dies It Work?’
Discovery Communications Inc2010. Web. 26 Nov. , 2010. http://recipes.howstuffworks.com.
Substituting Baking Soda for Baking Powder in a Recipe (goes in the center of the page)
A Science Fair Project
John Smith (goes in the center of the page)
January 2001 (goes in the center of the page)
Mrs. Cline (goes in the center of the page)
Scientific Question
Can you substitute baking soda for baking powder in a recipe?
Hypothesis
I believe that I can substitute baking soda for baking powder because baking soda has some of the same ingredients as baking powder. The baked good may come out slightly different if I substitute baking soda for baking powder, but the food will still
eatable.
Materials List
Recipe
- Baking muffin pans
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula/large spoon
- Measuring cups and measuring spoons
- Baking ingredients to make muffins
- Corn meal
- Flour
- Butter
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate)
- Baking soda/ Baking powder
- Timer
- Oven/oven mitts
- Paper cups for baking muffins
- Cooling rack/ large plate
- Table/ countertop
- Paper towels/ kitchen towel
- Paper and pen
- Camera
9
Procedures
1. Read recipe ahead of time to know what I am to do.
2. Follow the directions on the recipe (Beard, 1972) to gather the materials for the project.
a. 1 cup of all purpose flour
b. 1 cup of cornmeal
c. 2 tablespoons of sugar
d. 4 teaspoons baking powder
e. Baking soda or cream of tartar
f. 2 eggs, beat them slightly
g. 1 cup milk
h. ¼ cup melted butter
i. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
j. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry mix and add the beaten eggs, the melted butter, and milk. Stir the mix to a smooth batter consistency. Fill the baking pan with the paper muffin baking cups. Fill the baking paper cups with the mixed batter until they are two-thirds full. Bake at 425 degrees for fifteen to 20 minutes, check to see if they brown before time is up so they do not burn. Check to see that the muffins are baked through.
k. Note: start each muffin with the same amount of batter. Quickly smooth
the batter in the cups with a spoon or spatula. Remove any spilled batter
on the baking pan with a wet paper towel.
3. Put on the oven mitts to put the pans into and take out of the oven.
4. Put the baking pan on a cooling rack after they are moved from the oven. Let muffins cool for a few minutes before tipping them out of the pan onto a plate. Caution they are still hot!
5. Make one batch of muffins using the above ingredients/ directions. Wash all utensils before making new batches. Make four more sets of muffins using the following amounts of cream of tartar and baking soda.
a. 0 teaspoons of cream of tartar, one and a half teaspoons of baking powder,
b. 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar, one teaspoon of baking soda,
c. 3 teaspoons of cream of tartar, one and a half teaspoons of baking soda,
d. 4 teaspoons of cream of tartar, two teaspoons of baking powder.
6. Label each batch of muffins as they come out of the oven. Don’t mix them up.
7. Compare the four different batches of muffins:
a. Note extremes in baking times for the batches.
b. Note how they look, smell, and taste.
c. Measure the height of each muffin
d. Compare the texture of the muffins by slicing a muffin from each batch in half.
e. Taste a muffin from each batch.
f. Record observations.
G.. Clean up mess in the kitchen so Mom doesn’t get mad!
Background Research
Baking soda and baking powder are used in baking. They look almost the same. Many inexperienced bakers get them mixed up. Sometimes bakers have run out of one of these two items when they are in the middle of baking. You must use the correct item in
the correct amounts or your baked good may not come out as you had planned.
You may use baking powder and baking soda when you bake from scratch or from a boxed mix. They are added to recipes when baking to cause the dough to rise. The dough rises because carbon dioxide is produced. Baking soda is in baking powder, but they are used in different baking situations. Baking soda is made of pure sodium bicarbonate. Baking powder is known as sodium bicarbonate or bicarbonate of soda. It is about four times stronger than baking powder. It has a chemical reaction when it is added to ingredients
2
like honey, chocolate, yogurt, vinegar, citrus juice, sour cream, cocoa, fruits, maple syrup, molasses or buttermilk. There has to be an acidic ingredient and moisture in the mixture.
Baking powder and baking soda are dry powder mixtures that have corn starch to serve as a filler and keep the ingredients dry, sodium bicarbonate to act as a base, sodium aluminum sulfate and monocalcium which are acids. It already has the acidic element in it as cream of tartar. The corn starch absorbs moisture. A chemical reaction will not happen until the liquid is added to the mix. The first reaction happens when the moist ingredient is added to the mix. It also has starch which is a drying agent. These ingredients dissolve when the liquid elements are added and react with the acid elements. Gas bubbles are created. When placed in a hot oven the bubbles expand. They become trapped in the batter which is supported by the flour and egg protein ingredients. Recipes will tell you whether you need baking powder or baking soda. Many boxed mixes already have the ingredient in the prepackaged mix. The taste and texture of
the baked good may be slightly different depending on whether you used baking soda or baking powder and how much of it you used. Bicarbonate acids, sodium aluminum sulfate and monocalcium phosphates in the baking powder neutralize each other. This happens so the batter does not taste sour if it is too acidic or bitter if it were too basic. There are air spaces in baked goods. The type and amount of leavening ingredient can create too many or too few air bubbles. Too few or too small air bubbles may create a baked good that looks and feels like a brick. The baking soda may leave a slight bitter taste unless another acidic ingredient is used to balance it. Cookie recipes usually have baking soda in them. Other mixes using
3
baking powder have ingredients to change a bitter taste into something more pleasing. You usually use baking powder in cake and biscuit recipes. Baking soda can cause a reddening of the batter if it is baked with cocoa powder. This is a reaction known to create Devil’s Food Cake. You can store baking soda in a sealed container in a cool dry spot for a long time
You can test the quality or freshness of baking powder by dropping a small amount of it into just- boiled water. If the baking powder: if it foams vigorously it is still good. If the baking powder sinks to the bottom it is no longer good. The chemical reaction causes bubbles in the batter when the ingredients are first mixed. The reaction increases when the mix is placed in a heated oven. The reaction causes the dough to rise or expand. You must put the mix in the oven right away or the mix will not rise. It will fall flat. This has happened to many people when they bake. If you use too much baking soda the batter could rise too quickly and then fall. The air bubbles become too large too soon and break. The batter will have a crumby texture a soap-like taste. If you use too little baking powder the batter will not rise enough and it will be doughy in volume and taste. The chemical reaction that takes place looks like
this: NaHCO3 + H+ -----> Na+ + H20 + CO2
(soda) (acid) (sodium) (water) (gas)
Baking powder comes as single or double-action baking powder. You need moisture to start the chemical reaction in single-action baking powder. You can let a mix with double-acting baking powder sit for a while, 15-20 minutes, baking because some gas is created when the mix is at room temperature. Most of the gas is created when the
4
mix is placed into a heated oven. Most boxed mixes sold in the United States are double-action powdered mixes. Sometimes you can substitute baking powder for baking soda when you are baking. You might have to use more baking powder in the recipe and you may notice a change in the taste of your baked good unless you add an ingredient to balance it. You can’t use baking soda in a recipe that tells you that you need baking powder because it is not acidic enough to make the mix rise in the oven. You can make your own baking powder by mixing cream of tartar with the baking soda. You must mix one part baking soda with two parts cream of tartar.
Sometimes a baker wants a quick chemical reaction to happen. They may use ammonium bicarbonate or ammonium carbonate. Some cookies and éclairs, and cream puffs are examples of when a quick reaction time is necessary when baking. A strong ammonia (NH3) smell is created in this reaction. The smell disappears from the baked good. These baked goods also have a strong metallic flavor which many people do not like. These baked goods do not store well because of this reaction. The reaction looks like this: NH4HCO3 -----> NH3 + H20 + CO2.
Some bakers do not use baking powder or baking soda to create a reaction. They use baker’s yeast. Yeast is a plant that is so small it is microscopic. It makes carbon dioxide from starch or sugars. It can be bought in a dry active form or a compressed form. Baker’s yeast acts biologically with egg whites, which leaven by the pockets of air that are formed from being beaten with a whisk. Steam created in the oven also helps leaven the batter. Most people prefer to use baking powder instead of baker’s yeast
5
because yeast two to three hours to make bubbles.
Bakers should remember to mix the dry ingredients in a recipe separately from the wet. They add the wet ingredients later to keep the reaction process from happening too soon. You should mix the briefly so they are moist. This keeps the gas from escaping too soon. If you stirred for too long a period most of the gas bubbles would escape from the mix before it is even placed in the oven.
There are many brands of baking powder for sale in supermarkets. Those who bake should compare brands. Cook's Illustrated's March 2003 published results of a baking powder test. The many powders tested showed similar results. They concluded that these results could be due to the US FDA regulations which require all baking powders to release at least 12% CO218. They also believe that the acid-base chemical reaction itself resulted in close performances by the baking powders. The amount of gas bubbles released were slightly different. There were some metallic tastes in some powders, too. They concluded that the leading brands were interchangeable with one another. These results are good in situations when you are baking to an altitude of 3, 000 feet (910 m). Above that altitude, the amount of baking powder and baking soda in a recipe should be reduced.
When shopping for baked goods bakers should compare brand prices and quality of ingredients. They may save some money if they buy a brand that is on sale. They should check the expiration dates. They should not use a product if the item has past the expiration date. They should check to see it the item has met food inspection regulations. They may want to purchase an item that is manufactured in the United States and not a
6
foreign country. They do not want to use a package that has been opened, is damaged or appears to have been tampered with. Bakers should become familiar with the different brands and note how each performed when they personally used them. They consult other bakers or books and websites of professional bakers. Bakers should learn from their own experience which baking powders give the best taste and texture, bakers should always consult the directions a recipe calls for. They may consult hot lines and customer service support centers for additional information.
Bakers follow many tips they learn from reading many books and sharing recipes with other people. Bakers also learn by experience. Some tips are very helpful. You should not use butter, margarine, oils or lard if the recipe says to use shortening. You may use margarine if the recipe says to use butter. You should place a pan in the center of the oven so it can heat evenly. If you have more than one pan in the oven at a time you should place them both as close to the center as possible. You should not put the pans so close together that they touch one another. Cookies and cakes should be placed on racks to allow them to cool. When baking you should use a cookie sheet that is cool so cookies won’t spread. You should tap the crust of bread and hear a hollow sound to know that the bread is done.
Many tips will help you save time and effort. If you are baking with pies with two crusts you should make a decorative design on the top crust. This allows steam to escape and keeps the bottom crust from becoming soggy. Some bakers use a pastry cloth to roll out cookies and to knead dough. This cloth is prepared by sprinkling and rubbing it with flour. More flour can be added if the sough begins to stick. The pastry cloth needs to be
7
washed after it is used. The cloth is stored in a tightly sealed plastic bag. You should preheat the oven before you begin so the oven will be ready to use when you need it.
Bakers can watch many television cooking shows, look up recipes on the Internet or browse through countless cookbooks available at book stores. Long ago people baked in stone ovens. They built ovens out of stone and brick. They heated the oven with firewood. It was more difficult to bake with these ovens. You did not have as much control over the baking process. You can see some old stone ovens in photos of old home kitchens. Some old houses that are museums may have an old stone stove in the kitchen.
Today, electric stoves and ovens make cooking more reliable. You have more control over the baking process. The latest stoves have many features to make baking a joy. The ovens have timers, item selection settings and self cleaning options. Baking is a lot less work and a lot more fun today than it was a century ago. People often design their entire kitchen around a stove. Many people have a professional chef stove put in a newly designed kitchen. Stoves come in many sizes, gas or electric, and in many colors. These things do not make cooks better, but they make the kitchen look nicer. The kitchen is a more important room in your home today because it is often open to the family, dining or living room so the cook-baker is part of the activity that takes place when preparing a meal or entertaining. Many people redesign a kitchen when they buy a home.
8
9
Observations and Results
In completing my experiment I did not notice any difference in the mixing of the batter of two batches of muffins. One batch, a dozen corn muffins, made with baking soda looked the same as the batch, one dozen muffins, made with baking powder when the ingredients were mixed in the bowl and when they were poured in to the muffin tins.
Both batches of muffins baked in the same twenty minute period at 425 degrees. Both batches were the same golden brown color and smelled the same. Both batches of muffins had air bubbles in the spongy texture when the muffins were cut in half. Both batches of muffins tasted dry and had the same flavor. Both batches of muffins rose the same height. One batch of muffins was not better than another. Both could have been sweetened with more sugar in the recipe or more made more tasteful by topping them with butter and jam.
Variables
The use of the baking soda in place of the baking powder is my independent variable. The look, texture and taste of the muffins is my dependent variable. I will follow the same recipe, use the same ingredients and follow the same procedures when baking two sets of muffins. These are my control variables.
Conclusion
I did not find any difference in baking corn muffins using baking soda instead of Baking muffins with baking powder. My hypothesis was proven true. I could replace baking powder with baking soda because they are made up of the same material and have
similar properties.
10
Works Cited List
Alden, Lori. "Leavens." The Cook's Thesaurus. Lori Alden, 2005. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. http://www.foodsubs.com.
Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder." Welcome to Kitchen Savy. Lost Hobbit Enterprises. , 2004-7. Web. 26 Nov. 2010.
(this line is indented)http://kitchensavvy.typepad.com.
"Chemistry of Baking Ingredients 2: Can Baking Soda Substitute for Baking Powder in a Recipe?." Science Buddies . Science (this line is indented) Buddies, 2002-10. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. http://www.sciencebuddies.org.
Granseth, Sandra. Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. Better Homes & Gardens Books, 1981. Print.
Helmenstine, Ph.d., Anne Marie. Anne Marie’s Chemistry Blog. About.com Guide. about.com Chemistry, 2010. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. (this line is indented) http://chemistry.about.com.
"Joy of baking." Tested Baking & Dessert Recipes. Simon & Schuster, 2010. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. http://www.joyofbaking.com.
“TLC: Cooking. “What is Baking Powder, and How Dies It Work?’
Discovery Communications Inc2010. Web. 26 Nov. , 2010. http://recipes.howstuffworks.com.