Baking soda vs baking powder
Baking soda is a base. It makes gas only when it meets an acid such as buttermilk, yogurt, lemon juice, brown sugar or natural cocoa, and that gas lifts the batter. Soda with too little acid to react tastes soapy and metallic.
Soda and powder aren't interchangeable
Baking soda is about 3 to 4 times stronger than baking powder. Swap powder for soda one for one and the batter rises weakly. Swap soda for powder in a recipe with no acid and you get a flat, soapy, metallic bake.
Acidic ingredients point to soda
Buttermilk, yogurt, natural cocoa, brown sugar, honey or molasses usually means the recipe uses soda. No acid anywhere usually means powder. Many recipes use both: soda to react with the acid, powder for extra lift.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
A pancake recipe uses plain milk and no acidic ingredient. Which leavener fits best?
Baking powder, because it carries its own acid. Powder contains both the base and the acid, so plain milk is enough.
True or false: Baking powder needs an acidic ingredient in the recipe to work.
False. Powder contains soda plus dry acids, so it needs only moisture and heat.
What went wrong? You bake a buttermilk cake that calls for 1/2 tsp baking soda, but you use 1/2 tsp baking powder instead. It comes out dense.
Powder is much weaker, so there was too little lift. The recipe was built for soda's strength, and powder makes far less gas per spoonful.
Fill the blank: About 1/4 tsp of baking soda gives the same lift as ___ of baking powder.
About 1/4 tsp of baking soda gives the same lift as 1 tsp of baking powder. Soda is about 4 times stronger than powder.
Two batches of cookies match, except one uses baking soda and one uses baking powder. Why is the soda batch browner?
Soda makes the dough more alkaline. Higher pH makes browning reactions run faster.
Baking soda vs baking powder
Which one raises the batter?
Do the 25-minute experiment