What Do Baking Soda and Baking Powder Do? | Kenji's Cooking Show
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- čas přidán 26. 03. 2024
- Listen to the pancake episode of our podcast, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb, here: www.therecipepodcast.com/epis...
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Here is my pancake recipe: www.seriouseats.com/light-and...
Here is Deb Perelman's pancake recipe: smittenkitchen.com/2017/05/ta...
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Pro tip: do not add baking soda as a topping thinking it is powdered sugar. Also pro tip, always label your bags.
Make sure you take a quick hit to test the purity before you buy a bag of powder.
Amen
Also if a recipe calls for both do not accidentally switch the amounts for both because your son will notice and retch.
@@buddhavskungfu 👃
😢😂❤
Oooo I love this. Can you do a vid on cooking beans from dry? Soaking vs. not soaking. Salt no salt. Pressure cooking stove top? Any science behind beans, really.
I've learned that soaked beans have to be fully cooked before I can add my soaked rice. Beans cook much slower once rice is added. This could be good knowledge for one-pot or one-pan meals.
I cook dried beans probably every other day, and here's my advice:
1. If you do it often, invest in an electric pressure cooker e.g. instant pot. The time and convenience savings are large. The only drawback relative to stovetop is that with the stovetop you can test whether they are done at any point, whereas with the pressure cooker you need the time to be dialled in at least somewhat. But there are cooking time tables online for every type of bean that have worked out quite well for me.
2. Salt extends the cooking time by about 25% for me, whether soaked or unsoaked. I have experimented with whether salting the soaking water but then not the boiling water, affects that. I could not tell any difference, both resulted in an approximate 25% increase.
3. How much salt to use is a mystery to me, but I always treat it like I'm salting pasta water and that works out fine. Be conservative, you can salt the beans later if they are under salted.
4. People often say that salting beans before cooking changes the interior texture. I have not noticed this. So I would err on the side of salting them unless you are going to put them in a very salty broth or you are short on cooking time. (Or you don't trust your ability to salt them correctly.)
5. Soaking speeds up the cooking time and probably does nothing else. I have seen a lot of claims about it changing the texture, I have not experienced that at all. Soaking is a good idea if you use the stovetop because it saves a lot of time (30-60 minutes), but with a pressure cooker the time saved is small (5-15 minutes).
6. Consider cooking your beans with flavorings. toss some onion, cumin, garlic, dried mushrooms, whatever you want into the boiling water. You can also cook them in stock (though remember that this also adds salt and cook time has to be adjusted accordingly). After cooking you can remove some larger additions while the smaller ones will just disappear into mush. If you're cooking beans for a stew/gravy this is a great way to up their flavor.
@@karthiktadepalli7560 All good stuff, especially about the salt. I may wait until about 15min before the end to salt.
Also, have you tried frying the soaked dry beans in aeromatics before adding hot water & boiling the rest of the way. It's my favorite way to make fried rice & beans right now.
@@EricLeafericson salting in the middle is a stovetop option so I've never tried it, but could definitely work.
Frying soaked dry beans is an interesting idea, I've never done that...
Pyrex bowl in the oven works good
This is EXACTLY how people should learn to cook. Understand why things are added and what they do.
0:40 “a basic pancake”. Starting with the puns right off the bat huh
Technically the other pancakes were more basic than the basic pancake
🤯
🦇
Nice
Love your conclusion about how theory empowers you to adjust recipes. This is why I got into Serious Eats and other similar cooking sources.
I’m not watching any more presenters who can’t control themselves from saying Ummm several times a minute.
The best ratio for pancakes I use is 1tsp baking powder & 1 egg to every 1 cup flour, then up to 1 cup of milk or less. This works if doubling the recipe too. I don't like extra b.powder or extra baking soda as it destroys the flavour & makes the pancakes bitter. This is more noticeable as I don't use sugar or butter in the batter.
So far the best pancakes are sour dough where a portion of starter is added to regular pancake batter.
I totally agree with you. It seems you understand the subject. What Do Baking Soda and Baking Powder Do? The answer is very simple for people who really can think. You can make pancakes without soda or baking powder. They still will become brown. Colour depends on how much you add sugar and how long you keep them in a pan. In this case, your pancakes will be very flat but still tasty. The baking soda you add when your mix does not contain any acidity like yoghurt or lemon juice, for example. Then you will get some bubbles and your pancake or cake with become fluffy. Backing powder already contains the acidity. In this case, if you add the backing powder in a mixture which does not contain any acidity, then your mixture will be fluffy. If you put additional soda in a mix with backing powder or the opposite it will make our mix bitter. Soda never adds flavour but only fluffiness. I do not care about colour. I care about taste. If you want to have brown colour then add a little bit of sugar. Sugar gives a brown colour and a taste. That is why I never have any backing powder in my pantry, but I always have lemon juice and bicarbonate soda. Mix them together and you will get the fluffiness of your pancake or cake.
Thank you for posting !
Great video and thanks for sharing but your pup got my entire attention. He was looking at you like “dude, who are you talking to?” Classic! 😂❤🐶
I definitely like the bubbly tops. Just one caveat: don't add too *much* of either one. NOT a good flavor.
Nice! Just listened to the podcast with Deb and you while mowing the yard this morning!
I'm sure I've looked this up more than once but its never been answered so well, and with so much useful information. Sincere thanks!
Thank you for this video! It was fun to watch and learn exactly what each agent does.
Love these kinds of vids! As someone who has started cooking due to living on my own this really helps
Loving The Recipe Podcast. You and Deb are a great conversational duo, and your discussions are fascinating! Thanks!
Is this podcast weekly ?
Great demonstration! Thank you!
I've got in to using yeast for my baking recently. I really like the added flavor. It just tastes more wholesome than adding baking powder.
It does take some planning, though.
That's why sourdough pancakes are so much more yummy!
I use sourdough discard a lot in pancakes just so it doesn't go to waste, but I do like it for your same reason.
Besides being delicious, yeast is full of vitamin B and minerals, right?
True! Ages ago we made traditional waffles using yeast and that tasted better than without but you are right in that it takes extra planning. Last year we started doing sourdough pancakes (and waffles too), and it was easier than the yeast version (no need to plan ahead) and maybe even tastier than with just yeast.
In fact, prior to the invention of commercial baking powder in the 1890's (or so), most pancakes were leavened with yeast.
Thanks for the tip about adding baking soda to choc chip cookie mix to get the cookies to brown better. Mine always come out too light and never knew why. Thanks!! Gonna try that
Excellent companion piece to the podcast! Really enjoyed some pancake talk on my commute this morning - great work as always!
Thank you very helpful. This will be great to try with folding and scrambled eggs.
Fascinating and helpful!
Thanks. This was helpful and clear, if a bit waffling.
thanks for the episode
Thank you! Great and informative video!
i was just wondering about this the other day when i made pancakes! you read my mind kenji!
Thanks for this and I love the kids station.
Wow, I was just looking this up yesterday. Perfect timing. Thank you for demonstrating the differences.
I'm gonna show my high school foods class this on Monday! Love your videos - super informative!
What Do Baking Soda and Baking Powder Do? The answer is very simple for people who really can think. You can make pancakes without soda or baking powder. They still will become brown. Colour depends on how much you add sugar and how long you keep them in a pan. In this case, your pancakes will be very flat but still tasty. The baking soda you add when your mix does not contain any acidity like yoghurt or lemon juice, for example. Then you will get some bubbles and your pancake or cake with become fluffy. Backing powder already contains the acidity. In this case, if you add the backing powder in a mixture which does not contain any acidity, then your mixture will be fluffy. If you put additional soda in a mix with backing powder or the opposite it will make our mix bitter. Soda never adds flavour but only fluffiness. I do not care about colour. I care about taste. If you want to have brown colour then add a little bit of sugar. Sugar gives a brown colour and a taste. That is why I never have any backing powder in my pantry, but I always have lemon juice and bicarbonate soda. Mix them together and you will get the fluffiness of your pancake or cake.
the video i didnt think i needed!
Learning music theory allows a guitarist to experiment and be more creative instead of just sticking to written music. This is the same with “cooking theory” and you are the best teacher!!
Thanks for the explanation. You’re the man!!
Wow, now that was something informative and useful. Thanks!
I've always wanted my pancakes a bit darker, so this great information.
I’ve never been so invested in three little pancakes in my life 😂
Great explanation. I always wanted to know. Thank you
That was helpful. Thank you.
Thank you so much for this episode. I really enjoy these type of educational breakdowns! Could you do a food lab series breaking down basic food science? Thank you so much kenji!
I discovered that baking soda will also remove some of the "canned taste" (maybe you'd call it a metallic taste) from canned corn and other canned vegetables. It has to soak in a baking soda solution for a few minutes, and then you have to rinse it very well. Have you heard of this, Kenji, and can you explain it?
You're insane
@@tommydillsNot. It seems to make a difference. Since I get free canned food, and baking soda is cheap, I do it. Baking soda is good for a lot of things besides baking. Chemistry.
I've got one of those Solidteknics skillets, great cookware!
Baking soda toothpaste also works wonders with plaque and tartar prevention because of its alkalinity (most oral bacteria are acidophiles) - helps resist biofilm formation.
Great Video Kenji! Thank you. I love these types of culinary science pieces. You should do one of the different types of flours ie: AP, wheat, potato, rice, etc.
Love these videos
Please make a video thoroughly explaining the science how baking-soda makes cheaper and/or leaner cuts of meats tender and juicier after cooking. 🙂
Really helpful!
great video!
I rly love vids like this when it comes to cooking; it helps a ton to rly know the science side of things here and get a better idea of how these seemingly basic ingredients work, so one can better adapt their own cookin
I think you missed that chemistry class about baking soda and leavening....
For the most part, that baking soda DID NOT react with acids in the regular recipe (as much as with the weak acid in the powder), but THERMAL DECOMPOSITION broke that BIcarbonate into sodium carbonate, as well as gaseous carbon dioxide (which makes a buttload of "bubbles" in the pancake), as well as water, in the form of steam (also a gas which is making bubbles), which helps rise the pancake even more.
"Double acting" refers to the gas release during the liquid phase in mixing as you said, and the heat reaction, which is the same as in the baking soda decomp.
But, I love it when science meets the kitchen, and I definitely plan on checking out your book! Thanks.
Thank you for doing that. I love homemade pancakes. It's a skill to be able to make good ones. Pancakes are always a good idea.😀
❤thanks for the valuable information 👍
Good stuff appreciate it!
Very neat Science in Cooking video 🧐👍
I think the main cause of confusion about baking powder vs. baking soda is a linguistic one: American English calls both of these substances "baking [something]." If we had fundamentally different names for these two fine white powders (which other English-speaking regions and other languages have), we wouldn't be so confused about them.
yeah in Australia we use the words bicarb (shortened bicarbonate of soda) and baking soda interchangably - so far as i know baking powder has always just been baking powder. If we kept baking soda as bicarb then you wouldn't run the risk of accidently putting in a ton of baking soda in haha
@@tristanclearysame in sweden, bikarbonat & bakpulver
Natron and Backpulver in Germany, hard to mix up :D
wish you should have shown the crumb structure of the one with baking soda. strange that it wasn't shown.
Kenji didn't show the baking powder pancake going into the pan. Curious... #bakingpowderconspiracy
I use the americas test kitchen buttermilk pancake recipe, which has both baking powder and soda. Their ‘secret’ ingredient, though, is sour cream. 1/4 cup for a standard recipe, the pancakes brown beautifully and it makes them rise even higher (big bubbles!) and they’re just the slightest bit tangy. Amazing.
I would eat every one of these Pancakes smothered in butter and real maple syrup.
But I am blown away by the explination of Chemistry involved into something so simple as PANCAKES lol
Explanation
@@dcwatashi Tank chu fo corecting my spelting mastake on a U Tube Coment lol
@@radicalmoderate2730U R welcome
The Breville induction top!!!! I want one sooooo bad. $$$$ as heck.
I see you are using an Australian Solidteknics frypan! I love using this pan, my absolute favourite 😍
Chef John taught me the wings with backing soda tip 😌 works like a charm
You have a nice collection of cookware sir. Solidteknics is good stuff.
Thanks I never fully understood these powders
Thanks!
Now I know why my choc chip cookie recipe calls for baking soda! Always wondered , thanks!!
Love these side by side science experiment videos. One experiment I’d love to see is how much blending affects flavor. When I’m blending things, I try to add the key flavor components at the very end for a last bit of blending. My thinking is that the oxidation of the full blending process destroys the aromatic compounds of things like vanilla or certain spices
Only because I follow your channel, I was already aware of the powers of baking soda and powder. This is the stuff I come here to learn. Love your content @J. Kenji Lopez-Alt!
I learned from one of the America's Test Kitchen videos that oil droplets are the cause of uneven browning on pancakes. You actually want to wipe off the oil from your pan with a paper towel if you want solid brown pancakes.
I learned this from home cooking years ago ❤
Ah i did notice that a few days ago when baking pancakes. My gf wiped and got really even browning, i didnt and mine were less evenly browned
Calling captain heterogeneity (Regusea). :)
I saw that episode too! And I'd like to add since the purchase of my cast iron I haven't put oil in my skillet when I do pancakes. The first pancake is much nicer (no dotted patterns) than when I used to do it in my non-stick with oil.
Yes, it browned because he did not wipe the pan between use. Also you use baking soda with buttermilk and baking powder with fresh milk. Not sure how all that raising agent tasted.wll never know😂
I always remember it as baking Soda = Shade for more or less browning
Baking Powder = Puffy for more or less leavening
I would love to see you do this same test with fried chicken dredge. Maybe popcorn/nugget sized pieces to make it easy, and also explain what the acidity of buttermilk vs other liquids like water or regular milk. Something like a 3x3 matrix with 9 outcomes. water/skim milk made from powder/buttermilk with an equal egg ratio then flour/flour+BP/flour+BS. This is something I've been doing for years (just never at the same time) but since I don't take detailed notes I can't really quantify the differences like browning, crisp vs crunch, longevity of the crunch etc.
Give the doggie a pancake!!! it's waiting so patiently.😍
I'd love to see you do a variation for thinner crispier pancakes (my preference). Not a fan of dense chewy pancakes, nor tall pancakes. I've tried different pancake recipes for 10 years and I'm still searching for the perfect one. Maybe something like a thicker crepe batter with baking powder to provide the lift of a pancake??
Baking powder is made of baking soda plus cream of tartar and cornstarch. So it make sense that the powder is less brown than the soda, but more brown than neither.
If his book ‘The Food Lab’ is anywhere near as informative as his videos it’s bound to be a gold mine. I think alot of home cooks are a little ashamed to admit they don’t know these simple things, but there’s no shame in learning. Wonderful video.
Pardon me for the completely unrelated question, but I am seeing recipes for vanilla mash now. So mashed potatoes with vanilla bean paste and sometimes mascarpone cheese. Thoughts? Any experience with this combination?
Thank you for your lovely compliment. I hope my recipe was able to help you in your cooking
"We wanted to compare apples to apples."
But these are all pancakes!
Kenji, it's always about the gradient, the spectrum.
I love this.
For Kenji or anyone else: What do you think is the upper limit for using baking soda, before it affects the flavour?
Was also wondering exactly this.
What do alkaline environments do to the breakdown of what? Cells? You cut at 2:50-2:54
I literally just figured this out last weekend in cookies since i normally hate baking soda in my baking
I add both of them and a dash of carbonated water in my batter! :P Great video!
2:20 "...it's lowered the pH of it...". I know that Kenji knows this, but I just want to clarify that it has RAISED the pH of the batter. I believe that it'll increase the alkalinity a bit, but mostly it'll increase the pH.
Edit: oh, a few seconds later he says that it raises the pH.
I love how Kenji explains “how sausage is made” for pancakes. 👍🏻
Basic stuff for everybody should know but doesn't necessarily know, this is a good explanation of demonstration.
One common change would be to add oil as likely required in waffles and how does that work and change the overall outcome.
✌😎
Key Kenji, long time viewer, first time commenter.
What's your opinions on adding baking powder/soda to yorkshire pudding?
In the U.K our pancakes are usually a thinner batter and more of a crepe like outcome. I use the same viscosity of batter for my yorkshires, but interested to know if its something you make, and if you would add baking soda
Try adding some ricotta to the batter. It's amazing. Better yet, make your own riccota using lemon juice to curddle the cheese. It will come through in your pancakes❤
I'm curious, how do these changes impact the taste of the pancakes, if at all?
Me too! Both baking soda and baking powder have an impact on the flavor (can be acrid if too much is added). Kenji put a huge amount of baking powder in that last single pancake.
I am quite surprised he did not mention the taste difference baking powder(dont know about soda) can make. In europe at least adding too much baking powder can give pancakes a somewhat unpleasant taste.
Only tried it once with a basic batter: wanted some more fluffy pancakes and added almost double the baking powder and the result looked decent but tasted pretty bad
Part of that could be the alkalinity. Alkalis tend to taste bitter.
Hi - 2 points:
4:22 you didn't call out the amount, the quantity. _(Produce with a running script, yaa? /*grin*/)_
And then in the end, by tear comparison, you covered only 2 of the 3!
Lovely stuff. Real clear!
thanks
What about getting them crispy? Does one or the other do better, or is it more in the cooking method?
This is one of those videos you watch and then pretend you knew all along when the subject comes up in conversation.
I’m learnding Super Nintendo Chalmers!
You lost me at the pH . More Bicarbonate means less acidic means higher pH, right? Love this style of your videos ❤
You're right!
i think when he first says 'lowers the pH', he misspoke and meant higher
Maybe he wasn’t sure exactly what’s happening …
Baking soda helps browning and powder helps leavening
Kenji, thanks for this informative video. I like regular pancakes, but whenever I have extra sourdough starter, which is common, I like to make an overnight sourdough pancake batter. I understand that sourdough is acidic by default, so I add baking soda only and I notice that the batter reacts quite the same way as adding baking powder to a non-sourdough batter. In the case of sourdough pancakes, are there any recommendations or comments you could share regarding this same topic of baking soda vs. baking powder?
In 11 minutes JKL-A answers the age old question!!!
What amount of baking powder did you put in the 3rd batch?
It seemed like ALOT-alot. Was it to highlight the characteristics of baking powder? Does it not affect taste?
I usually use 1.5 tsp baking powder and 1.5 tsp baking soda in my 4 serving recipes. Is that too little?
I was wondering that too!
Is there a difference in the weights? I’d suspect the 3rd would be the lightest, the plain one be 2nd and the one 2nd one to be the heaviest?
I love you little dog ❤❤❤❤
Am I the only one who loves thinner, chewier pancakes? In my mind those are "flapjacks" and the fluffy ones are "pancakes" but I'm pretty sure that is just head canon.
the baking soda/powder pancakes were mixed more than the regular batter one, wouldnt that affect the end product also
In the UK we have strong, plain and self-raising flour. We make Yorkshire puds with plain so that they rise! Why not add a raising agent or use self-raising?
Good information thanks
anyone know what pan he is using here? is it cast iron?
great video kenji, thanks
I finally know why I feel like I burn all my pancakes so quickly! I never understood the difference between baking soda and baking powder so I just had pure soda at home, becuase you can use it in other household tasks. Now I know I don't just burn things!