Talk:Baking powder

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[edit] Chemical Formula

User:Inkbeat asked: "Baking soda, baking powder... they really are the same. Except baking powder has acid. Minor difference. HOWEVER, it should still have a chemical formula, right?"

Well, baking soda is just a simple compound -- sodium bicarbonate -- so it can be expressed as a formula. Baking powder is a mixture containing a number of compounds, depending on the brand and formulation. At its simplest, you can maybe express it as NaHCO3 (baking soda) + KC4H5O6 (potassium hydrogen tartrate, or Cream of Tartar), but there are two problems. First, there's usually a number of other compounds in the mixture -- they may not even use the tartrate as the acid. It may contain corn starch, too. The second problem is that I'm not sure that's the correct way to show the reaction. At the very least, you'd have to add "+ H20" to it, as well. --Mdwyer 02:45, 22 May 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Safety of Homemade Baking Powder

There seems to be a lot of concern about the safety of cream of tartar. Please see Talk:Tartaric_acid for a little bit more on this. I agree that you shouldn't scarf down 12g of it, but then that is 1/4 of a 2oz container ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0005XNA18 ) for ONE PERSON, when you're probably baking for at least four people. I'm not quite comfortable putting the warning in there when I cannot back it up with more than one off-hand note. If you want to put it back, go ahead, but I'd recommend noting that some acids are faster or slower acting (which is why c of t is used over faster-acting lemon juice) and there are concerns that tartaric acid may not be safe in larger quantities. --Mdwyer 13:56, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your comments, Mdwyer. I feel, on reflection, that what I put in about cream of tartar originally (especially including a quotation from a book) was too long, and slightly off topic for an article on baking powder. I've restored a shorter version, with no book extract, just to make it known that some nutritionists recommend avoiding cream of tartar. I think (or I hope!) that what I have now doesn't stick out. I feel that people are unlikely to take 12g of it, but still, if they think it can help with a stomach upset, they could take two teaspoons of it in a glass of water, and that's certainly way over what should be taken! AnnH ♫ 20:22, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
I like what you have put back. I think that will do nicely. I have added a Usage section, and made a few changes to your section to make it fit a little better (we both talk about acidic foods).
People use C of T as a stomach ache remedy? I have heard of people using too much baking powder as an indigestion remedy and bursting their stomaches. Ew. Have you considered adding information about toxicity to the C of T page? --Mdwyer 03:14, 4 July 2006 (UTC)


I'm not so sure about the relevance of the warnings about cream of tartar that seem to be popping up all over the place. Unless there is some evidence other than assertions by Erica White then I don't think the warning should be included. The Wikipedia article on nutritionists itself notes that "It should be noted that anyone (whether with or without formal specialised education) can refer to themselves as a nutritionist. There is no regulatory body for nutritionists."

Sure, cream of tartar is probably unsafe if you were to eat a whole cup full of it. But no-one actually does. Given that sort of definition, we'd be putting up unnecessary warnings about all sorts of things. I'm not going to delete it, but as someone with a degree in food science and nutrition I have to say I think it's pretty ridiculous and is the sort of thing that undermines the credibility of Wikipedia as a source of reliable information. If I want to be bombarded with crackpot opinions I'll use Google. Gamsarah 22:42, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How much salt??

As a reader I need to know how much salt to put with how much backing poweder or is it there alrealy??

I'm pretty sure that salt is not required for the leavening action of baking powder. It moderates yeasts, but I don't think it does anything to baking powder. In the case of biscuits, salt is added only for flavor. I would assume about a half teaspoon per cup of flour, but I'm just guessing right now.
Also, I believe baking powder adds a small amount of sodium to food, but not from NaCl salt. --Mdwyer 06:12, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] How much Na2CO3 in baking powder?

Can anyone tell me how much Na2HCO3 thee is in baking powder.... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Masteward (talk • contribs) 13:50, 6 December 2006 (UTC).

First of all, I think you mean NaHCO3 (baking soda). In any case, I still can't answer your question. Different baking powders have different formulations -- some may not even use NaHCO3. --Mdwyer 15:42, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] longetivity of baking powder.

I heard that baking powder doesn't last very long. My gourmet cousing said one month is the tops. I found that hard to believe. But just this morning, I made aebelskivers with a baking powder I opened 6 months ago, and they came out much flatter. In fact, when cousin made aebelskivers with his brand new baking soda, they came out totally spherical. And his mother said she had never seen an aebelskiver come out spherical. (Aebelskivers are little Danish pancakes made in a pan with half-spherical indentations. The pan looks kind of like an egg poacher) -KellyN —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.215.199.12 (talk) 15:48, 5 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Too Americanised

This article uses the terms 'baking soda' (UK: bicarbonate of soda or sodium bicarbonate) and 'cup' (as a measurement). Could someone internationalise it?

The use of 'baking soda' not only explained in the first line of the article, but is wiki-linked to sodium bicarbonate as well. I belive this is sufficient, and to replace all would not improve readability. I also don't think the measurments should change, based on Wikipedia:UNITS and a stretch from Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#National_varieties_of_English. Besides, what would you like us to replace cup with? The correct units for flour should probably be grams, but if I was to figure that out, that part of the article would no longer make sense. The point of that is to illustrate the 1c:1c:1t ratios. --Mdwyer (talk) 20:21, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Prof. Banket

I removed the edit below. I can't find any evidence of this Professor. Does he have a first name, for instance? So I've removed it. If someone can source this, please let us know! --Mdwyer (talk) 20:21, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

August Oetker, a German pharmacist, and Professor Banket , an amateur alchemist and business man, made baking powder very popular when they began selling their mixture to housewives

[edit] 77-year-old reference?

I'm willing to believe that chemicals are harmful, but we're basing the statement that aluminum in baking powder is harmful on a textbook that's almost an octogenarian? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Freerangelibrarian (talk • contribs) 15:13, 16 February 2008 (UTC)