Pros And Cons Of Using Baking Powder

Conclusions: What did you learn from this investigation? Was the hypothesis correct? Give recommendations

and suggestions for others who may want to investigate your question.

Bibliography. List the books and references used in writing your report.

Our experiment is on the difference between baking soda and baking powder. Our title is the Results of Baking Powder VS using Baking Soda in a recipe. We wanted to find out if one was more effective than the other, or if one wouldn’t work without certain ingredients. This led to our research question being “Does using baking powder or baking soda affect the results of a muffin recipe?” We thought that the baking powder would result in better muffins, so in our hypothesis, we stated that that baking

powder would be more effective in the recipe as opposed to using the same amount of baking soda.

Baking powder is a dry, chemical, raising agent that is commonly used in cake baking. It is made from an alkali, bicarbonate of soda, and an acid, cream of tartar, plus a filler like cornflour or rice flour which absorbs the moisture. Baking powder goes through a process called double- acting, which means the baking powder is activated first, when moist, and once again when heated, producing carbon dioxide and forming bubbles that cause the mixture to expand and collapse. This produces the fluffy texture found on the inside when bitten or cut into. For this reason, it is important to get your cake mixture into the oven quickly once the wet ingredients have been added to the dry ingredients. It is used for volume and lightening the texture of baked goods. Baking powder can last up 6-12 months then needs be renewed. It is sometimes used instead of yeast to remove the flavor of fermentation, or for convenience. Because baking powder releases bubbles faster, breads baked with the ingredient rise faster and are called quick-bake breads. The main variable with the differences between powder and powder is the rate of leavening. However, baking powder is not as strong as baking soda, so much more is needed to produce the same rate of leavening.

Baking soda is just plain sodium bicarbonate.

Baking soda is a leavening agent, which helps baked goods to rise and become light and spongy. This is also the most common leavening agent. It needs an acidic component to activate it, or else a bitter taste will occur. The baking soda works to neutralize the acid and this is what causes the leavening. In baking, some usual acidic components include vinegar, yogurt, lemon juice (or other citrus juice), buttermilk, and brown sugar. Baking soda also goes through a double-acting process. When the basic properties of baking soda mix with the acidic properties of one of these ingredients it starts to neutralize, creating carbon dioxide bubbles, fluffing up the batter while baking. The bubbles also form in a second stage when heated (aka, during the baking process). This raises the baked good and also makes it more tender and soft. Baking soda is ideal to be used instead of baking powder if there is an acidic component because it is about 4 times more effective than baking powder. It also does not leave a taste or texture in the baked result unless a large amount is added in the mixing process. Sodium bicarbonate has an indefinite shelf life. Baking powder, on the other hand, does not, and can go bad after a few months. It is a good thing to note that baking soda can not substitute for baking powder, as recipes that call for baking powder often do not contain the acidic component needed to activate the leavening agent.

Our

Procedure:

Materials (these all go into the recipe and are used for baking the batter):
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cup whole milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
8 tbsp butter (1 stick) or shortening
2 mixing bowls (for the main batter)
1 whisk
48 cupcake liners (to line pans)
Two 24-cupcake pans
Measuring spoons of various measures
Extra bowls (to melt butter, etc)

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Stir in the 2 cups flour, 1 tbsp baking soda, and ½ tsp salt.
Unwrap ½ stick butter and heat it in the microwave for about a minute until it's thoroughly melted. Set it aside at room temperature to cool, but do not let it solidify again.
Beat 1 egg in a separate bowl and then add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk, and 1 tsp vanilla to the eggs.
Use cupcake liners to line the pan of 24.
Pour a tiny bit of the melted butter into the egg-vanilla-milk mixture and stir it in. Repeat 3-4 more times while stirring, adding a slightly larger amount of the liquid butter each time until it is all incorporated.
IMPORTANT: Don't add hot melted butter to the egg mixture as the heat from the butter would cook the egg! If the eggs do happen to cook, separate the cooked eggs and the liquid using a sieve.
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry mix and stir no more than ten seconds. The batter should be visibly lumpy, and you may see pockets of dry flour. This is okay. It's extremely important not to overmix the batter, or the resulting muffins will be too hard.
Gently pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and keep note that it has the baking soda muffins.
TIP: The dry and wet ingredients, respectively, can be mixed in advance, but as soon as the wet and dry ingredients have been combined with each other, the liquid will activate the baking powder and the batter must be baked right away.
Now repeat steps 1-9, using the leftover ingredients/materials and the baking powder. Keep in mind that baking powder reacts much more quickly than baking soda, so once you mix it pour it into the 2nd pan IMMEDIATELY.
Place both trays in the pre-heated oven, making sure that they are the same distance from the sides of the oven and completely centered so that they bake evenly and receive the same amount of heat.
Once placed in the oven, bake for about 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Constantly check to see if the muffins are done. Make observations on how the two types of muffins rise and bake compared to each other.
After you take out the trays, set aside to cool. Then measure each muffin of each type and find the average measurement in height and width across the top for the two types.
Now do a taste test and record observations on how they appear, taste, and the fluffiness in general of each type of muffin using a scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best).
In steps 1-9, we mixed the batter for both soda and powder and set them into the appropriate baking pans. In steps 10-14, we baked the muffins and took measurements and notes about the appearance and taste of each type, and then compared them.
Results
Some things that we observed were that the muffins baked with powder were a lot more fluffy and sweeter. On the other hand, the muffins baked with baking soda did not rise as much and were also more bitter, hard, and has a metallic- like taste. 

According to our experiment, our hypothesis was proven correct, as the baking powder was more effective in both the taste and fluffiness. The end results of the muffins baked using baking powder were that they came out more fluffy and also bigger. The muffins baked with the baking soda were harder and also flatter. One reason that this happened was because the baking powder causes the recipe to rise whereas the baking soda causes the recipe to flatten and spread out. Another reason was that the little acidic ingredients in the milk or similar was not enough to fully activate the baking powder so that it would actually leaven the batter. Something we learned was that baking soda can be substituted with baking powder but not the other way around. The reason why is because baking powder already has baking soda in it, and it already contains the . Just because two ingredients are similar does not mean it can be substituted for anything as the results will be drastically different. Some suggestions we have is to turn on the convection, as it makes the heating more even. Another thing is to make sure the trays are placed evenly, where they will receive equal amount of heat. One more suggestion is to bake 3-5 batches and switch positions to make sure that the results are fully accurate and reliable.
Bibliography
Sideman, Eva.

"How Products Are Made." How Baking Soda Is Made. Made How, 27 July 2007. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

Holland, Kimberly. "Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder." Simmer and Boil. CookingLight, 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.

Inglis-Arkell, Esther. "And This Is Why Baking Powder Can't Be Used As Baking Soda." Io9. Kinja, 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 May 2015.

Geiger, Brian. "Baking Soda and Baking Powder - FineCooking.com." FineCooking.com. Fine Cooking, 28 Oct. 2009. Web. 14 May 2015.

Coyle, L. Patrick. The World Encyclopedia Of Food. New York, N.Y.: Facts on File, 1982. Print.

López-Alt, J. Kenji. "The Food Lab: Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda." The Food Lab: Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda. 21 June 2010. Web. 14 May

2015.