The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 162

include a significant acidic ingredient.That’s why you see
so many classic recipes for buttermilk pancakes and
buttermilkbiscuitsorcakerecipesthatcontainvinegar.The
buttermilk is not just a flavoring agent—it provides the
necessaryacidtoreactwiththebakingsodaandleaventhe
bread. Around the middle of the nineteenth century,
someonerealizedthatratherthanrelyingonthehomecook
toaddanacidicingredienttoreactwiththebakingsoda,it’d
be much simpler to add a powdered acid directly to the
bakingsodaitself,andbakingpowderwasborn.Composed
of baking soda, a powdered acid, and a starch (to absorb
moisture and prevent the acid or base from reacting
prematurely),bakingpowderwasmarketedastheall-in-one
solution for busy housewives. In its dry state, it’s totally
inert. But once you add a liquid, the powdered acid and
basedissolveandreactwitheachother,creatingbubblesof
carbon dioxide, without the need for an external acid
source.
Neat,right?Butholdon—there’smore.
SideEffects
The most interesting side effect of using baking soda in a
recipe is that it affects browning in a major way.The
Maillard reaction, named after Louise Camille Maillard,
who first described its processes in the early twentieth
century,isthesetofreactionsresponsibleforthatbeautiful
browncrustonyoursteakandthedeepcolorofagoodloaf
of bread.Aside from cosmetics, the reaction also produces
hundreds of aromatic compounds that add an inimitable
savorinessandcomplexitytofoods.

As it turns out, the reaction occurs better in alkaline
environments,whichmeansthatonceyou’veaddedenough
bakingsodatoneutralizetheacidinabatterordough,any
extra you add will work to increase browning. So I made
fivebatchesofpancakesusingidenticalbattersconsistingof
flour, baking powder, egg, buttermilk, melted butter, salt,
andsugarandvaryingamountsofbakingsoda,startingwith
noneandincreasingitby⅛-teaspoonincrementsuptoafull
½ teaspoon per batch. Each pancake was cooked on a
preheated griddle for exactly 1½ minutes per side. The
results very clearly demonstrate the browning effect of
bakingsoda.