The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 166

development, it also ensures that your pancakes remain
tender.Eggshelpsetthepancakesastheycook,aswellas
providingsomeextralift.Buttermilkisobviouslypartofthe
equation, but I like my pancakes extra-tangy, and straightup buttermilk just doesn’t cut it for me. Increasing the
quantity doesn’t work—that just ends up throwing the
liquid-to-solid ratio out of whack. Instead, I replace part of
the buttermilk with a good amount of sour cream. It’s both
less moist than buttermilk and more sour, which allows me
toaddaciditywithoutwateringdownthebatter.Ifyoudon’t
have sour cream on hand, don’t worry—the pancakes will
stilltastejustfinewithstraight-upbuttermilk.

EXPERIMENT:
Double-ActingBakingPowder
Double-actingbakingpowder(thetypesoldinany
supermarket)isdesignedtoproducebubblesintwo
distinctphases:whenitgetswetandthenwhenit
getsheated.Youcanseethisforyourself.
Materials
•1teaspoonbakingpowder
•1tablespoonwater
Procedure
1.Combinethebakingpowderandwaterinasmall
bowl. You’ll notice that the baking powder


immediately starts bubbling and fizzing (if it
doesn’t,throwoutyourbakingpowderandbuya
new can). This is the first reaction. After 30
secondsorso,allactionwillcease,andyou’llend
upwithastillpoolofchalky-lookingliquid.

2.Nowmicrowavethatliquidforabout15seconds
tobringitupto180°F.Asecond,vigorousbatch
ofbubblingshouldoccur.Youmayalsonoticethe
liquidthickenslightly.
ResultsandAnalysis
When the baking powder first gets wet, a reaction
occurs between the sodium bicarbonate and one of
the powdered acids, typically potassium bitartrate
(aka cream of tartar), producing the first batch of
bubbles.The second phase of the double act occurs
onlyathighertemperatures(around170°to180°F),
when a second powdered acid (typically sodium
aluminum sulfate) reacts with the remaining sodium
bicarbonate, producing another round of bubbles.
The thickening action is a side effect of the starch
used to keep the baking powder dry—it absorbs
water and gelatinizes, thickening your liquid as it
heats. Now isn’t thatway cooler than that baking
sodavolcanoyoubuiltforyourfourth-gradescience
fair?

MIXINGBATTER