Chemical reaction in everyday life

Baking powder in everyday life - you should know that

• In previous centuries, besides yeast and sourdough, deer horn salt, potash or baking soda were mainly used as leavening agents for dough. However, the last-mentioned products in particular had the disadvantage that the (mostly flat) baked goods had a slightly bitter, unpleasant taste due to the development of soda (Na₂CO₃) received while baking.
• At the end of the 19th Century August Oetker, by further developing existing recipes of baking powder for everyday use (not invented, as is often claimed!).
• This made it easy for hobby bakers, but also in an industrial setting, to reliably rise sponge doughs and biscuits in particular.

Baking powder - the chemical reaction clearly explained

• Baking powder basically consists of the components sodium hydrogen carbonate (chemically NaHCO
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  ₃, colloquially also called soda), an acidifier (for example tartar or a phosphoric acid), as well as a separating agent (starch or wheat flour).
• The release agent ensures that the two components responsible for the chemical reaction (base and acid) do not react prematurely with one another.


Potassium hydrogen carbonate - the chemical compound studied in more detail

Hydrogen carbonates, also known as "acid carbonates", are the salts of ...

• Baking soda actually "works" in two steps: An initial reaction (called propulsion) takes place during the Dough preparation takes place, a second reaction (called secondary or main shoot) takes place at higher temperatures in the Oven instead.
• Baking soda and acid neutralize each other if water (or other liquid) is added to the baking powder when preparing the dough. This is also the reason why baking soda has to be stored dry.
• During this first reaction, the desired "carbon dioxide" is created, which in the form of gas bubbles drives the dough upwards. And the acid prevents the unwanted sodium from developing.
• The gas formation is intensified by heating.
• In the case of sodium dihydrogen diphosphate as an acid, the chemical reaction equation can be given as follows: Na₂H₂P.₂O₇ + 2 NaHCO₃ → (H₂O; Heat) 2 CO₂ + 2 Na₂HPO₄ + H₂O
• Instead of the bad-tasting soda, this reaction produces a salt, namely sodium dihydrogen phosphate.
• To fully convert 5 g of soda, 6.6 g of diphosphate are required, a ratio that Oetker has probably optimized for use in everyday baking, among other things.