Ellyn
Veteran
From what I remember of science class, pH stands for potential Hydrogen, a chemical process that acts on a spectrum between base (or alkaline) and acids. In cooking, some chemical substances that are acidic are vinegar and citrus juices. They really put the zing in things. I can't quite think of anything on the other side of the pH spectrum that's good to eat, just batteries and soaps. Those would have a high potential Hydrogen, meaning that the chemical or element hydrogen can bond with the molecules of the substance more.
One food where this matters often and a lot, though, is a simple chemical way to make a cake or something fluffy and light. We get fine-ground powders of a base substance and an acidic substance, add water, and then cackle like a maniac scientist because IT LIIIIVES!
Or at least, the texture brings out the best of the flavor. It's leavened by lots of bubbles
There are three common powders used to make bubbles in dough and fluffy it up: baking soda, baking powder, and cream of tartar.
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a base. It can be used for removing odors, and as a terrible-tasting substitute or basic ingredient for toothpaste, because it's essentially a soap or surfactant. Here's a tip: If you eat hard-boiled eggs, boiling them in water with a some baking soda will make it easier to separate from the shell.
Cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate, or potassium hydrodrogen tartrate...when I type those words I feel like I'm describing a new diet fad combination with a newfangled romantic/sexual orientation...) is a powdered acid. I don't know what else it's used for, and I don't even use it for cooking as just itself. Apparently it's a by-product of winemaking, and "cream of tartar" sounds like it should taste like some sweet and decadent pastry from Russia or something but it doesn't taste like that, no it does not.
Baking powder is essentially both a base and an acid that, because it's in powder form, doesn't become reactive and bubbly and neutralize itself until after water is added. Baking soda mixed with twice its amount of cream of tartar, makes baking powder. Some corn starch will also help to keep the reaction not there before you need it.
(So that's probably why most recipes that use baking powder also say to add baking soda, to make sure that the pH balance is closer to equal instead of acidic, and therefore that it all becomes bubbles, instead of bubbles and some acid.)
If you don't have baking soda, but you do have baking powder, then I have read that you can use thrice the amount of baking powder to substitute baking soda, but leave off the salt and even then expect it to taste a mite manky.
I don't know if the baking powder substitute would work for the egg trick.
One food where this matters often and a lot, though, is a simple chemical way to make a cake or something fluffy and light. We get fine-ground powders of a base substance and an acidic substance, add water, and then cackle like a maniac scientist because IT LIIIIVES!
Or at least, the texture brings out the best of the flavor. It's leavened by lots of bubbles
There are three common powders used to make bubbles in dough and fluffy it up: baking soda, baking powder, and cream of tartar.
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a base. It can be used for removing odors, and as a terrible-tasting substitute or basic ingredient for toothpaste, because it's essentially a soap or surfactant. Here's a tip: If you eat hard-boiled eggs, boiling them in water with a some baking soda will make it easier to separate from the shell.
Cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate, or potassium hydrodrogen tartrate...when I type those words I feel like I'm describing a new diet fad combination with a newfangled romantic/sexual orientation...) is a powdered acid. I don't know what else it's used for, and I don't even use it for cooking as just itself. Apparently it's a by-product of winemaking, and "cream of tartar" sounds like it should taste like some sweet and decadent pastry from Russia or something but it doesn't taste like that, no it does not.
Baking powder is essentially both a base and an acid that, because it's in powder form, doesn't become reactive and bubbly and neutralize itself until after water is added. Baking soda mixed with twice its amount of cream of tartar, makes baking powder. Some corn starch will also help to keep the reaction not there before you need it.
(So that's probably why most recipes that use baking powder also say to add baking soda, to make sure that the pH balance is closer to equal instead of acidic, and therefore that it all becomes bubbles, instead of bubbles and some acid.)
If you don't have baking soda, but you do have baking powder, then I have read that you can use thrice the amount of baking powder to substitute baking soda, but leave off the salt and even then expect it to taste a mite manky.
I don't know if the baking powder substitute would work for the egg trick.