Posted by Karen Upright on March 21, 1998 at 22:58:11:
In Reply to: baking soda vs. baking powder posted by amy on March 20, 1998 at 14:43:03:
: What is the difference between baking powder and baking soda.
The answer Hans gave is correct. Baking soda requires an acid to react and create leavening, which is why you find it in recipes which contain lemon juice, buttermilk and molasses, among other things. So you can't substitute one for the other. I regularly use a recipe which originally called for buttermilk and used baking soda. In re-writing the recipe, I converted to milk, kept the baking soda and had to add lemon juice to get enough acid. I probably could have switched it to milk with baking powder, but I liked the addition of the lemon.
I'll stick up for my colleague Gerard, though. Some of the best cooks and bakers I've worked with learned what they needed to. Most commercial bake shops don't use baking soda because its reaction is less predictable than baking powder.
Karen