Submitted by BazF on November 1, 2009 - 9:33am
Is it the Baking soda that causes a slight 'fishy' smell in Soda Bread and Pancakes? I don't like it - is there a way of avoiding it or am I simply using too much soda? Thanks to all for continued inspiration. Barry
|
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Sorry, can't answer your
Sorry, can't answer your question - but thanks! I warmed up some frozen homemade pancakes in the toaster, and boy, did they give off a strange smell. I thought they had somehow gone bad - but they tasted fine....must be the same problem as you're talking about.
Could be-baking soda has an awful taste when there is too much
I had a cake that lumps of baking soda in it. YUK! Salty,alkaline-chemical-fishyterrible taste. Try using less and see if it helps or make sure it is well mixed in.
Fishy Baking Soda
For me the taste and smell is like a mouth full of soap. I imagine that if your dough or batter is not sufficiently acidic, not all of the baking soda would be neutralized. You would then get this effect. Considering that souring agents (yoghourt, buttermilk, levain, etc.) in a batter or dough might differ from batch to batch, perhaps one needs to test the final batter or dough. I don't ordinarily have a problem with tried and true recipes, but it does happen occasionally, if I subsitute ingredients or simply throw a batter together.
How much soda are you using?
A teaspoon is enough for a cake made with plain rather than self-raising flour. Or a teaspoon and a quarter for a loaf of soda bread.
Do you use measuring spoons?
"fishy chemical leavener"
Yuck, I know exactly what you are talking about. While I don't know what causes it, I've experienced the same thing. I once made a giant batch of zucchini bread and this taste was in the bread. I think it happened because the batch was so large and the baking powder/ baking soda did not get evenly distributed throughout the dough. I made 4 loaves and the taste was more pronounced on the loaves that I froze (and ate later). Also, the taste seemed to be in "pockets" as it wasn't in every bite of the bread. Could be due to undermixing?
I've thought about using a sourdough starter or a little osmotolerant instant yeast instead of chemical leaveners for the next batch. Could be something to try.
Fishy Soda Bread
Thanks everyone - this obviously struck a note with people! In fact it was a batch of sourdough pancakes that prompted the post although I have noticed this problem with Irish Soda Bread in the past.
I have used Susan's recipe from Wild Yeast for pancakes lots of times and have not really been so aware of the fishy smell before. The recipe which always works brilliantly uses 1 tsp of baking powder and 0.5 tsp of baking soda to 511g of sourdough starter. The soda was well mixed in - could I have reduced the chemicals to say 0.5 tsp of baking powder and 0.25 tsp of soda?
Barry
I've experienced this too
It was in some 'Baking Powder' biscuits (scone dough). I was forced to make my own B-P, because we'd run out.
We did have a large bag of baking soda and some cream of tartar on the shelf, but the results were not pleasant.
I think I may have obeyed the instructions too closely...it said minimal mixing and handling would make the biscuits 'lighter'. I used the same amount of home-made B-P as commercial, but it was, obviously, not quite the same.