Hello from the Netherlands + baking powder issue
Hello, my name is Yvonne and I am from the Netherlands.
I'm not very experienced in baking, I'm more active in cookery.
But every so often one of these things happen:
-I've tried a bread product that is not available where I live and I wish to recreate it or
-store bought versions of a bread product (that is supposed to be tasty) don't taste right and I wish to make a tastier version.
so I get the baking itch and experiment until I get the desired result.
The reason I've signed up for this site is because I am faced with a problem and other websites/recipes give contradicting advice.
But more on that in a different post to come.
And what is up with baking powder in the netherlands. In the US they have 9+ brands, we only get 1 that is commonly available (dr Oetker "backin") and it's not even clear if it's single acting or double acting..
"Backin" does not have monocalcium phosphate (an ingredient present in most US baking powders as stated here http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/12997/baking-powder )
Instead it has sodium hydrogen carbonate (aka sodium bicarbonate/bicarbonate of soda/baking soda) and disodium pyrophosphate (aka sodium acid pyrophosphate/SAPP) oh.. and it has a little bit of starch in the mix which I presume is to prevent moisture from messing things up.
I see SAPP in the list on the linked page so that is also in US baking powder, the OP states it gives oven rise.
Op states that in the presence of moisture, baking soda reacts chemically with the acid and causes dough to rise.
So it has baking soda and one acid (a slow acting one) but I am still not sure if that means that "backin" is a single acting baking powder. Doesn't the baking soda give bench rise? If so, is that enough to call it double acting?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Di-sodium di-hydrogen pyrophosphate (Sodium acid pyrophosphate, SAPP) is acidic in nature. This acid reacts with sodium bicarbonate (sodium hydrogen carbonate) to release the carbon dioxide that makes the dough rise. Some rise will occur at room temperature but the rise is accelerated at higher temperatures, In fact, some rise can be achieved with baking soda alone. The "double acting" term comes from the two stage rising that occurs from the room temperature rise and the later baking rise.
In short, try your local baking powder, it will probably prove to be double acting.
Ford
The page I linked to (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/12997/baking-powder) states that "A baking powder is said to be single-acting if it contains only one acid." so that is not necessarily true then?
Di-sodium di-hydrogen pyrophosphate (Sodium acid pyrophosphate, SAPP) is the only acid in "Backin" baking powder.
It was my understanding that you are correct in your understanding, however the SAPP may act as two acids in that it has two hydrogens. In any case, that is what you have; try it! What do you have to lose?
Ford
Since "Backin" is the only baking powder easily available (have yet to come across a different one, even in import stores) as long as it gives the desired result it should be fine.
I didn't get the optimum result but that could be because of a whole bunch of different factors, but I just wanted to check if it could be because of the baking powder.
If it doesn't go right no matter what I do with the recipe and the bp I can always as a last resort doctor up my own baking powder with baking soda and other available powders like cream of tartar.
I forgot to say thank you, sorry. I couldn't find an edit button.
Here in the UK, Dr. Otker is a popular brand, but every supermarket has their own brands as well as some flour mills too... The terms single acting and double acting are not well known here either. In-fact the first place I read it was here on TFL and I've been baking cakes for 40+ years now... I sometimes make my own with plain old sodium bicarbonate and tartaric acid (aka. cream of tartar). the starches added to the commercial ones are to help keep it dry (and therefore stop it fizzing away!)
I'd just use it and not worry at all about it being single or double acting.
-Gordon
Thank you, that is very assuring.
The first time I read about single acting vs double acting was 6 years ago when I had a recipe for chinese steamed buns.
I failed that recipe miserably, I used the wrong raising agent and the buns both did not rise, got a very unsettling brown colour (even though white flour was used) and were revolting to taste. I used sodium bicarbonate without an acid to counteract the metallic tang, it was like biting into a chemical factory.
Among home bakers in the netherlands sodium bicarbonate is not very popular or very well known. Mostly everyone just uses baking powder or yeast. I couldn't find it in the normal shops but ended up finding it in an old style pharmacy (the type that keeps herbs in big brown glass jars).
Turns out I should have bought a different (but equally unknown and unpopular) raising agent, and I probably wouldn't have messed up had I carefully written down all the different names that stuff goes under. Can't remember what it was though, I wasn't saving recipes to my computer or printing them out back then.
Another alternative is to substitute 1/2 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate for 1 teaspoon of baking powder plus substitute buttermilk for the milk in the recipe.
Ford
Will any acid do? My favorite brand of crumpet uses both sodium bicarbonate, Di-sodium di-hydrogen pyrophosphate (aka Sodium acid pyrophosphate, SAPP) (both of these are what make "backin" baking powder) and add vinegar to the mix.
Make sure your baking powder is fresh. Old baking powder loses its potency over time.
I learned that the hard way. They only come in tiny packets of 5 sachets of 16 grams anyway so that lessens the chance to have old baking powder lying around.
But I still managed to have old baking powder in the back of a cupboard.
If I find some old stuff I just throw it out and buy some new whenever I need to bake with it.