It seems like there are a few here who are into the chemistry side of
what is in a starter, and it occurred to me to wonder...

Just what is happening when you add baking soda to a sourdough
batter? My pancake recipe calls for adding a bit of baking soda just
before cooking, and I get an instant froth that about fills the bowl.

What's reacting with what in there?

Just curious,
Stacey

Stacey wrote:

> Just what is happening when you add baking soda to a sourdough
> batter? My pancake recipe calls for adding a bit of baking soda just
> before cooking, and I get an instant froth that about fills the bowl.
>
> What's reacting with what in there?

How baking works:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_soda

In short, baking soda reacts with acid to form a gas. That gas rises
baked goods.

Sourdough has acid in it....

B/

On 17 Dec, 06:04, Stacey > wrote:
> It seems like there are a few here who are into the chemistry side of
> what is in a starter, and it occurred to me to wonder...
>
> Just what is happening when you add baking soda to a sourdough
> batter? My pancake recipe calls for adding a bit of baking soda just
> before cooking, and I get an instant froth that about fills the bowl.
>
> What's reacting with what in there?
>
> Just curious,
> Stacey

It's not that nobody is interested Stacey, it's just that, well what
else can you say? Brian just exhausted the topic. Not many of us are
here to talk about pancakes anyway. Biology? Now that is a different
story.

Jim