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Baking Soda and Baking Powder

November 8, 2006, 8:00 am

Posted by wanda in Low Sodium Tips
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Baking Soda & Baking Powder

Baking soda is a "salt" – the chemical name is sodium bicarbonate. As such, it has a lot of sodium, about 1200 mg of sodium in a teasthingy of baking soda.

When baking soda is mixed with an acid (like buttermilk or yogurt) the combination forms carbon dioxide gas, which is what makes batters and dough rise. The reaction takes place immediately so the baking soda should be added to the dry ingredients first and then the liquid ingredients mixed in.

Baking powder is made up of baking soda and cream of tartar. Because baking soda needs an acid to create the carbon dioxide that helps baked goods rise, the addition of cream of tartar makes baking powder an easy to use leavening agent. Single acting baking powder means that the baking powder reacts immediately when liquid is added. Currently, single acting baking powder is not readily available in the U.S. Double acting baking powder releases carbon dioxide in two stages. The first stage occurs after wet ingredients are added and has a second release when the when the mixture is heated.

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Posted by klee
on March 28, 2007, 3:06 pm

Low Sodium only.... Fear Not - Featherweight baking powder is here to save the day. This can be found in health food stores. Found my jar at a HFS in Frisco, Texas about 2 years ago. It's used just as you would use "real" baking powder I'll voice a big YEAH for this product.

Regarding Baking Soda.... I believe the Featherweight company also offered the baking soda in addition to the powder. It was not as easy to find, but it's out there

Good luck to you and your efforts to cut back the sodium intake. This and flying are two of life's biggest challenges! From my point of view, Flying is found to be much easier.

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Posted by wanda
on March 28, 2007, 3:19 pm

Thanks for the post, klee. I will have to try and find it at Whole Foods on my next trip there.

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Posted by klee
on March 29, 2007, 9:13 am

Some low sodium foods we eat day-to-day These have been on the grocery shelves...hopefully they are still found there. These are remembered just off the top of my head. I'll check my files for more.

Herb Ox boullion - both cubes and granules

Heinz Ketchup

Kikkoman soy sauce "less sodium"

Mayonnaise - sorry, I cannot remember the label, but it was found in the same health food store
with the baking powder

Walmart brand butter is found unsalted I know that a national brand is also found - just don't recall the mfg......Land O Lakes?

Swanson's canned broth at one time had "less sodium" available in both chicken and in beef

It's those little things such as condiments which we forget to include when counting the daily mg of sodium. They can add up if we fail to watch them closely.

If you wish, you are more than welcome to email me. The addy is shown in my profile here. Now to attempt this verification once again. Ugh! Not only do they attach a data miner to our system when we open our cookies and post, they make posting almost impossible. Kathy

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Posted by wanda
on March 29, 2007, 12:32 pm

I had a nice long post and lost it thru verification!!!!! why do they do that?
thanks again for the information, I have found a lot of no sodium products, its just getting used to the no salt taste that is so hard. I use lemon juice a lot in my beans and rice and that helps, plus a lot of no salt spices.
Are you eating low sodium?

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Posted by klee
on March 29, 2007, 7:09 pm

My story is a bit dramatic. Two years ago I was diagnosed with CHF due to a heart murmer/mitral stenosis. At that time I had 40 pounds of fluid and the doc put me on diauretic and a daily diet of only 900 mg sodium Health improved over the past two years - the fluid is gone, and the low sodium diet is still in use - but I try to keep it below 1000-1200 daily. I no longer use salt in coooking or at the table. The only salt eaten is what happens to be in the prepackaged foods (and I attempt to eat only low salt - which can be a bit of a challenge)

I've done my yearly check of the heart sites and recipes so feel free to use any you may find and want to keep. What a chore :^) Each year I attempt to check all the sites I keep for reference. This year I'm way behind in that! This is my addy. Once there page down about about 3/4 of the page. You will find the sites listed under the heading Healthy Heart Recipes
http://www.mycookingblog.com/post/1-klee/10181/Links-UZ

Kathy who feels lucky playing russian roulete/verification code tonight. We shall see....

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Posted by wanda
on March 29, 2007, 12:34 pm

Posted by wanda
on March 29, 2007, 7:32 pm

Sorry to hear about your health problem, but glad you are doing good now. I also check all the sites for low salt. I try some recipes but I usually just keep it simple. I hope there will be more low sodium foods in the future and it looks like more big companies are starting to change with lower sodium. Its so hard to find anything that isn't full of salt and there are no choices in restaruants. I will look at your links and if I have any that you don't I will let you know. Thanks again (maybe they don't want us to post and that's why they make it so hard)

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Posted by klee
on March 30, 2007, 8:25 am

Good Moning Believe I'm ready for this round in the fight to overcome the monster code. However, there is one character which blows me away. I probably should know what it is, but memory fails me. Looking like a sketch of a baseball field, including bases on the sides, I yet to find it's location on my keyboard. I'll stick to numbers and letters only. Even they can play tricks.

I fully agree with you - it's not the same taste if there is no additional salt allowed. Several foods became so bland and blah that I just quit eating them. For other foods, I found a fairly tasty alternative. For instance (now don't laugh :^) ) French Fries with no salt calls for honey! I started using honey on them and found it to be very tasty. And, honey on fried chicken as well. For some foods I just had to "say Uncle" and use the NO salt substitute, something I had promised never to do. If having to shake with a fake salt was the only way to have that flavor I felt like it was a placebo and only a crutch for my habit. I soon changed my tune and tho I use it sparingly, it does make a tremendous change for the better. Fresh lemon juice helps a lot - especially on the vegies. Fresh lime and even orange juice helps as well. There is something in the way that citrus can calm our cravings. Until a few companies began to can vegies with no additional salt, I'd purchase only fresh and at times frozen. Trouble is, down here in Texas & the small town in which we live, low sodium canned goods are at times not to be found. It's a catch as catch can as to when the stores will have them in stock. When found, I tend to by a dozen or so cans to put aside when needed. DH says I've enough tomatoes in various forms to open my own Italian restaurant.
And there are times when no alternative food will do. When I become hungry for Tex-Mex foods, I'll indulge....not a great quantity, but enough to satisfy my cravings. for a few months or so. With the compromises, reducing salt is not nearly as shocking to the system as cutting the sugar completely. Now THAT would be my downfall. Not that I eat a lot of sugar (I'd rather have a salty snack over a sweet one) But - I do like desserts and cookies. Life is short - eat Dessert First!!

Do you watch the Food Network much? Who is one of your favorites? I've two, Alton Brown and Paula Deen. Paula cooks like my Grandmother and great aunts did -- that good old country cooking when they throw healthy to the winds and enjoy every dish to the fullest. When younger, there wasn't even a slight thought that we would be paying for eating well once we reach a ripe old age :^)

Have a great weekend and 'good eats'

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Posted by wanda
on March 30, 2007, 10:21 am

Hi, I had to smile when you talked about having so many cans of tomatoes, my husband always rolls his eyes when I am at the store stocking up on tomato sauce and tomatoes. My store only stocks 2 kinds and the sauce is in the small cans so I really double up on those. But I eat whole wheat pasta a lot and go thru tomatoes & sauce fast. Since I am trying to lose weight I also have to give up sugar and yes, its terrible. I too go off once in a while and eat something sweet, but my problem is once I start I can't stop. Sweets are my downfall. But thats why I started cutting out salt to help me control my hunger and lose weight.
I do watch the food network, I like Paula too but watching her cook makes me hungry and it brings back memories for me too when we ate anything we wanted and nobody worried about each bite we put in our mouths, life was simple then and meals were a fun time . I also like to watch the challanges when they are doing the cake decorating, that always fascinated me. Thanks for all your info and hope you have a happy weekend.

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