Bicarbonate Of Soda

Soda is obtained from "cryolite," a native deposit found in the earth, from certain marine plants, and from common salt. At the present time the best soda is obtained from "cryolite" brought from Greenland, about 15,000 tons being annually worked up. Soda is cheap, and this ingredient is rarely, probably never, adulterated. Bicarbonate of soda, the form used for leavening purposes, is produced by charging common soda with carbonic acid gas.

Cream-Of-Tartar

The acid used to set free the carbon dioxide in bicarbonate of soda is a deposit from grape juice found in wine casks. The name "argol"is given to this grape acid, which, when purified, becomes cream-of-tartar. This acid exists naturally in the grape, but, being insoluble in alcohol, it is gradually deposited on the sides of the casks as the sugar of the juice is converted into alcohol by fermentation. The best argol is obtained from the wine-producing countries of southern Europe, that from California, for some unknown condition of soil, climate or culture, being of an inferior grade. The color of argol depends upon the color of the grapes from which the juice is expressed. It varies from grayish white to reddish purple. Argol is first ground, and then purified. This latter process is an expensive one. Nothing is desirable but the pure grape acid; lime, coloring, and all other impurities found in the argol need be removed; and the purity, hence expense, depends entirely upon the care of the refiners. Below is found the proper

Formula For A Baking-Powder

1 pound, 2 ounces of cream-of-tartar. 1/2 pound of bicarbonate of soda. 1/4 to 1/2 pound of cornstarch or fine flour.

At first sight one would say, "Why not buy the ingredients of a reliable chemist and mix one's own baking-powder?" This may be done if the product is to be used very soon; still, the ingredients may not have been recently prepared and so be lacking in strength; then, too, the chemist has appliances for drying the ingredients before they are mixed, which does much to preserve their strength. Starch and cream-of-tartar can be most effectually dried out, but soda can be heated only slightly without the loss of gas.

In use, baking-powder should always be sifted with the dry ingredients, to prevent, as far as possible, the escape of the gas, until the mixture is placed in the oven. In using soda and cream-of-tartar, pulverize and sift the soda before measuring, and then sift both ingredients at least twice with the flour, being careful to separate them with flour before sifting.

Proportions Of Artificial Leavening Agents

1 teaspoonful of soda to 1 pint of thick sour milk.

1 teaspoonful of soda to 1 cup of molasses, for batters.

1/2 teaspoonful of soda to one cup of molasses, for doughs.

1/4 teaspoonful of soda to 2 tablespoonfuls of lemon juice in thick batters for each two cups of flour.

1 teaspoonful of soda to three and a half teaspoonfuls of cream-of-tartar to one quart of flour.

2 teaspoonfuls of baking-powder to a cup of flour, in mixtures without eggs.

Suggestions

As the acid in lemon juice sets free carbon dioxide, in large measure, upon contact with the soda, mixtures in which these agents are employed will not be very light, and their use is restricted to cakes in which a close texture is desirable. Add the lemon juice to the eggs and sugar and sift the soda into the flour.

Sour milk, buttermilk or cream with soda are most successfully used in mixtures in which cornmeal predominates. Such preparations are incomparably moister, more tender and delicate, when the leavening gas is thus generated, than when cream-of-tartar, in any form, is used as the generating acid. In wheat-flour mixtures, when pure cream-of-tartar and soda are used, either in bulk or in the form of baking-powder, if the correct proportions be taken and the proper temperature of the oven be secured, the cooked products will be neither too dry nor too porous. If such be the case, you have reason to suspect the presence of some other ingredient, or, in other words, an adulteration of the lightening agent.

Iron utensils are preferable for baking pop-overs, muffins and griddle cakes. These should be hot by the time the mixture is ready. To oil a griddle, press a steel fork into a slice of salt pork or piece of beef fat and with it rub over the surface of the griddle. The griddle is of the right temperature when the underside of the cake browns before the top shows signs of cooking other than the formation of gas bubbles.