Kitchen Chemistry

We were making falafels the other day and ran out of baking powder, which helps to make the falafels a bit fluffier. Now normally we buy Rumford’s because they don’t add aluminum, which most of the others contain. It’s a little harder to find, but not a big deal. Of course, almost all of the smaller and more local stores carry the aluminum brand.

I was reading up online about falafels when I learned that you can actually make your own baking powder, which intrigued us. All you do is combine an acid and base, and you’re all set. Think of when you add vinegar (acid) to baking soda (base) to make a volcano, it’s the same principle. Can you see the where we have a homeschool chemistry lesson here?

We simply combined baking soda with cream of tartar, which is really tartaric acid, and voila, your own homemade baking soda. One of the websites claimed it tasted a lot better, which I find hard to fathom, but it is nice to make it yourself, if for the simple fact that you’re making it yourself. Kind of cool.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Nabeelah for the pic.