SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT
BAKING SODA AS BAKING POWDER?
JOLENE JASMIN | MCNEES | SYRACUSE JR HIGH
PROBLEM
• Can Baking Soda Substitute Baking Powder in a
Recipe?
RESEARCH
• Muffins are a quick bread, which means bakes without yeast because of baking powder.
• Baking powder is a dry mixture that contains corn starch as a filler, sodium bicarbonate as a base ,
sodium aluminum sulfate as a acid, and monocalcium phosphate as another acid.
• When baking powder dissolves in liquid ingredients the base and the acids react to each other. This
creates carbon dioxide, which makes the recipe (muffins) rise and create bubbles when baking in the
oven.
• Baking soda is just a base and has no acidic component which means if added to a recipe it will have
nothing to react with.
• Cream of tartar is an acid which will react with baking soda to be like baking powder.
• http://chemistry.about.com/cs/foodchemistry/f/blbaking.htm
HYPOTHESIS
• If I substitute baking soda and cream of tartar for baking powder
then the muffins will turn out the same because baking soda and
cream of tartar will act together like baking powder.
PROCEDURE: MATERIALS
•
Muffin Ingredients
•
1 cup Flour
•
Cinnamon
•
1 large Egg
•
½ cup Sugar
•
½ cup Butter
•
1 tsp Baking Powder
•
¾ tsp and 1 tsp Baking Soda
•
2 tsp Cream of Tartar
•
¾ tsp Vanilla Extract
•
Blueberries
•
½ cup Milk
•
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Oven
Oven Mitts
Cooling Rack
Timer
Camera
Muffin Pans
Paper Muffin Cups
Mixing Bowl
Measuring Cups and Spoons
VARIABLES
• Control: The regular batch of muffins
• Independent Variable: How much baking soda and cream
of tartar there is
• Dependent Variable: The height of texture of the muffin
• Constants: Other Ingredients, Oven Temperature, Time it
is cooked for
PROCEDURE: STEPS
1.
First create your regular batch of muffins and put them in the oven.
2.
Put the batter in a paper-lined muffin tin and make sure the batter is all equal.
3.
Make sure to wear oven mitts when putting the muffins in and out of the oven.
4.
Bake the muffins for 30 minutes exact at 375 degrees and then take them out of the oven.
5.
Place the muffins on a cooling rack and let them cool.
6.
After there done cooling measure the height, the textures, and the taste.
7.
Record data.
8.
Repeats steps 1-7 but with a different batch with cream of tartar and baking soda.
9.
Compare the different batches.
10. Record Data.
11. Graph and Conclude
DATA/OBSERVATIONS
Batch 1 – Regular
Muffin Recipe
Average Height
Texture
Appearance
2 1/32 inches
Soft, Moist
And Crunchy
Light Golden Brown
Batch 2 – 0 tsp of
Cream of Tartar and
¾ tsp of Baking
Soda
2 inches
Batch 3 – 2 tsp of
Cream of Tartar and
1 tsp of Baking
Soda
1 35/48 inches
Really Crunchy, Soft Golden Brown/
but more dense Dark Golden Brown
than batch 1.
Very Crunchy,
Spongey Soft, Not
as moist as batch 1
and 2.
Very Dark Brown,
Insides were
yellower than both
batches.
DATA/OBSERVATIONS
Batch 1- Regular Muffin Recipe
Batch 3- 2 tsp Cream of Tartar
and 1 tsp of Baking Soda
Batch 2 – 0 tsp of Cream of Tartar and
¾ tsp of Baking Soda
CONCLUSION
• My hypothesis was not supported because the batch that contained baking
soda and cream of tartar was not close in texture, height, or appearance to
the regular batch of muffins.
• Baking Soda can not substitute as baking powder in a baking recipe. I think
that if you find the right measurements for the amount of baking soda and
cream of tartar then it’s a possibility that baking soda can substitute baking
powder.