Gasifying powder
The raising agent, baking powder, raising powder or impeller, also incorrectly known as Chemical yeast, is a leavening agent that allows a dough to fluffiness due to a chemical reaction that releases carbon dioxide, in a relatively similar way to yeasts in alcoholic fermentation processes. It is frequently used in confectionery, for example for biscuits. It differs from baker's yeast in that its effect is much faster and it is not necessary to wait for the masses to rise.
Terminology
These products are often sold under the name "chemical yeast", an expression also frequently used in French (levure chimique) but never in English which uses the term "baking powder" (baking powder). This first denomination is incorrect since the term "yeast" is reserved for unicellular fungi that rise, so that "if it is yeast, it cannot be chemical and if it is chemical, it is not yeast". In some countries it is known as Royal as a consequence of the popularization of the English brand "Royal baking powder" ("Real baking powder") that belongs to the multinational Mondelēz since 2017.
History
Already in the XVIII century, new ways of leavening bread began to be found; in this way the cook Amelia Simmons in the year 1796 in her book called & # 34; American cookery & # 34; already describes recipes that use potassium carbonate (potash) which, being alkaline and reacting with the acid components of the dough, produces carbon dioxide, a phenomenon similar to that observed with yeasts, acting as a precursor of gasifier that would later arrive between the period between 1830 and 1850.
The operation with this type of gasifying powder caused many of its promoters to end up promoting a company. One of the first inventors was the English chemist Alfred Bird who created a company called Bird and Sons Ltd., in the same way the German pharmacologist August Oetker began to sell these mixtures (in German: "Backpulver") to German housewives in 1891, going so far as to patent the formula in 1903. Eben Norton Horsford, a student of Justus von Liebig developed a special formula which he named after the Earl of Rumford: 'Horsford's Yeast Powder'. He dedicated himself to investigating the shape of the containers and was able to verify that the metal cans were the most suitable for keeping the mixture out of ambient humidity. In 1869 it can be said that gasifier was already being sold as we know it today. in 1889 the chemists William M. Wright (1851-1931) and George Campbell Rew (1869-1924) developed the "double action" that begin their action in the dough and repeat in the oven, marketed their patent under the name: "Calumet Baking Powder".
Uses
As a general rule, an amount of one teaspoon (5 ml) is used to grow a volume of flour of one cup (200-250ml), if the amount is too much, it causes bubbles to form and come out the surface, in some cases that effect is desirable. If the ingredients used in the dough are already acidic, it is convenient to reduce the quantity a little so as not to add too many acidic elements. In these cases, some cookbooks mention that if the acidic elements are very abundant, think about using sodium bicarbonate.