Baking soda is used for much more than just a leavening agent. It can be used to get rid of odors, remove the acidic taste of tomatoes, and also used as a way to put out fires and keep refrigerators smelling fresh. You should always have baking soda on hand because you never know when you will need it. You should not confuse baking soda with baking powder, however. They are not the same and you may see different results when substituting one for the other. This is a common mistake that people make when they are baking.

You may find that you will use baking soda more often during certain times of the year than others. If you enjoy Christmas baking, you will need to use baking soda in cookies, pie crusts, bread, and other foods. Reading the instructions carefully and adding the right amount of ingredients like baking soda, flour, and milk will make a difference in the overall taste. When too much baking soda is added, many times bread will not rise as it should and cookies will taste overcooked and slightly bitter. If children will be assisting you in the kitchen, you should monitor what they are adding into the mix and teach them how to measure ingredients correctly. If a mistake is made, you should start over in order to achieve food that is good enough to eat.

Baking soda can be stored unopened in your kitchen for up to a year. After that, you should throw it away and buy more. You should not use the baking soda you use to keep refrigerator food odors at bay for cooking purposes. Instead, buy two packages and designate one for baking and another for odor protection. You should try to use fresh baking soda in your baking when you can. This will give you the best taste possible from all kinds of dessert foods.

When baking bread, you may have to use baking soda depending on which types of bread you will be making. Flatbreads, for example, do not need baking soda because they are not meant to rise. Most bread that people make does rise, so adding baking soda will be necessary. In addition to yeast, the baking soda in the dough will react to the air surrounding it. After kneading your dough, you will have to let it sit and rise before you can bake it.

There are many foods that require baking soda in their recipes. When you are baking from home, make sure you take your list of ingredients to the store so that you won't forget any of them. If you forget to buy the baking soda, your baking recipe may not turn out the way you expect it to. Since baking soda is an essential ingredient in most baking recipes, you should always have some on hand so it will be there when you need it. You can usually find it on sale especially during the holidays when people need it the most.