Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid. The base and acid are prevented from reacting prematurely by the inclusion of a buffer such as cornstarch. Baking powder is used to increase the volume and lighten the texture of baked goods. It works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid–base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture. The first single-acting baking powder was developed by food manufacturer Alfred Bird in England in 1843. The first double-acting baking powder, which releases some carbon dioxide when dampened and later releases more of the gas when heated by baking, was developed by Eben Norton Horsford in the U.S. in the 1860s.
U.S. consumer-packaged baking powder. This particular type of baking powder contains monocalcium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate, and cornstarch.
Advertisement for DeLand & Co's Chemical Baking Powder. Earliest possible date: 1877; latest possible date: 1893
Prof. Horsford's Phosphatic Baking Powder, ca. 1900
German advertisement for Dr. Oetker's baking powder in 1903.
In chemistry, an acid–base reaction is a chemical reaction that occurs between an acid and a base. It can be used to determine pH via titration. Several theoretical frameworks provide alternative conceptions of the reaction mechanisms and their application in solving related problems; these are called the acid–base theories, for example, Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory.
Image: Johannes Brønsted
Image: Thomas Martin Lowry 2
Svante Arrhenius