Baking Soda Bonanza, 2nd Edition

Chapter One

Baking Soda Rises

Baking soda in America began, naturally enough, with baking. Its foothold in American homes was based on its use as a leavening agent.

The Pearlash Evolution

The discovery of baking soda began with potash, a crude potassium carbonate extracted from wood ashes. American colonists learned how to purify potash into the pearlash (a more concentrated potassium carbonate) that became an important ingredient to their booming soap-and glass-making businesses. By the mid-eighteenth century, production of potash and pearlash had grown from a cottage industry to a major commercial enterprise. The colonies, with trees to burn, began exporting huge amounts of these carbonates to England's glass and soap factories.

It was during the 1760s that the use of pearlash in baking became popular. Bakers had been using tedious and difficult hand kneading as well as long-rising sourdough starters to leaven bread. Pearlash's high potassium carbonate content made it quite alkaline, so it was initially added as a na ... read full excerpt from: Baking Soda Bonanza, 2nd Edition ebook