Does Baking Soda Go Bad?

Baking soda is also known as sodium bicarbonate. It usually comes in powdered form. You can find it in almost every house. Baking soda is used for various purposes. It also has bleaching properties. Due to this, it is used in cosmetic products and dosage forms.

Moreover, it is used in cooking mostly for baking. It gives your baking products a good rise. Although baking soda comes with extended shelf life still, it can turn nasty as baking soda needs an acidic medium to perform its action.

Do you remember high school chemistry?  Baking soda is fundamental, readily reacts with liquids with low pH, so you need to keep your baking soda away from liquids like lemon juice and vinegar. Getting in contact with such fluids leads to baking soda bubbling action that causes baking soda to turn nasty.

How to store baking soda?

Baking soda in markets usually come in a cardboard box. After opening a cardboard box containing baking soda, you cannot reseal it. Keeping it in the cardboard after opening affects the shelf life of baking soda.

Although baking soda has a long shelf life, you need to store it properly, just like how you store your spices in the kitchen. Using a proper method for storing baking soda plays an essential role in expanding its life. Otherwise, baking soda won’t be able to perform its activity.

Place baking soda in a plastic container

After using baking soda, you need to remove it from its open box and bake soda into a dry plastic container. Ensure that your container is dry in which you are keeping baking soda as moisture can cause its spoilage. It’s good to label the container with a due date.

Keep baking soda at room temperature.

As we know, baking soda is most commonly used in baking products because it gives a fluffy and soft texture to your baked items. The principle of its working is that when we mix baking soda with batter, carbon dioxide gas gives a slight rise to baking products. Always store baking soda at room temperature because storing it at low temperature will make the baking soda cold.

Adding the same cold baking soda in the batter won’t produce the same action as temperature oscillation hinder its effectiveness. So storing baking soda in the refrigerator is not good as it decreases its efficacy. The best way to store it is to place baking in your pantry at room temperature.

Can you freeze baking soda?

Freezing baking soda is not suggested. Just like other pantry spices freezing baking soda is not recommended. Have you ever frozen your spices? No, because they already come with a long shelf life, and by storing them properly, they can last for one to two years.

The same is the case with baking soda, as keeping it in the freezer shortens its life. It is advised to keep baking soda at room temperature and in a dry place. Placing baking soda in the freezer leads to moisture inside baking soda, which results in turning baking soda bad. It’s better to place baking soda at standard temperature and avoid keeping it in the freezer.

How long does baking soda last?

Baking soda generally lasts for two years. If you haven’t opened its card box, it will stay good somewhere around two to three years as they don’t come with an expiration date. After utilizing baking soda to make it last longer, you need to provide proper storage conditions that can help stretch its life. Otherwise, after opening, baking soda remains high quality for about six months if preserved rightly.

So, it would help if you stored baking soda at 25⁰ C, which is room temperature. It’s best to store it at room temperature and away from moisture as they absorb moisture. If the nature of moisture is acidic, baking soda reacts with it becomes functionally inactive.

Baking soda needs to be interacted with acid to perform its activity as when combining it with acid, and it forms carbon dioxide gas that serves as a riser. It’s mandatory to keep it away from moisture. In this way, you can make it last for a more extended period.

How to tell if baking soda is terrible?

Baking soda is a very commonly used raising agent in cooking a lot of recipes. So, it’s necessary to know whether it’s wrong or not because if the baking soda is not acceptable and effective, it will not give a suitable volume to your baking product. To check either it’s wrong or not, you need to go through the following steps.

• Take half a cup of boiling water.
• Add one teaspoon of synthetic vinegar or lemon juice.
• After adding vinegar or lemon juice then put one teaspoon of baking soda in it.
• If bubbles are produced immediately, it indicates that your baking soda is good to go. In this, you can quickly tell if your baking soda is terrible or not.

Sources

• The spruce eat
• GYGI
• EAT BY DATE