Baking soda is one of the most efficient and versatile kitchen ingredients that’s used widely all over the world. While most people or chefs use it as an agent in baking, it can also be utilized in your kitchen for super fantastic cooking uses and cleaning. Sounds good, right? Also, depending on what it is combined with, soda’s main structure can help break down the food to a great extent.
As baking soda creates a particular chemical reaction in food or any other thing, it’s a very common and normal ingredient in lots of recipes, especially for baking goods. Moreover, it also stands alone in some top-notch recipes. Whereas some other recipes usually need other ingredients as well to get the job perfectly done.
Taking a lot of baking soda can lead to severe issues in the body, according to the NCPC (National Capital Poison Center). The high concentration of sodium can cause seizures, dehydration, and kidney failure. When the pH becomes extremely high, the whole body tries to possess CO2 in order to restore acidity properly, which makes breathing tough.
Read this Kitchgears Guide about baking soda if you want to acknowledge more incredible things regarding it;
What Is Baking Soda, and How Is It Made?
Baking soda is basically an alkaline powder that is ubiquitous in highly modern kitchens. Also, its rise is mainly credited to one well-established and famous brand. Two brothers-in-law, John Dwight and Austin Church, 1846, teamed up to manufacture and ultimately distribute baking soda all over the world.
Furthermore, baking soda is the ordinary name of sodium bicarbonate, which is an ingredient that was discovered 4 million years ago when lakes of salt around the globe evaporated & formed deposits of trona. Trona is a rigid rock that is actually processed into the ash of soda (sodium carbonate), which is a natural material.
Some Top-Notch Uses for Baking Soda
Below are some top-notch uses of baking soda;
- As a natural cleaner
Water and baking soda mixture can be used as a non-abrasive, effective cleanser. You can wipe away all the food residues from the refrigerator. Plus, baking soda can also be sprinkled with hot water in order to make your tubes clean, pipes fresh and remove the hard stains and marks from floors. Yes, baking soda is the most incredible and high-end deodorizer. You can also sprinkle it on the carpet and then vacuum it when it sits.
- Care for bug bites
Have you experienced bug bites ever? If yes, you definitely know the annoying itchiness that comes with it. Right? Instead of reaching out for any kind of hydrocortisone cream with lots of chemicals, you can simply apply baking soda paste for better relief. Mic a little water and baking soda until you actually get the appropriate consistency. Now, use it almost once or twice a day, and you will notice a huge change and relief for sure.
- Beneficial for your teeth in pregnancy
During pregnancy, morning sickness often occurs. Along with queasiness and discomfort, the stomach acid that actually goes with vomiting can wear away at the tooth enamel. And if you are saddled with regular or occasional vomiting, rinse the mouth with around 1 tsp of soda mixed with water. Plus, you can also do this if you are sick or have food poisoning.
- Ease discomfort during cancer treatment.
Chemotherapy and radiation may cause irritation in the throat, but swishing your mouth with a mixture of 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 quart of water, and one tablespoon of baking soda, will help relieve the pain. This concoction might also help stop the spread of infection in ulcers in the mouth.
Treat nail infections.
You have probably heard that baking soda has particular antifungal characteristics. If you have a slight nail infection, you can also try soaking your nails in a solution of baking soda and water. This works magically!!
Stunning Ways Baking Soda Can Enhance Your Cooking
- Balancing Canned Tomatoes Acidicity
There are many wonderful things about canned tomatoes, but “constant” is not one of them. The acidity level, for example, may vary widely from one brand of canned tomatoes to other. Thankfully, the addition of only a quarter tablespoon of baking soda may neutralize the extra acidity without altering the texture or taste.
- Softer Beans
Well, softer beans may sound more like the saddest boy band of the world than the key to store hummus. But that is what they exactly are. Yes, the most efficient and fastest route to soften the beans is using baking soda, as it effectively raises the cooking liquid’s pH, helping the chickpeas tenderize and break down more conveniently. You can dissolve one teaspoon of baking soda to cook around one dried beans cup in six cups of water, and then refresh both soda and water after an overnight soak.
- Faster-Browning Onions
If you find baking soda’s capacity to hasten shrimp’s browning impressively, wait until you see what it exactly does to onions! You need to use a quarter teaspoon of sugar for every pound of chopped onions to get the color of caramelized onions in only minutes. Unfortunately, it may also adversely affect the onions’ taste and texture; thus, it makes French Onion harmful.
Summary
Drinking baking soda occasionally can help you with heartburn or indigestion as it’s a safe home remedy for specific adults. Anyhow, it’s not safe for children, pregnant women, and sensitive people if taken for a long period of time. Moreover, it can’t treat particular conditions that lead to heartburn, like stomach ulcers.
All in all, it’s best to use indigestion OTC remedies, as there’s a very low risk of overdoses. However, you can mix around half a tablespoon of baking soda in half a cup of water. But before taking it, make sure to take wise advice from your personal doctor to make the decision accordingly.
Want to know which baking soda brands can be the most perfect and beneficial for you? Just read the Kitchgears Guide to explore more!!
Good Luck!!
