Please be nice. Newish lurker, first time poster. I know my question sounds dumb, but I’m confused. Looking at making Kenji’s (do I link him here somehow?) dry brine turkey for the first time this Thanksgiving. Maybe even spatchcocking! Have already used the baking powder to making chicken wings and they were crispy awesome! The more I read and search, the more comments I see about making sure NOT to use baking soda and not to use baking powder with aluminum. So…when I was reading the ingredients on my baking powder, I see baking soda listed. Also cornstarch, sodium aluminum sulfate, calcium sulfate, mono calcium sulfate.
So, I assume what I have is out because of the aluminum? But what about the baking soda? Can I sub plain cornstarch? My Walmart and local grocery dont have anything without aluminum listed and I can’t get Amazon delivered in time to brine.
Also, usually I use an electric roaster in the garage to save space in the oven for other dishes. Would this be too deep (assuming it is wide enough) to spatchcock in? My turkey is 19lbs.
ETA: https://www.seriouseats.com/quick-and-dirty-guide-to-brining-turkey-chicken-thanksgiving
Does this help mods? I thought mentioning Kenji would be enough to post here? I don’t know how to link/tag a person and thanksgiving is 2 days away. My apologies.
by Dr-Pepper-13
6 Comments
I’ve used baking *soda* for smoked wings, works fine but you have to use a lot less than if you’re using baking powder.
For a turkey cooked at a normal temp (350F) I think it’s pretty pointless. Skim crisps up just fine at that temp.
The baking powder you have will work fine. There’s always baking soda in baking powder but if you tried to use baking soda you’d be using far too much of it
Bunch of YouTube videos explaining the difference. Just gotta use that search bar
Baking powder is always a combination of baking soda and other ingredients. It’s a mixture.
The caution against baking soda by itself is because they are commonly confused by new cooks. But they are not the same.
It’s kind of like a recipe calling for half a cup of Italian herb seasoning (a blend) and instead you used half a cup of pure rosemary. That is a very, very different flavor profile.
https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-get-crispier-chicken-turkey-poultry-skin-with-baking-powder explains it Yes, powder usually has soda in it. I wouldn’t sweat the aluminum but what did you find that talked about it?
Baking soda is a base. Requires an acid to activate and release bubbles which provides the rise in baked goods. Generally see baking soda alone in recipes that include acidic ingredients like lemon juice, brown sugar, or molasses. Baking powder is just baking soda that has a dry acid added to it. That makes it effective for recipes that don’t otherwise have acid (or sufficient acid) in them. Use the baking powder you have. Remember baking subs and blogs are just as prone to conspiracy theory crap as any other topic.