Aluminum Free baking powder: Everything you need to know

What is aluminum free baking powder? In this post we share everything you need to know about it and how to substitute it

Trust me; no one likes a metallic taste when they taste freshly baked cakes, pastries, or any other item. In case you do not know, the metallic taste comes from your baking powder.

Unfortunately, the most commonly used baking powders contain aluminum as the main ingredient.

So when you use it as a leavening agent in your baking items, the aluminum is transferred to your baking goods, thus ruining an otherwise amazing taste.

Why does baking powder contain aluminum?

Before we discover some aluminum-free baking powder alternatives, we need to understand why it contains this metal in the first place.

Adding aluminum to the baking powder becomes heat-activated and only starts to work once the temperature rises.

This means that the baking powder will only begin its work once placed in the oven and not during the preparation or mixing process.

The type of aluminum present in the baking powder is not dangerous. At least, it has not been proved to be dangerous for human health as of yet.

However, the one sure thing is the bad metallic taste felt by your taste buds when you eat your baked items. Once again, some people do not notice the metallic taste, while some feel it right away and can be left with a bad experience.

Aluminum Free Baking Powder

So what’s the solution to prevent that metallic aftertaste? Does this mean that one should stop using baking powder for baking?

This would not go well as the baking powder and baking go hand in hand. So the solution is to use aluminum-free baking powder!

But there is one problem when using an aluminum-free baking powder. Since there is no aluminum, the baking powder will start its action right away as the “leavening agent.”

So once the baking powder is added to the dough, you need to be quick and move the mixture or dough to the oven as soon as possible.

If you take too long, the effect of baking powder will wear off and not perform its desired action in the oven.

If the baking powder effects wear off before you can move your dough or mixture to the oven, you may not notice it at all.

This could ruin the entire baking process, and you will only know once you get your baked goods out of the oven. So when using this type of baking powder, efficiency and timing are the keys.

Why is better than traditional baking powder

Is it dangerous to use a brand of baking powder that contains aluminum? Currently, there is no scientific evidence that can support this claim.

In fact, it is perfectly fine to use regular baking powder, which contains aluminum. By having this metal in the powder, you get additional time to prepare your mixture, dough, or whatever you are trying to bake.

In addition, if you do not feel any metallic taste when using the traditional baking powder, there is no need to switch to an alternative.

If we look at the pricing, there is not much difference between the traditional and the aluminum-free alternative. The difference between the two is in mere cents.