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Heavy Metal Scones


chefpeon

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So I thought I'd share a recent learning experience I had regarding awful tasting scones and baking powder.

I've never had trouble making scones until just a few weeks ago, when I attempted to make cream scones at the request of my employer. I've made many a scone in my career, as well as biscuits, but most of them were buttermilk recipes where the leavening was baking soda.

In the case of making scones with heavy cream, I needed to use baking powder in the recipe, since there was no acidic ingredient such as buttermilk or sour cream to react with the baking soda. No matter what recipe I used (I tried about three), the scones, although lovely looking, tasted like an aluminum pan; not just slightly, but horribly so, and in my opinion, downright inedible. It didn't take much for me to figure that it was because of the baking powder, so I decided to use less than the recipe called for....but I just ended up with flat ugly pucks that tasted a little less metallic but not by much.

I have general knowledge about baking powder and how it works and what is in it, but I decided to do a little research, because I refused to believe that I couldn't make a cream scone. I mean, the pastry chef at the Empress Hotel makes a killer cream scone......I even purchased the recipe for it printed on a tea towel in the gift shop! Why can't I?

It all has to do with sodium aluminum sulfate, the primary acidic ingredient in most baking powders. The advantage to sodium aluminum sulfate is that it works great as a double acting agent, meaning that it's activated once by moisture in the batter, and again by the heat in the oven. Sodium aluminum sulfate also is slower acting, which means it reduces the reaction to a minimum between moisture and the powder until it goes into the oven. That means if your batter sits a while before going in the oven, it's not going to make a whole lot of difference in the quality of your final product.

I decided that sodium aluminum sulfate was my whole problem, and so I made my own baking powder with 1/2 cup cream of tartar, 4 Tbsp. baking soda, and 2 Tbsp cornstarch. I proceeded to make the cream scones, and they came out not only lovely looking but tasty too.....no metallic taste at all. Problem solved, right? Well sort of.

I knew that my "homemade baking powder" was only single acting, meaning that once moisture was added the reaction started, and the more time it took me to get it into the oven, the less leavening power I'd have to work with. So my question was, can I get a double acting baking powder that doesn't contain sodium aluminum sulfate? The answer is yes, and that answer is Rumford Baking Powder. It contains cornstarch, baking soda and calcium acid phosphate....nothing else. The only downfall with calcium acid phosphate in relation to sodium aluminum sulfate, is that 2/3's of the reaction time is when moisture is added and just 1/3 happens in the heat of the oven, so you really need to make sure you get your dough or batter into the oven immediately when you use Rumford. It's a no brainer for me actually, since I don't mind movin' my ass a little faster to get the scones in the oven if they're going to taste great.

An additional observation I had is that I just noticed the metallic taste of the sodium aluminum sulfate in the scones. I used the same baking powder in my cakes and cookies and never experienced any metallic aftertaste with them....just the scones. I am wondering if it's because there are so many more ingredients in my cakes and cookies and it masks the aftertaste, or if it's because the percentage of baking powder in those recipes is lower or both.

Anyway, as it stands now, I'll be using two types of baking powders; or, if the Rumford performs just as well for my cakes and cookies, I will be using 100% Rumford from now on. Just thought I'd share the info.

Cheers! Annie :wub:

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I've only used Rumsford for years now, so anything you've eaten that was baked by me without yeast was with Rumsford. As far as I know, the performance is comparable. But then, I always put stuff straight into the oven as a matter of course.

Edited by Abra (log)
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But then, I always put stuff straight into the oven as a matter of course.

Me too. But sometimes, at work, when I'm making a crapload of something, it takes longer for it to get in the oven than if I'm making it at home. And sometimes I have brain farts and forget that I've got cheesecakes baking in the oven at 250 and that it will be close to two hours before anything else can go in there.........heh :wacko:

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Thanks for sharing the info and the how's and why's, Chef. I switched to Rumford after Cooks Illustrated decreed it was the best baking powder. I've been happy but I too had never noticed the metallic taste in others.

Lisa K

Lavender Sky

"No one wants black olives, sliced 2 years ago, on a sandwich, you savages!" - Jim Norton, referring to the Subway chain.

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i always use clabber girl baking powder for my scones and actually never noticed a metallic taste. But I did notice that once when i ordered rumsford my scones didn't rise as much and had an almost flat flavor. i usually mix up the batter, cut and freeze about 1 week's worth and bake as I go. I tried tweaking the recipe, but was never able to get the good results I got with old clabber so I ended up pitching the box and going back to business as usual.

that is strange that you get a metallic taste. I do cream scones (well, 2/3 cream and 1/3 milk) and have never noticed that. I wonder if you don't notice it in your cakes because there's also a lot more sugar in cakes than scones?

Interesting post. Thanks for sharing.

Stephanie Crocker

Sugar Bakery + Cafe

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This is the first time I've ever experienced a bad taste from baking powder, for sure.

I know it's from the sodium aluminum sulfate in the baking powder I use, but I also suspect

the brand is to blame too. It's from one of my suppliers....Sysco, and I've never used Sysco

brand until now. I also noticed the ingredients on the label list a lot more than just sodium aluminum sulfate in there....there's a lot of other crap too. I have a feeling that if I switch to another brand of baking powder (like Clabber Girl) I probably won't have any more problems either.

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http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=78676

Here's the comparison thread I did awhile back. I still stick to Hain Pure Foods. It has the least amount of taste. Spendy, but worth it to me.

Pamela Wilkinson

www.portlandfood.org

Life is a rush into the unknown. You can duck down and hope nothing hits you, or you can stand tall, show it your teeth and say "Dish it up, Baby, and don't skimp on the jalapeños."

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I used to use Rumfords when I was doing a lot of baking and could get it in the giant tin.

However, when I cut back on my baking I began buying Featherweight, which produces great rise and very tender biscuits, scones, muffins, quick breads, pancakes, waffles, etc.

The ingredients are:

Monocalcium phosphate, potato starch, potassium bicarbonate.

Importantly, it is wheat and corn-free, and there is no sodium, a major factor in many diets for people who have problems.

Featherweight baking powder

It is also slower acting than other baking powders. I don't know about freezing the prepared dough, but I make large batches of the dry ingredients for plain scones, with the fat cut in (using the food processor)

and stored in a container in the fridge or the freezer.

When I am ready to bake, I just loosen the mix (I have one of the narrow gardening "claws" - red handle, white tines that I bought just for use in the kitchen) measure out the amount of the mixture I need (one has to figure this out ahead of time and keep a chart taped on the container) add any extras, such as fruit or nuts, then the liquid.

I usually use 2/3 the liquid and mix the batch because the amount of liquid can vary, depending on the weather, the altitude, etc., because in higher humidity it often requires less liquid. If it feels too dry I add a little and mix a bit. I work the dough as little as possible to keep the result tender, just till it holds together and there are few loose, dry crumbs in the bottom of the bowl.

I do not roll and cut the scones. I use a disher - various sizes - depends on what serving size I want.

drop the measured amounts onto a sheet pan.

If left like this one has a sort of haystack-looking scone, which I do not care for. Some people may like them this way but I prefer to do this:

Wearing a latex glove, I dip my hands into ice water and flatten the domed top of the scones so they are evenly a little more than an inch thick.

Sometimes I dust them with a shake of sugar - sometimes using the colored sugars, or ??

I think they look nice, bake more evenly and don't have a doughy center. But that is just my opinion.

I have been served scones with that "natural" haystack look that were heavy, doughy in the center, tough and crumbly, more like cake than a proper scone. (Of course these have usually been at places that also have "high" tea listed on their menus!)

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I didn't remember the "featherweight" word on the label but when I saw the jar in the link, I recognized it. That's the Hain Pure Foods that I use. It's my fave. I love the stuff.

Pamela Wilkinson

www.portlandfood.org

Life is a rush into the unknown. You can duck down and hope nothing hits you, or you can stand tall, show it your teeth and say "Dish it up, Baby, and don't skimp on the jalapeños."

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