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Alkalines in Food

Botch
Botch Posts: 17,373
in EggHead Forum
I've been researching noodle making a lot lately (@Caliking's fault), and found this article on alkalines in food, which I found very interesting.  We all know about acids in food (lemon juice, tomatoes, vinegars, it's even mentioned in cookbook titles) but alkalines, not so much.  I knew lye was used to cure olives, learned it's used in pretzel and bagel making, and I knew it was used to make lütefisk too (although, even being half Norwegian, I don't consider that a food).  
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/dining/15curious.html
It's also a defining ingredient in many chinese noodles (a couple folks on the intranetz (so it MUST be true) insist that pasta has eggs in it, noodles have alkaline.  Whatever).  
An easy way to to make a strong Alkaline to add to your dough, per the article, is to take some baking soda and... bake it!  Apparently that drives off some CO2 and H2O, changing the sodium bicarbonate to sodium carbonate.  I'll be trying this soon, and make up some pasta noodles; I'll keep you posted!    

“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.”

              - Mark Twain 

Ogden, UT, USA


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Comments

  • SciAggie
    SciAggie Posts: 6,481
    These rabbit holes have no bottom, do they? Very interesting stuff. 
    Coleman, Texas
    Large BGE & Mini Max for the wok. A few old camp Dutch ovens and a wood fired oven. LSG 24” cabinet offset smoker. There are a few paella pans and a Patagonia cross in the barn. A curing chamber for bacterial transformation of meats...
    "Bourbon slushies. Sure you can cook on the BGE without them, but why would you?"
                                                                                                                          YukonRon
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  • HeavyG
    HeavyG Posts: 10,380
    Anyone interested in that kind of thing (food science/chemistry) should be sure to read Harold McGee's books/articles.

    “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk




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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    I made sodium carbonate a few years ago for cooking.  I still have the jar of it in my pantry.  What can I say, people hated me in school for blowing the curve.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 19,780
    So, there is Italian alkaline pasta. Its not commonly made anymore, but I do recall coming across some recipes back when I was diving down the hand-stretched noodle rabbithole. I'll see if I can dig them up again.

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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