What Is Baking Powder?
It's something that didn't exist until the mid-19th century, when Eben Horsford, a chemist at Harvard University, devised a unique mixture of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and calcium acid phosphate.
To prevent a premature chemical reaction, Horsford introduced starch to keep the mixture dry, according to the American Chemical Society.
He called it "yeast powder," and it later became known as baking powder.
In the presence of water, the mixture releases carbon dioxide, which leavens biscuits, cookies and quick breads.
Horsford and his business partner, George Wilson, established the Rumford Chemical Works in Rhode Island to market baking powder. Rumford Baking Powder was marketed for decades using the formula first devised by Horsford in the 1850s and refined in the 1860s, according to an ACS account.
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