Hello all! I'm thinking of making a dry mason jar pancake mix, and was wondering how best to do this in regards to the baking powder used in the mix. I really want to mix all dry ingredients together in the jar, which are flour, light brown sugar, spices, baking powder, and salt. My questions is, do I need to worry about the baking powder becoming moist due to the light brown sugar? I want these to have a good shelf life of a few months if I give them as gifts, but am worried the baking powder would activate due to the moisture in the brown sugar. Thanks for any insight!
Mason Jar Pancake Recipe
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Baking powder is a blend of sodium bicarbonate and acid. Most baking powders contain two acids.
Baking powders are double-acting, meaning they activate, go dormant then activate a second time.
The first activation happens when the acid comes in contact with moisture. The second activation happens when the acid reaches a certain temperature.
These brands contain two acids:
Argo
monocalcium phosphate and sodium acid pyrophosphate
Clabber Girl
monocalcium phosphate and anhydrous sodium aluminum sulfate
Sometimes Sodium pyrophosphate (aka Disodium pyrophosphate) is used.
One acid activates, goes dormant then re-activates at a higher temperature: monocalcium phosphate.
Rumsford contains just one acid, monocalcium phosphate. It is often mistaken for a single-acting baking powder, but it is a double-acting baking powder.
When the monocalcium phosphate comes in contact with liquid at room temperature, two-thirds of the CO2 will release within two minutes of mixing. It will then go dormant because dicalcium phosphate is a byproduct of mixing. When it is heated to 140°F (60°C) it will reactivate.
Contact with brown sugar can activate baking powder because brown sugar contains molasses. Molasses contains water. It won't be an immediate activation given the small amount of water. Rather, a slow degradation of the baking powder as the moisture breaks or down.
Light brown sugar contains approximately 3.5% molasses by weight.
Dark brown contains approximately 6.5% molasses by weight.
Also, fresh flour has a moisture content of 14%. This is to keep the flour stable and control for the amount of dry solids. So between the moisture in the brown sugar you will also have moisture from the flour in the mix.
Finally, a six month shelf life is pushing it for flour, especially if it's unbleached flour and/or mixed with whole wheat flour. These flours have higher percentages on germ and bran, so they go rancid faster.
Baking powders are double-acting, meaning they activate, go dormant then activate a second time.
The first activation happens when the acid comes in contact with moisture. The second activation happens when the acid reaches a certain temperature.
These brands contain two acids:
Argo
monocalcium phosphate and sodium acid pyrophosphate
Clabber Girl
monocalcium phosphate and anhydrous sodium aluminum sulfate
Sometimes Sodium pyrophosphate (aka Disodium pyrophosphate) is used.
One acid activates, goes dormant then re-activates at a higher temperature: monocalcium phosphate.
Rumsford contains just one acid, monocalcium phosphate. It is often mistaken for a single-acting baking powder, but it is a double-acting baking powder.
When the monocalcium phosphate comes in contact with liquid at room temperature, two-thirds of the CO2 will release within two minutes of mixing. It will then go dormant because dicalcium phosphate is a byproduct of mixing. When it is heated to 140°F (60°C) it will reactivate.
Contact with brown sugar can activate baking powder because brown sugar contains molasses. Molasses contains water. It won't be an immediate activation given the small amount of water. Rather, a slow degradation of the baking powder as the moisture breaks or down.
Light brown sugar contains approximately 3.5% molasses by weight.
Dark brown contains approximately 6.5% molasses by weight.
Also, fresh flour has a moisture content of 14%. This is to keep the flour stable and control for the amount of dry solids. So between the moisture in the brown sugar you will also have moisture from the flour in the mix.
Finally, a six month shelf life is pushing it for flour, especially if it's unbleached flour and/or mixed with whole wheat flour. These flours have higher percentages on germ and bran, so they go rancid faster.