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I am planning on making a bunch of gingerbread this year, the recipe I use takes both baking powder and baking soda. In order to cut down on dishes and time I thought I might mix all of the dry ingredients together in multiple batches and store it in the fridge for a week or two until I have time to actually bake it.

Can anyone tell me if it will cause problems to store baking powder and baking soda (and the rest of the ingredients) mixed together for couple of weeks in the fridge?

Cascabel
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binarylegit
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    I would just note that baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is actually *part* of most baking powder formulations already. There's absolutely no reason not to mix them together or store them together. – Athanasius Dec 06 '15 at 20:43
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    I don't want to edit your question too strongly but it seems like the question you're actually asking here is "can I store the dry ingredients together?" not just baking soda/powder. – Cascabel Dec 06 '15 at 21:01
  • Well, I really was only concerned about the baking soda/powder but for clarity felt like I should clarify that I'm storing it in with the other ingredients as well. – binarylegit Dec 07 '15 at 14:38

3 Answers3

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As long as they're all dry ingredients, then you should be just fine — after all, that's exactly what a box of packaged cake mix is.

Again, if it's just dry ingredients, I see no need to refrigerate it. I would put it in an airtight container — preferably a glass jar*. Placed in your pantry, it should have a shelf-life of a least a couple of months.

* Glass jars are my preference for storing dry ingredients — they're easy sanitize, and the twist-off cover makes an airtight seal: enter image description here

Community
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ElmerCat
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    Agreed about not refrigerating - if anything, that's asking for trouble, in the form of taking on odors from something else in the fridge, or possibly even collecting condensation. – Cascabel Dec 06 '15 at 20:48
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    I often pre-mix the dry ingredients for pancakes and store multiple jars worth in my pantry, so it is easy to just open a jar and dump into a bowl. I like your jar lid labels :) – Erica Dec 06 '15 at 21:22
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    @Jefromi : I'd be more worried about condensation in the fridge, thus activating the baking powder. – Joe Dec 07 '15 at 05:07
  • @Joe I said "possibly even" because in airtight containers full of dry ingredients you wouldn't really get condensation. But if you do, yes, it'd be very bad. – Cascabel Dec 07 '15 at 06:45
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    @Jefromi : you can still get condensation in airtight containers, with the amount being proportional to the volume of air & how humid it was when you sealed it. A bag with as much air squeezed out as possible is better than a few teaspoons at the bottom of a jar. As there's flour in there, it's possible that might absorb the moisture before the baking powder would ... but until someone tries it, I'd be concerned about storing it in the fridge. (especially when there's no need to refrigerate.) – Joe Dec 07 '15 at 11:16
  • I only refridgerate dry goods containing sugars and starches when I'm dealing with a serious bug infestation and want to ensure that nothing can get to tasty sugars and starches. From having dealt with that in the past, I can confirm that Jefromi's concern about uptake of other food odors is definitely a problem, especially with flour, not as much with sugar or rice. Baking soda is, of course, marketed and sold as a way to absorb odors inside a fridge. – Todd Wilcox Dec 07 '15 at 16:03
  • Use a desiccant, dry ingredients are stored in non-airtight cardboard. The cardboard is self desiccating. – Escoce Dec 07 '15 at 18:32
  • @Joe I know it's possible but I think the amounts are pretty small. I looked up some things and it looks like 1L of air at 30C (warmer air can hold more water vapor) fully saturated with water vapor only has 0.033 ml of water. Most condensation you get in the fridge is from water that's in the food itself. Of course no reason to risk it for this though! – Cascabel Dec 07 '15 at 20:40
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@ElmerCat is almost completely correct (cake mix has a slightly shorter shelf life than the ingredients but still years), but in the specific case of baking soda and baking powder, there is additional assurance available: baking powder is made by grinding baking soda with cream of tartar, therefore mixing them is only making a modified ratio, and will not shorten shelf life at all. Other dry ingredients added to the mix may shorten the shelf life some (Not that you would notice in normal usage).

hildred
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You're basically making self-raising flour this way (slightly different proportions). It will keep as long as the flour, at room temperature. And if kept clean and dry the date on flour is quite conservative. You've probably got months to use it, and the worst that would happen is slightly less rise. Damp of course is another matter.

Chris H
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