Pickling Lime Basics

• Pickling lime, also called slaked lime, is food-grade calcium oxide. Once commonly used to give fruit and cucumber pickles a firm, crisp texture, it is no longer widely used for this purpose in home canning, though it continues to be used commercially. An alkaline substance, pickling lime raises the pH of food. Pickling lime is also used to create crisp fried foods in some Asian recipes, make nixtamalized corn and to create noodles made out of konjac.

Baking Powder Basics

• Made from bicarbonate of soda, acid, cream of tartar and a filler such as starch to absorb moisture, baking powder is most widely used as a rising agent in baking. Activated when mixed with a liquid, baking powder creates tiny carbon dioxide air bubbles in a mixture, causing it to expand. Due to its drying nature, baking powder also creates crisp skin on a baked chicken; when added to flour, it ensures a crisp coating on fried foods.

When to Substitute

• Plant-based noodles made from the naturally soluble fiber of the konjac root, konjac noodles are traditionally made using glucomannan, pickling lime and water. Substitute baking powder for the pickling lime to create the noodles, using about 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder for every 1/8 teaspoon of pickling lime required. Baking powder is also a substitute for pickling lime when making a liquid batter to fry foods. Substitute 1/4 teaspoon baking powder for every 1/8 teaspoon pickling lime required.

When Not to Substitute

• Baking powder can never be used as a substitute for pickling lime during pickling, as it will not produce the same crisping results. It is also not an appropriate substitution for the nixtamalization of corn. The nixtamalization process requires soaking corn in a limewater solution for several hours to weeks before grinding, and it creates a more digestible and nutritional flour called masa. This traditional process dating back to 1500 B.C., requires pickling lime to complete. Baking powder is not a valid substitute.