# Wood Ash



## Davarm

I know many who store food for emergencies have plenty of flour for baking, some have stored all purpose flour and some have not. For those of you who have stored all purpose flour and have either not saved baking powder, baking soda, or just have not stored enough, their is an answer to this problem.

My great grandmother used to use wood ash when no other levening was available. I remember her having an empty oatmeal box on a shelf in her kitchen filled with white wood ash. She would add a spoonful of it to her flour and make her biscuits using it. I don't remember how they tasted compared to those using baking powder, but I don't remember disliking them. This was back in the early 1960's and I was pretty young, but my dad confirmed my memory and told me they were common practice in this area.

Another thing she used the ash for was in her laundry to whiten it. I still remember her in her back yard boiling water in a big iron kettle, she would pick up a piece mostly burned wood and dunk it in the kettle before taking the water in the house to fill her old hand wringer type washing machine.

I am not that old, but they had the last working "farmststeds" in this area and they did just about everything the old way until they passed on in the late 60's.


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## whome

That's interesting. I've heard of a lot of things for wood ash, but never as bread leavening. I wonder if it was from a certain type of wood, do you know? Being in Texas, could it have been mesquite?

Kinda in this topic did you know you could use a combination of cream of tartar and cornstarch for a baking powder sub? I'll look for the paper I have written for the ratios.


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## Davarm

I'm sure that it was either oak or mesquite, probobly oak. Wood ash is a strong alkali which is why it would leven the bread. My dad called the biscuits made with it "ash bread".

I knew that baking powder was made with cream of tarter and cornstarch but I didn't know if there was anything else in it or what the proportions were. Would be useful to know if/when you find it.


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## horseman09

Thanks Dave. I printed your wood ash post out for my hard copy file. Ya never know...............


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## whome

Davarm said:


> I'm sure that it was either oak or mesquite, probobly oak. Wood ash is a strong alkali which is why it would leven the bread. My dad called the biscuits made with it "ash bread".
> 
> I knew that baking powder was made with cream of tarter and cornstarch but I didn't know if there was anything else in it or what the proportions were. Would be useful to know if/when you find it.


No problem, as soon as I find it I'll put it on here. With winter almost here, I'm always browsing around my recipes more and I'm sure to come across it sooner or later.


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## NaeKid

I have a recipe book from around the turn-of-the-century (it was published late 1800's) that describes using ash from a fire in pancakes and other rising-dough or batter recipes.

I haven't experimented with it as most of the wood around here is soft-wood and I believe that hard-wood-ashes is required for it to work properly.


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## whome

NaeKid said:


> I have a recipe book from around the turn-of-the-century (it was published late 1800's) that describes using ash from a fire in pancakes and other rising-dough or batter recipes.
> 
> I haven't experimented with it as most of the wood around here is soft-wood and I believe that hard-wood-ashes is required for it to work properly.


I suspected that the ash had to come from a hard wood.

Also I went to make pancakes this morning and realized I was out of baking powder, I still haven't looked for the cream of tartar/cornstarch ratios, but decided to try it without those. I used a tablespoon of just cream of tartar, didn't use any cornstarch, I was thinking the cornstarch was just to keep it from caking...anyway it bubbled a bit, but not enough so I added a pinch of baking soda. They tasted okay, just a little flatter than normal. Spouse didn't seem to notice anything different so I guess it worked, either that, or the bacon distracted him .


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## goshengirl

whome said:


> Spouse didn't seem to notice anything different so I guess it worked, either that, or the bacon distracted him .


Bacon is ALWAYS a good distractor! 

To make baking powder with cream of tartar and baking soda, it's:
1 part baking soda
2 parts cream of tartar

Use whatever units are best for the amount you need right then. Just be sure to use it and not store it - it loses effectiveness when stored, so make it fresh whenever you're baking.


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## JayJay

whome said:


> I suspected that the ash had to come from a hard wood.
> 
> Also I went to make pancakes this morning and realized I was out of baking powder, I still haven't looked for the cream of tartar/cornstarch ratios, but decided to try it without those. I used a tablespoon of just cream of tartar, didn't use any cornstarch, I was thinking the cornstarch was just to keep it from caking...anyway it bubbled a bit, but not enough so I added a pinch of baking soda. They tasted okay, just a little flatter than normal. Spouse didn't seem to notice anything different so I guess it worked, either that, or the bacon distracted him .


At my table, it'd not matter either--I just use the pancake to hold the maple syrup I love ----which I have made and canned to prolong its shelf life.


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## Davarm

NaeKid said:


> I have a recipe book from around the turn-of-the-century (it was published late 1800's) that describes using ash from a fire in pancakes and other rising-dough or batter recipes.
> 
> I haven't experimented with it as most of the wood around here is soft-wood and I believe that hard-wood-ashes is required for it to work properly.


I also have an old cookbook, "The Orange Judd Cook Book" 1914 edition. I will read it through again and see if it is in there also.

The Orange Judd Cook Book is a valuable resource that no one expecting the STHTF should be without.


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## lovetogrow

How to Extract Carbonate

"Carbonates are a class of chemicals containing the carbonate ion. Calcium carbonate is readily available in nature as limestone, but most of the other carbonates have to be produced in a wide variety of chemical processes. The extraction of potassium carbonate is one such process and has been important economically since the days of the Egyptian empire. The chemical can be used for cleaning, glass making and baking. It was a bread leavening agent before the development of baking powder."

Read more: How to Extract Carbonate | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_8340427_extract-carbonate.html#ixzz1lYJv2NUV


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## SurvivalNut

Here it is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baking_powder#Substituting_in_recipes

Wood ash as a substitute for baking powder


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## Davarm

lovetogrow said:


> How to Extract Carbonate
> 
> "Carbonates are a class of chemicals containing the carbonate ion. Calcium carbonate is readily available in nature as limestone, but most of the other carbonates have to be produced in a wide variety of chemical processes. The extraction of potassium carbonate is one such process and has been important economically since the days of the Egyptian empire. The chemical can be used for cleaning, glass making and baking. It was a bread leavening agent before the development of baking powder."
> 
> Read more: How to Extract Carbonate | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_8340427_extract-carbonate.html#ixzz1lYJv2NUV


It looks like they are making lye, then refining out some of its components. Its useful to know but wouldn't it be easier to just use the wood ash for baking?

I am not poking fun at the article, its an honest question.


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## Freyadog

NaeKid said:


> I have a recipe book from around the turn-of-the-century (it was published late 1800's) that describes using ash from a fire in pancakes and other rising-dough or batter recipes.
> 
> I haven't experimented with it as most of the wood around here is soft-wood and I believe that hard-wood-ashes is required for it to work properly.


I would be interested in some of the recipes as we burn a woodstove and use hard woods. I was wondering if I could ever store enough baking powder and or cream of tartar and cornstarch. would make for an interesting experiment.
I will definitely try it with the recipe.


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## diannamarsolek

another good cook book is miss curties house hold descoverys i think thats the name i have a copy it tell how do some thing i think are good like how to get glycerin out of fat as in boom stix and how to make nitric acid


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