When making peanut brittle, what's the purpose of the baking soda?

Question

I'm just curious.

Answer 1

cream puff Id love your recipe if you can send it to me! Baking soda makes brittle light and fluffy. It breaks easier and easier to bite through. The reaction of the soda in some recipes also contributes to flavor as well. but its mostly a texture thing. I think you'll be ok. Good Luck

Answer 2

Not all brittles contain baking soda or an acid like lemon juice or corn syrup. Some nut brittles consist entirely of just sugar, caramelized, mixed together with the nuts which are carefully stirred in at the end to avoid crystallization. When pouring the mixture, it is best to do it over a large, cool surface, like a large marble surface, giving you the room to spread and stretch it if you desire. You can stretch and pull it into your desired shape or size with buttered hands (when cool enough) or with the help of two forks. The ideal is to make it as thin and 'brittle' as possible. If you do not have a marble table, a very large baking sheet can be used. All surfaces should be buttered well before the candy is poured. If a recipe consists of a large amount of nuts (and generally all nut brittles do), it can be helpful to warm them up slightly before adding them to the hot sugar mixture. If a large amount of cold nuts are added to the caramelized sugar mixture, there is a possibility of the sugar setting up sooner than you want it to.

Hope this helped=)