What to use instead of baking soda
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Leavening that reacts with an acid already in the batter
Sodium bicarbonate meets an acid such as buttermilk, molasses or brown sugar, releases carbon dioxide immediately, and the batter has to be in the oven before the gas escapes.
Baking powderRan out
1 tbsp baking powder per 1 tsp baking soda, and cut or drop the acid ingredient
That much powder can leave a faintly metallic aftertaste and a slightly denser crumb, because two thirds of it is acid salts and starch.
Potassium bicarbonateLow-sodium
1:1, plus 1/3 tsp salt per 1 tsp to replace the sodium
Leavens identically. Without the added salt the bread tastes noticeably flat, and a heavy hand can read slightly bitter.
Baker's ammoniaRan out
1:1, in thin dry cookies only
Gives a much crisper snap than soda does. The ammonia has to fully bake off, so it is wrong in anything thick or moist, which will smell of it.
What doesn't work: Yeast. It is a different mechanism on a completely different clock. A soda bread is mixed and in the oven inside ten minutes, and yeast needs an hour plus the gluten development that a barely-mixed soda dough never gets.
Alkaline bath that browns and flavours a pretzel crust
Raising the surface pH speeds the Maillard reaction dramatically, which is where the mahogany colour and the specific pretzel smell come from.
Baked baking sodaRan out
Spread it on foil, bake 1 h at 250F to convert it to sodium carbonate, then use it 1:1 in the same boiling bath
Considerably darker crust and much more pretzel aroma. It is a stronger alkali, so wear gloves and expect a slippery feel.
Food-grade lyeRan out
A 3 percent solution, 30 g lye stirred into 1 litre of cold water, 20 to 25 sec dip
The real thing. Deep mahogany, glossy, and unmistakably pretzel. Add lye to water and never the reverse, and wear gloves and eye protection.
What doesn't work: An egg wash in place of the alkaline dip. It gives you shine and a bit of colour and nothing else, because the pretzel flavour is a chemical reaction between alkali and the crust. What you get is a shiny bread roll tied in a knot.
Raising pH to tenderise meat or lighten a fritter
Alkali stops surface proteins bonding tightly to each other, so meat stays loose and juicy and a falafel or fritter batter fries lighter.
Cornstarch and egg white velvetingRan out
1 tbsp cornstarch + 1 egg white + 1 tsp oil per 1 lb sliced meat, 30 min in the fridge
Coats rather than changing the protein, so the meat is slippery and tender with a faint sheen. It does not affect browning.
Fresh pineapple or papaya juiceRan out
1 tbsp per 1 lb meat, 20 min maximum
Enzymes rather than pH, and they do not stop. Leave it half an hour and the surface of the meat turns to mush.
Baking powderRan out
1 tbsp per 1 tsp baking soda, rubbed on and rested 30 min
Works, weakly, because only about a third of it is bicarbonate. Better on chicken skin for crispness than inside a kofta.
What doesn't work: Baking powder swapped in at the same amount for a meat rub or a falafel mix. It is roughly a third bicarbonate by weight and the rest is acid salts that cancel the alkali out, so the pH barely shifts and the meat stays tight.
In peanut brittle the soda is foaming molten sugar rather than leavening a batter, and baking powder at 1 tbsp per teaspoon will do it with coarser bubbles and a slightly metallic edge.