Risks

** The inert starch serves several functions in baking powder. Primarily it is used to absorb moisture, and thus prolong shelf life by keeping the powder's alkaline and acidic components from reacting prematurely. A dry powder also flows and mixes more easily. Finally, the added bulk allows for more accurate measurements. **
 * The acid in a baking powder can be either fast-acting or slow-acting. A fast-acting acid reacts in a wet mixture with baking **[[image:file://localhost/Users/at1001757/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0/clip_image002.png width="269" height="191"]] **  soda at room temperature, and a slow-acting acid will not react until heated in an oven. Baking powders that contain both fast- and slow-acting acids are //double acting//; those that contain only one acid are //single acting//. By providing a second rise in the oven, double-acting baking powders increase the reliability of baked goods by rendering the time elapsed between mixing and baking less critical, and this is the type most widely available to consumers today. Common low-temperature  **[|**acid salts**]**  include  **[|**cream of tartar**]**  and  **[|**monocalcium phosphate**]**  (also called calcium acid phosphate). High-temperature acid salts include  **[|**sodium aluminum sulfate**]** ,  **[|**sodium aluminum phosphate**]**  , and  **[|**sodium acid pyrophosphate**]**  .  **