Friday’s Kitchen Trick — Score One More For Baking Soda

I’m a big fan of Arm & Hammer. It’s an admiration that was bred into me by my mother, who uses the stuff with an almost spiritual fervor. If you read my other post about baking soda, you’ll know a cleaning kitchen trick, but there’s another _extremely_ good use for the stuff.

We all know about baking soda’s almost magical odor absorbing ability, but there’s one other way that baking soda combats funk (and not the Parliament kind). If you’ve ever spent time in the company of a chili fanatic, or a picnic with baked beans, you’ll know the type of funk I’m talking about. There’s a reason why they’re called the musical fruit — beans will heat up a room faster than a Coleman stove. I’m talking about more gas than Saturn’s rings.

So how, exactly, does baking soda help with a wicked case of chili wind? Add it to the food. That’s right, as you’re cooking your chili, baked beans, refritos or whatever the legume recipe your heart desires, add a quarter teaspoon of baking soda. Not enough to be tasted, but just enough to do the magic. It will cut down on the after-dinner wind symphony, I promise.

Now that I’ve run out of polite euphemisms for farting, I leave you with your stupid kitchen trick of the week. Remember it when you’re entering that chili cook-off. We’ll all be grateful.