Hershey's Cocoa Powder Bulk Bag, 5 lb

Natural. The ingredient statement on this bag is cocoa and nothing else. Dutch-process cocoa is treated with an alkali to neutralise its acidity, and US labelling requires that to be declared as cocoa processed with alkali, so a plain cocoa statement means the powder has not been alkalised. Natural cocoa is acidic, lighter and redder brown, and sharper in flavour than Dutch.

Leavening. Natural cocoa is acidic, so it reacts with baking soda and that reaction is what lifts the batter. Dutch-process cocoa has had that acidity neutralised, so it carries no reaction of its own and is normally paired with baking powder, which brings its own acid. Use the wrong one and the rise changes, and an unreacted excess of baking soda leaves a soapy edge.

Yes, with one adjustment. Where the recipe uses more than 3 tablespoons of cocoa, replace the baking powder with half as much baking soda. Expect a lighter colour and a slight tang. If the recipe has no chemical leavener at all, such as frosting, ganache, pudding or hot cocoa, swap them straight across with no change.

Yes. Three level tablespoons of cocoa plus 1 tablespoon of butter, oil or shortening replaces 1 ounce of unsweetened baking chocolate. The fat is what makes it work, since cocoa powder has had most of the cocoa butter pressed out of it. It is not a substitute for sweetened or semisweet chocolate, which also carries sugar you would have to account for.

No, this is unsweetened cocoa and on its own it tastes bitter, so it needs sugar. Whisk the cocoa and sugar together dry, add a splash of milk to make a smooth paste, then thin it with the rest of the milk over heat. Dropping dry cocoa into hot milk is what makes it clump: the particles are coated in cocoa butter and resist wetting, so they seize into lumps before they disperse.

They are close but not identical. Both are the pressed cocoa solids with most of the cocoa butter removed and ground to a powder; the difference is heat. Cocoa powder is made from roasted beans, cacao powder from unroasted or low-temperature beans. They can be swapped by volume in most recipes, though cacao tastes sharper and more astringent and is usually unalkalised, so it behaves like natural cocoa with baking soda.

About 27 cups. Cocoa is light for its bulk, at roughly 42 grams to the half cup, so 5 lb comes to a little over 2,250 grams and about 27 cups by volume. That is enough for scaling batch recipes without reopening a canister every few days, which is the reason the bulk bag exists.

Decant it into an airtight container and keep it somewhere cool, dry and dark. Cocoa is a dry powder and does not spoil the way a fat-rich ingredient does, but it readily takes up moisture and nearby odours, and damp cocoa cakes into lumps that will not disperse into a batter. A wide container also makes it easier to scoop and level accurately than a folded bag.