Does Baking Soda Ever Turn Hard After You Heat it?

Just got the following email:

Hi

I have been using the baking soda
prescription since Christmas and,
though there has been a great
improvement, I still have 2 patches
that need more.

I have cleaned up all of the soda
and need to use the oven as my
microwave has died and I have not
been able to get out to pick up a
new one.

I have not used the stove oven
while the soda was in it. If I
use the oven as is, will it be
more difficult to clean it later
or shall I start over from square
one and overcome my fear of using
the oven while the wet soda is in
it?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

The question seems to be, Will
turning my oven on with baking soda
in it make my oven harder to clean?
This implies yet another question: Does
baking soda ever turn hard after it
has been heated?

In my experience, baking soda never
hardens due to heat. In this respect,
it is much like table salt. You can
heat table salt to any oven temperature
desired and it still is table salt.

My experience is that baking soda remains
a powder that is easily wiped out of the
oven no matter what temperature you cook
at. Turning the oven on with baking soda
in the oven does not seem to be a problem.

Note that baking soda and baking powder
are two different things. I've written
about this here:

Baking Power or
Bicarbonate of Soda?

Ed Abbott