Every housewife knows that vinegar is very useful and simply necessary in the house, but few people wonder what it is made of. Let's take a closer look at vinegar: composition, useful and harmful properties, and unusual uses.
Vinegar is ...
The product that contains the most acetic acid obtained during microbiological synthesis using acetic acid bacteria from alcohol-containing food raw materials. If simpler, using fermentation of an alcoholic liquid. Vinegar is a clear liquid with a slight shade of color or colorless. Most often used for cooking or domestic purposes. To understand what ordinary vinegar is made of, you need to know that its table form is sold in a concentration of 3% to 15% aqueous solution of acetic acid.
History of Vinegar
Vinegar is one of the oldest products obtained by fermentation. By its "age", it can easily compete with wine.
The first time mention of vinegar can be found in Babylon 5000 BC. e. Ancient people made vinegar from dates, as well as wine from these fruits.
In ancient times, vinegar was used not only in cooking, but also as a disinfectant (disinfectant) for everyday life, for medical and sanitary purposes.
Vinegar is mentioned many times in the Bible, and the oldest mention is in the Old Testament (Num. 6: 3).
Unfortunately, it is not known how exactly they got the first vinegar, but we can consider the modern variation of this product.
What are table vinegar made of?
Modern table vinegar is produced from ethyl alcohol and its secondary products: apple, grape and other fruit juices, fermented wine materials.
There is also synthetic vinegar, which more often than others falls into our kitchen. About it in more detail below.
Table vinegar and its varieties
Let's take a closer look at what housewives use in their kitchens. So, below about table vinegar, properties, types and its use in cooking and everyday life.
Wine vinegar
Receive due to the fermentation of grape juice or wine. This vinegar has a pleasant taste and smell, thanks to the esters contained in it.
There are two types - red and white. What this table vinegar is made of, we will analyze in detail.
White is most often produced from dry white wine, for which light grape varieties are used. Due to this, vinegar has a lighter taste and is used for cooking meat dishes and salad dressings. Also often, with the addition of sugar, white wine is replaced with white vinegar in the recipe to reduce the cost of the dish.
Red wine vinegar is obtained from classic grape varieties such as Cabernet and Merlot. It has a distinctive taste and aroma, as it is kept in oak barrels for a long time before bottling. Red vinegar is great for pickles, salad dressings and sauces.
Balsamic vinegar
Many people consider this vinegar to be the main one in the kitchen, as it is used for fish marinade, meat dishes, salad dressings, soups and even desserts. This species goes well with cheese, fruit and is used in large quantities in Italian and Japanese cuisines. What is it made of? This table vinegar is made from light grape varieties that contain the most sugar. First, the berries undergo natural fermentation, then 12 years are aged in oak barrels, each year gradually losing in volume. Due to such a long production, the price of this vinegar is quite high.
Malt Vinegar
What table vinegar is not made of! This is made from fermented wort, which did not have time to use in brewing. It has a pleasant smell, fresh taste and fruity tint. Most often used in English cuisine, especially in the preparation of their traditional dishes. Also suitable for preserving, preparing marinades for vegetables and fish.
Apple vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is notable for its mild taste, because it is made from delicious cider. He is very fond of the French and Americans, because it contains a large number of useful substances and minerals, is used in the preparation of dishes from poultry, fish, seafood, sauces and sometimes even drinks. It is widely used in pickling garlic, pickles, capers, shallots and much more. Also, apple cider vinegar is often used for self-medication. You can dilute it with warm water and gargle with a sore throat, make compresses from the tissue moistened with it for tired muscles and even dilute it with water and spray your hair so that it is more silky.
Rice vinegar
The most popular vinegar in Asian countries. It is divided into several types: white, black, red and sweet with spices.
It is made from rice wine or fermented brown or black rice.
White rice vinegar is most often used in Chinese cuisine, as it is he who gives the dishes a sweet and sour taste. Black vinegar is softer and is used as an ingredient in sauce.
It is also difficult to imagine Japanese cuisine without rice vinegar, because it gives the dishes a sour taste and an amazing aroma, which is why it is used as a dressing for rice for making sushi and rolls, for sauces, marinades and meat dishes.
Synthetic vinegar
This is the most common vinegar for us, and no one asks what it is made of. But in fact they produce it on the basis of mineral fertilizers from natural gas or through the synthesis of sawdust. This vinegar is the most frequent in our kitchen.
Due to this, it has almost no shelf life and is very cheap, unlike its natural counterparts. Why is it almost dead? If you buy vinegar in a glass bottle, then really, you can store it all your life, but plastic containers tend to decompose over time and release harmful substances that precipitate, so the shelf life of such vinegar is very limited.
The most commonly used table vinegar is 9 percent, of which most canned marinades are made from - a completely synthetic product!
It is added to salads, sauces, soups, marinades and pastries - as a baking powder in combination with soda. Adding it to borscht or hodgepodge, to a vitamin salad or vinaigrette, we don’t think about what table vinegar is made of and whether it can be dangerous for us. Although it is approved by the Ministry of Health, it is better to reduce or completely abandon its use and use a natural product.
Using vinegar for cleaning
What vinegar is made of, we already know, and that even in ancient times, people came up with the idea of using it as an antiseptic, because it kills harmful bacteria and removes fat. But here is how in the modern world you can use it:
1. To remove sweat stains from white clothes, it is enough to soak them in ordinary white table vinegar before washing for 10 minutes, then there will be no trace of them.
2. Vinegar is able to remove rust from small objects if boiled, and then rinse well with water.
3. If the cat or cat marked the territory or furniture, wash this place, and then wipe it with a cloth with vinegar, and you will only have its smell. But it’s better to do it right away, until the cat’s “aroma” has eaten, especially in the fabric.
4. Vinegar eliminates the unpleasant odor in the refrigerator, cabinets and other surfaces, just wipe them with a rag soaked in it.
5. Vinegar perfectly removes scale, just boil water with vinegar in the kettle or add a little to the rinse aid compartment in the washing machine.
6. To remove dried paint from brushes or rollers, boil vinegar in a pot of water, then lower the brush there and rub on the bottom. There will be no trace of paint.
7. You can clean any blockage in the pipe if 180 g of soda is poured into it and pour 100 ml of vinegar, and after 30 minutes pour boiling water over the kettle.
8. If you have a burned out pan, any soot can be removed. First, clean the surface with soda, then fill with vinegar and let stand for 30 minutes. Then boil the pan with the addition of water, and all the carbon deposits will come off by itself.
The main thing is to remember: in any work (especially with a product with a concentration of more than 5%), use gloves, because, regardless of what table vinegar is made of, it is still acid, and it can corrode your soft tissues.