Uses for Vinegar

What is Vinegar
Vinegar is one of the oldest fermented foods made and consumed by humans. Vinegars prepared from wine as far back as 5000 B.C. find mention in Babylonian texts.

Vinegar is produced by bacteria that convert fermented liquids like wine, cider, or beer into mild acetic acid. Vinegars are of various types that include wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, malt vinegar, fruit vinegar, herb vinegar, cane vinegar, rice vinegar, and distilled white vinegar.

Making vinegar at home is a very simple process in which failure is almost non-existent. It is very similar to preparing wine. Anybody can make wine at home. But making fine wine is an art. So is it with making fine vinegars. Not everyone can do it.

Vinegar is an ingredient that you will get at almost all grocery shops and malls not only in the US, but all across the world.

Many think that the only use of vinegar is in cooking, marinating different types of meat and fish, and an ingredient in salads. How very wrong they are.

If we come down to the minutest of things that can be done with vinegar, we can safely say that the figure is way over 5000. Yes. This is the versatility of vinegar.

Uses of Vinegar
The uses of vinegar are many. Following are just a few of the uses.

-- Remove smoke odor from your home. They could be cooking odors but this is very effective for cigarette and cigar smoke odors. To do this place a bowl half filled with vinegar in the room. For faster results place a lit candle in the bowl.
-- Inhale vapors of vinegar mixed in boiling water to get instant relief from a blocked nose and sinus problems.
-- For an extremely refreshing bath, add a little vinegar to your bath water.
-- Mix one tablespoon of vinegar (preferably apple cider vinegar, but any vinegar will do) to a glass of warm water, gargle and swallow to relieve a sore throat.
-- Use it to keep kitchen drain unclogged and smelling good. Once a week pour one cup of undiluted vinegar down the drain. Let stand for an hour. Flush with water.
-- Rub palms with vinegar and wash to remove cooking odors. Very effective if you have just cut onions.
-- To remove odors from your refrigerator wipe it with a soft cloth dipped in an equal mixture of vinegar and water. Do this at least once a month.
-- When you wash and dry stainless steel, it will leave faint white marks. To get rid of these marks wipe clean with a soft cloth dipped in mild vinegar.
-- Boil an equal mixture of vinegar and water in your microwave for 10 to 15 minutes. This will help loosen all splattered foodstuff and also deodorize the microwave. Remove all loose food particles and wipe clean with a soft cloth soaked in vinegar.
-- There is no better solution to unclog your steam iron. Calcium in normal water forms lime-scales which over time will clog the holes in your steam iron, making the steam function useless. In the water compartment pour a mixture of half water and half vinegar and put the iron temperature and steam on maximum. Let the iron stand for 5 to 10 minutes. All the lime-scales will get loose. Shake iron and drain out water when iron cools down.
-- If your washing machine has got a heater, limescales from water get deposited on the heating element. Heating capacity will reduce due to this. To solve this run your machine using the heater to maximum. Mix one cup of vinegar to this water. It will loosen and remove the limescales. You can see this when the water is drained out of the machine. After doing this you will be surprised at how fast the water heats up. Also your washing machine will now consume much less electricity when using the heater function.
-- While boiling eggs, add one to two tablespoons of vinegar to the water. If an egg is cracked, the white will not spill out.
-- Add a tablespoon of vinegar while poaching eggs. The whites will not spread all over and be much firmer and whiter.
-- To tenderize meat, marinate it with vinegar and spices for at least a couple of hours. Better still keep it refrigerated overnight.
-- To keep your flowers fresh longer, add a tablespoon of vinegar to the water.

These are just a few of the uses of vinegar. The list is literally endless.

For uses other than cooking and medicinal, there is no need to use expensive vinegars; use any cheap commercial variety. When you have to consume vinegar for health reasons, try and use apple cider vinegar which has got excellent medicinal and healing properties. When you have to use vinegar on your clothes or in places like the washing machine, always use white (white in vinegar actually means clear and transparent) vinegar which has got absolutely no trace of any color.

After reading this, can you think of any ingredient in your kitchen that comes even close to the humble vinegar in terms of versatility? I think not!