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Here are the many uses of vinegar:
Food & Cooking
Types of vinegar used in cooking:
White vinegar
Wine vinegar - red wine, white wine, sherry, rice wine
Apple cider vinegar
Black vinegar
Malt vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Vinegars flavored with herbs, spices, fruits and berries, other flavorings
Various uses:
Obviously salad dressing/vinaigrette. Mix 1 part (any kind) vinegar to 3 parts oil, add an emulsifier like ground mustard + throw in some herbs, spices, lemon juice, whatever.
A cap-full or two of white vinegar at the end of cooking a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup gives it some much needed acidity (or lemon juice is great as well)
Brining meats, especially turkey and other lean meats. Fried chicken also tastes very good with a pickle juice brine prior to cooking.
Pickling. Basic pickling liquid ratio is 1:1 vinegar and water, with some amount of salt or sugar or both, depending on your taste. Try this one, or this more basic one.
Greens that are starting to wilt can be revived if you soak them in a bowl with water and a splash of white vinegar for 10 minutes, then rinse.
Vinegar can be very effective in washing fruits and vegetables if you spritz them with a mister (3 parts water to 1 part vinegar), then rinse before consuming.
Vinegar can go very well with fried potatoes (think malt vinegar with your fish and chips).
Speaking of fish, adding a tablespoon of vinegar to the pot when boiling, poaching, or frying fish apparently can reduce the fishy taste, as well as prevent the fish from falling apart.
A splash or two of red wine vinegar in a tomato sauce can go a long way to giving it well-rounded flavor.
Vinegar is very good in a marinade for meats, and can help with tenderizing tough cuts.
Deglazing a pan that you cooked meat and/or vegetables in with a vinegar like red wine, white wine, or sherry vinegar can make a delicious and easy pan sauce.
White wine + white wine vinegar + butter + garlic + lemon makes an amazing sauce for fish (simmered in a pan, of course)
Dumpling (gyoza) sauce needs a couple splashes of rice wine vinegar. Try my gyoza and dumpling sauce recipe. This sauce can also be used for lettuce wraps, spring rolls, tempura, and roasted vegetables like broccoli, bok choy, carrots, and more. Truly an all-purpose sauce.
If you can find it, black vinegar is excellent at providing umami flavors in Asian dishes.
To find out if old baking soda is still useable, add 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar to a dish. If it froths a lot, the baking soda is still good.
You can make a variety of different flavored vinegars by allowing ingredients (like chili peppers, juniper or hawthorn berries, herbs, and more) into a bottle of white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar depending on what flavors you want), and letting it sit for 2-4 weeks in a cupboard.
Balsamic vinegar can be good on ice cream, or paired with mascarpone and figs.
Adding a tablespoon of cold apple cider vinegar to pie dough will help make it very flaky.
A tablespoon of vinegar in the water while hard-boiling eggs can prevent them from falling apart if cracked in the bottom of the pot.
Vinegar + whole milk can be a decent stand in for buttermilk in certain recipes. Use one tablespoon per cup of whole milk, and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes or so.
White vinegar can help remove berry stains from your hands, especially useful if you live in an area good for foraging berries.
Cleaning
The ultimate DIY household all-purpose cleaning solution: 1:1 ratio of distilled white vinegar to distilled water. I usually also add some lemon, orange, or thyme. You can clean basically anything in your house, from floors, countertops, bathrooms, fridges, some kitchen appliances, and more with a 1:1 ratio of distilled white vinegar and distilled water. Check out this graphic below, made by Live Simply, to add different scents as well as ingredients that have cleaning and antibacterial properties:
1:2 parts white vinegar to distilled water in a spray bottle makes an excellent window/mirror cleaner.
Pouring vinegar and baking soda down your drain in the Summer can prevent fruit flies from coming up out of the drain, as they are wont to do.
The process above, vinegar and baking soda in the drain, can also be used to unclog drains. Use 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar, then flush with hot water. After 5 minutes, flush again with cold water.
Wooden cutting boards can be cleaned by spritzing a bit of white vinegar on them, waiting 5 minutes, then wiping off with a damp towel.
Vinegar is very good at helping to remove stale coffee tastes/smells from pour-over filters, french presses, and thermoses. For thermoses and french presses, fill with half vinegar and half water and let sit for an hour. Pour out the mixture, then wash with soap and water. for pour-over filters, simply soak in a bowl with the half water/half vinegar mix for an hour or so. Disclaimer: I do not recommend using vinegar to clean drip coffee makers. Any kitchen appliance with rubber gaskets inside can be broken down using vinegar and damaged.
According to Bob Vila, you can soak paintbrushes with caked-on paint in vinegar for 10 minutes, then wash with soapy water and they should return to their useable self.
***For the next two tips, note that vinegar in a washing machines should only be used very rarely, maybe only once a year, as continual use of vinegar can break down and even melt the rubber gaskets inside the washing machine and cause leaks and other damage. Vinegar is also not an effective stain remover or fabric softener - it is only good at brightening up white clothes and removing caked on bacteria and detergent from bath towels, so it is only necessary to use it very occasionally anyway.
Bath towels can be refreshed, cleansed, and brightened up by adding 1 cup of white vinegar to a load of laundry instead of detergent. This breaks down some of the caked on detergent and bacteria.
Adding 1/2 cup of vinegar alongside detergent to a load of white-only laundry can help brighten up dingy white clothes and make them look fresh and new.
Some things you should NOT clean with vinegar
Despite what some online resources say, these are a few household items that you should avoid cleaning with vinegar, according to consumerreports.com.
Granite or stone countertops
Dishwashers
Electronic Screens
Stone or hardwood flooring
Knives
Cooktops - won’t damage it, but won’t be effective in cutting through tough grease
Most small appliances that have rubber or metal parts. The acid in vinegar can break down and melt rubber, as well as promote rusting in metal. Be careful and do your research when cleaning small kitchen appliances. Diluted dish soap is a better option.
Gardening & Other Miscellaneous Uses
If you’re looking to kill weeds, use vinegar instead of heavy-chemical weed killers. Just spritz a bit of white vinegar onto the weeds. Be careful to keep it away from the plants you want to grow.
You can extend the life of flowers in vases by adding an equal 1:1 ratio of apple cider vinegar and sugar to the water in the vase.
Here is a link to making vinegar from scratch
In order to make vinegar yourself at home, you will need a starter.
Starters include an unpasteurized, unfiltered vinegar, mother of vinegar, or mycoderma aceti - usually found at a brewing supply store.
https://www.tipsbulletin.com/how-to-make-vinegar/
Sources: How Stuff Works, Epicurious, Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson, hgtv.com, Bob Vila, livesimply, Consumer Reports, tipsbulletin.com
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