What is venegar and its uses?

Question

I have heard about vinegar. what are its uses and limitations. can someone explain in detail

Answer 1

Vinegar is commonly used in food preparations, particularly in pickling processes, vinaigrettes, and other salad dressings. It is an ingredient in sauces such as mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise. It is also often used as a condiment.

Non-culinary uses

Cleaning
Vinegar can be a potent, inexpensive and environment-friendly cleaning agent. White vinegar is generally recommended when vinegar is being used as a cleaning fluid.

A few tablespoons of white vinegar mixed with a few teaspoons of common table salt makes an excellent cleanser for cleaning badly-stained stainless cookware. This vinegar and salt mixture can also remove oxidation from copper-clad cookware and make it shine with practically no rubbing required.

One cup white vinegar to four cups water (for a stronger solution, one cup white vinegar to one cup water works) makes a fine window-washing fluid, substituting for Windex. If windows appear streaky after washing with vinegar, add a half-teaspoon of liquid soap to the mix—this removes the waxy, streak-causing residue left over by commercial window cleaners.

Drains can be cleaned by using a combination of vinegar and baking soda. Pour one-half cup baking soda down the drain, followed by half a cup of white vinegar. Let sit for a while. Cover the drain while it works, then pour a tea kettle full of boiling water down the drain. This is a good way to prevent build-up in the drain.

Vinegar also works well as a fabric softener; just add half a cup to the rinse cycle.
Add a cup of vinegar to an empty dishwasher and run through the washing cycle to remove mineral deposits and odors. You can also put it in the rinse dispenser instead of Jet Blue.
Removing odors using commercial cleaners often causes damage to surfaces. Vinegar can act as a very effective odor-remover especially in situations involving sensitive surfaces.
Weak solutions of vinegar or acetic acid in water are used for douches.

Vinegar can also be used as a solvent for removing the adhesive residue tapes leave on glass and plastic. It works well for quickly removing an adhesive residue that has been left on for about 1-2 weeks. To remove the adhesive residue using vinegar, you should:

Apply the vinegar to a cloth or paper towel.
Dab the cloth or paper towel in a little bit of vinegar.
Scrub at the surface with the damp side of the cloth or paper towel.

Dry the surface.

Medicine
Hippocrates prescribed vinegar for many ailments, from skin rash to ear infection.

Vinegar is a folk medicine used in China to prevent the spread of virus such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and other pneumonia outbreaks:

"On February 13, 2003 news of a type of atypical pneumonia that appeared in six cities of south China's Guangdong province has been brought under control, with no cases reported since Monday. According to press conferences held by the Guangdong and Guangzhou governments, local governments at various levels have taken emergency measures to control the prices of isatis root, vinegar and other related anti-virus medicines, which saw soaring prices due to their effectiveness in curing this disease" (source unknown).
The therapeutic use of vinegar is recorded in the second verse of the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill": "Went to bed and bound his head / With vinegar and brown paper." As with all nursery rhymes there is truth in the story and this one comes from the village of Kilmersdon in Somerset. The vinegar used would likely have been cider vinegar.

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is a much more useful astringent than ice and will reduce inflammation, bruising and swelling in approximately a third of the time that ice will take. Application is directly onto the skin with a flannel, and left on for an hour or so.

Vinegar along with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is used in the livestock industry to kill bacteria and viruses before refrigeration storage. A chemical mixture of peracetic acid is formed when acetic acid is mixed with hydrogen peroxide. It is being used in some Asian countries by aerosol sprays for control of pneumonia. A mixture of five-percent acetic acid and three-percent hydrogen peroxide is commonly used.

Apple cider vinegar in particular is often touted as a medical aid, from cancer prevention to alleviation of joint pain to weight loss. These claims began in Biblical times; in 1958, Dr. D. C. Jarvis made the remedy popular with a book that sold 500,000 copies.

Claims that cider vinegar can be used as a beauty aid also persist, despite the fact that apple cider vinegar can sometimes be very dangerous to the eyes. The acid will burn and the eyes will become red, but there are no damages to the eyes ever described. If the vinegar contains mother of vinegar the slime bacteria of the mother can cause ophthalmitis.

Many believe that vinegar is also a cure to mild to moderate sunburn when soaked on the area with a towel or in a bath.

Cider vinegar is also claimed to be a solution to dandruff, in that the acid in the vinegar kills the fungus Malassezia furfur (formerly known as Pityrosporum ovale) and restores the chemical balance of the skin.

Two tablespoons of vinegar before a meal was found to prevent blood sugar spikes in a study by Carol Johnston, a professor of nutrition at Arizona State University.


Miscellaneous
When vinegar is added to sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), it produces a very fizzy and volatile mixture of carbonic acid decomposing into carbon dioxide and water. It is exemplified as the typical acid-base reaction in school science experiments. The salt that is formed is sodium acetate.

Neutralizes lye, a strong base.

According to the Prophet Mohammed, vinegar is one of the best condiments (Ref. Sahih Muslim Book 023, Number 5091).

Lord Byron would consume vast quantities of white vinegar to keep his complexion pale.

Vinegar can also be used as an organic herbicide.

Answer 2

http://www.vinegartips.com/

Vinegar is a great all-purpose tool. It is one of the 7 items in my home-care/beauty care/petcare/garden cupboard, along with epsom salts, WD-40, vodka & a few other things :)

It is essentially an acid. Acetic acid. Yet it is so much more than that. Its limitations are not as numerous as its miracle properties.

The biggest limitation I have found in White vinegar is its purported efficiency in killing weeds. It is not as effective on them or on grasses as I had hoped.

Balsamic, or imported, fortified vinegar, is all the rage right now. It gacks me out. The taste is not so great and it is so strong that it makes everything taste the same to me.

See the above site for 1001 uses of vinegar--it's a good place to start :)
gg

Answer 3

Vinegar is that bitter liquid used for cooking to make food delicious. It also has many uses such as for medicine, wines, cleaning and for manufacturing. If not used for a longer time, it is no longer a vinegar but turns into wine.

Answer 4

Vinegar is some kind of sour white liquid, very thin. It's made from apple cider but the others are made from something else...
well, you can use it as a seasoning when cooking... I don't know any other use for it...

Answer 5

Vinegar is an alkaline. You can mix it with spices and make a salad dressing. You can mix a little of it in a bucket of water and make a good wash for your hardwood floors. You can put it in your washing machine and cut down on soap scum. It has many, many uses.

Answer 6

Vinegar is a substance created from spoiled wine, or fruit. It has many uses from cleaning to cooking, and is healthy to consume daily.

Answer 7

Check this out!

http://frugalliving.about.com/cs/tips/a/vinegar.htm

Also...I hate to give away my secret..but to any and all of you that love deviled eggs....along w/your other ingredients...add a little apple cider vinegar to the mixture..it's freakin' fantastic!!

Answer 8

You can use it to clean poultry before you cook it. It helps eliminate the rank smell of the meat. I also use it to clean my hard wood floors (put a little in water and wipe).

Answer 9

helps dissolve limescale and calcium deposits.

Helps clean shower heads and coffee brewers safely and nontoxically. Helps to remove blood stains from clothes.

It's a mild acetic acid,really.

Answer 10

I had asked this same question 4 times, and didn't get a proper answer