Cooking - What is a substitute for cream of tartar ?

Question

I can't find any here in Spain and figured that if I left it out of my meringue recipe, it wouldn't that much difference.

Answer 1

Substitute 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar for each 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar called for to stabilize egg whites. Keep in mind that vinegar may alter the taste of the final product.
When cream of tartar is used in a recipe with baking soda, it works like a double-acting baking powder. If cream of tartar is not available, substitute baking powder for both the baking soda and cream of tartar called for in the recipe. Use 1 teaspoon baking powder for every 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar.

Answer 2

Substitute For Cream Of Tartar

Answer 3

Cream Of Tartar Substitute

Answer 4

Continental Europeans have made meringues for ages without using anything like cream of tartar. Lemon juice does just fine, only you have to add a bit more sugar, and many people I know do not even use that.

Answer 5

marthat might give you another answer, but in all of my 50yrs in the kitchen, i have never noticed my meringues suffering from leaving cream of tartar out. just make sure that your egg whites are beaten well enough to form "stiff peaks"

Answer 6

If you are beating eggs whites and don't have cream of tartar, you can substitute white vinegar (in the same ratio as cream of tartar, generally 1/8 teaspoon per egg white). It is a little more problematic to find a substitute for cream of tartar in baking projects. White vinegar or lemon juice, in the ratio of 3 times the amount of cream of tartar called for, will provide the right amount of acid for most recipes. But that amount of liquid may cause other problems in the recipe, and bakers have found that cakes made with vinegar or lemon juice have a coarser grain and are more prone to shrinking than those made with cream of tartar.

Now, if they were making cream of tarter 7,000 years ago in Iran (or at least if cream of tartar was making itself), don't you think you can find the small plastic or glass bottles it comes in among the hundreds of other small jars and bottles in the spice section of your grocery store? Or you can get it in almost any quantity online.