10 Ways A Little Bit Of Vinegar Can Make Cooking Easier

 

We all know that vinegar makes for an excellent, all-natural cleaning agent, and it’s perfect for dyeing Easter eggs, but did you know there are several ways you can use it when cooking?

1. Poach An Egg

poached egg photo
Photo by Accidental Hedonist

Maybe you think poaching an egg is too complicated, but once you do it a few times, you’ll get the hang of it, I swear! But, adding a little white vinegar to the water, then adding the eggs, will help the whites stay together.

2. Boil An Egg

Love hard-boiled eggs but don’t love peeling them? Well, when you add some vinegar to the water, it’ll soften the eggshells and make peeling way easier.

3. Add It To Pie Crust

apple pie photo
Photo by Pirate Alice

Yep, that’s right—add some vinegar to your pie crust. As a result, you’ll finally get that flaky crust you’ve always wanted! I used apple cider vinegar when making apple pie, and it worked (and added a nice, flavorful touch!).

4. Pickle Garlic

I just had pickled garlic for the first time this year, for the Persian New Year. It had been pickled in vinegar for over 25 years, though you don’t have to pickle yours that long!

Here’s an easy, delicious recipe for first-timers to try, and you can use the vinegar of your choice—apple cider, white, or red. A quick tip from EatingWell: the fresher the garlic, the better the pickled garlic.

5. Clean Fruits And Veggies

apple pie photo
Photo by bee-side(s)

Sure, you can buy a fruit-and-vegetable cleaning spray, but do you really trust those? Instead, you can just use water to get off crumbs of dirt, and vinegar to clean the produce more thoroughly (i.e., like getting off wax).

6. Use Vinegar Instead Of Lemon Juice

Making something that calls for lemon juice, only to realize you’re all out? Well, good news—you can use vinegar instead, half the amount. I wouldn’t try this if you’re making something as lemon-centric as lemon meringue pie, but it does the trick for dressings and the like.

7. Add Vinegar To Your Bottle Of Ketchup

ketchup photo
Photo by JeepersMedia

Have some stubborn ketchup stuck at the bottom of the bottle? Not anymore—once you add a bit of white vinegar to it! If you really want to shake things up—no pun intended!—you can try adding balsamic vinegar instead, and maybe even a flavored one, like raspberry.

8. Make Salad Dressing Or Dip

You can also make salad dressing or dip with the ketchup that refuses to leave the bottle. Just add your other ingredients and shake, shake, shake!

9. Tenderize Meat

steak photo
Photo by mdid

Here’s an easy way to tenderize your meat or cuts of steak, whether it’s top quality (or not). All you have to do is add a tablespoon of white vinegar to your meat or roasts, according to Frugal Living. Then, the acid in the vinegar does its magic. Try it and you’ll see for yourself!

10. Eliminate The Fish Smell From Your Food, Hands And House

Are you a fan of fish, but don’t like the smell lingering in your house—or on your hands—afterwards? For your hands, you can rinse them off with vinegar, then water.

For your house, you can leave a bowl of white vinegar out overnight. Or, you can simmer some water with vinegar in it. Who would have thought, huh? As for your food, you can soak the fish in vinegar and water before cooking it.

Food, Home

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About the Author
Natalia Lusinski
In addition to Simplemost, Natalia is an ongoing writer for Bustle (sex, dating, relationships, and money), HelloGiggles (pop culture and news), The Delite (feel-good stories), and Don’t Waste Your Money (yep, money issues!). You can also find her writing in the L.A. Times, the Chicago Tribune's RedEye, xoJane, Elite Daily, Scary Mommy, Elephant Journal, and Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies, among other publications. She has a Ph.D. in couch-surfing, having spent four years sleeping on over 200 L.A.-area love seats and sectionals, all in an effort to whittle down her student loan debt. She still loves couch-surfing in other cities, too (hint, hint).

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