Cooks, how often do you use vinegar?

[fuzzybabybunny]

I'm trying to determine what must-have items I should purchase to always have on hand. I'm in a perpetual state of travel so I have to plan carefully.

So far, it's:

Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
Flour (roux)
Garlic
Onions
Ginger
Soy Sauce?
Stock Powders

That's about all I've got so far. Maybe canned tomatoes.

In the past I never carried flour but I've recently discovered roux and now I consider it pretty important as a way to kick dishes up a notch, or at least not turn everything I make into a sad watery mess.

Is vinegar necessary? A bag of sugar?

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Do you cook for yourself, for your family, or for random others?

If you mainly cook for yourself or your family the question is: What do you like you eat, and how do you like it to be prepared?

Unless you pretty much run a restaurant just get what you like, and once in a while try other stuff out to see whether you enjoy it or not. If not, don't bother with it. Getting loads of stuff people with totally different tastes suggest can be nice in a while to try things out, but I wouldn't stock up on it unless you know you need it.

 

[Pulsar]

Vinegar is great in sweet and sour dishes, dressings, and many other foods. It's also very handy for cleaning windows (won't streak) etc. It can be used to run through the washing machines (clothes and dish) to disinfect them. You can also use it to get rid of rust stains in the washing machine, clean the top of glass stoves, and more.

Vinegar is handy.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Hmmm... I guess one of my stumbling blocks is that there is so many kinds of vinegar. I don't want to buy rice vinegar and only use it once and have to lug it around everywhere I go. White vinegar I feel is the same. Sure, it can be used in a lot of other non-cooking applications, but it's probably too harsh for the majority of cooking needs, right?

I read somewhere that apple cider vinegar is a decent substitute for nearly all vinegars. Does that sound ok? For instance, would using apple cider vinegar along with some minced garlic and soy sauce be a good dipping sauce for Asian dumplings?

 

[JEDIYoda]

Do you cook for yourself, for your family, or for random others?

If you mainly cook for yourself or your family the question is: What do you like you eat, and how do you like it to be prepared?

Unless you pretty much run a restaurant just get what you like, and once in a while try other stuff out to see whether you enjoy it or not. If not, don't bother with it. Getting loads of stuff people with totally different tastes suggest can be nice in a while to try things out, but I wouldn't stock up on it unless you know you need it.

whatever

 

[Carson Dyle]

It's not completely clear what your goals are.

Is this stuff you'll be carrying from place to place? And if so, in a suitcase, or in the trunk of a car? Or are you forced to leave whatever is unused behind?

Are you trying to figure out how to stock a kitchen so that you can whip up full meals from what you have on hand, or just something to throw in the takeout food you buy while on the road?

As for vinegar, do you prefer to make your own vinaigrettes or do you just buy premade salad dressings? Making salad dressings and pickling eggs is what I primarily use vinegar for.

I always have dozens of things on hand, but it's hard to say what applies to your situation. I always have eggs and butter and usually milk. Hot sauces, particularly Sriracha, Tabasco and Cholula. Mustards, ketchup and some other condiments.

Tortillas, always tortillas. I seldom have bread in the house, but there are many different kinds of burritos and wraps that I make for quick meals. Crackers. To eat with cheese, canned sardines, canned oysters, tuna fish, hummus.

 

[Childs]

Vinegar is handy to have around, its cheap, and I don't think it ever goes bad. A 16oz bottle is probably under $1. I use it for making buttermilk substitute, and every so often it comes up in a recipe. You also can use it to neutralizer chemicals, like oven cleaner. In general its pretty good at cleaning, removing stains, rust, killing germs, etc. Anyways, its cheap enough that you should just get a bottle. If you don't want to take it with you just toss it and get another bottle when you settle in.

 

[lxskllr]

I use a lot of vinegar, and consider cider, balsamic, and wine vinegar essential.

 

[sdifox]

You are going to get stopped a lot carrying vinegar. Just ask Dave.

 

[gorcorps]

I haven't used it that much. I think you'll find plenty of meals to cook without it

 

[sdifox]

I haven't used it that much. I think you'll find plenty of meals to cook without it

Used quite a bit in Asian cooking.

 

[CraKaJaX]

If you travel a lot, I'm assuming your equipment is also limited. A few questions:

1) What is your available equipment?
2) Who are you cooking for?
3) What type of foods do you enjoy?

Cooking is a passion of mine - I rarely eat out. Some people are quite the opposite. If you eat out 50/50, I would just pass on the vinegar. However, vinegar is great for a lot of things - pickling, homemade dressings (ie, balsamic vinaigrette is a favorite of mine), etc. These types of things require a decent amount of vinegar though - not just an ounce or two. I doubt you want to lug around a giant thing of vinegar wherever you go. Hell, if you want pickles THAT bad ... you can just go buy a jar (Tho the Bobby Flay recipe is amazing!)

 

[KMFJD]

Hmmm... I guess one of my stumbling blocks is that there is so many kinds of vinegar. I don't want to buy rice vinegar and only use it once and have to lug it around everywhere I go. White vinegar I feel is the same. Sure, it can be used in a lot of other non-cooking applications, but it's probably too harsh for the majority of cooking needs, right?

I read somewhere that apple cider vinegar is a decent substitute for nearly all vinegars. Does that sound ok? For instance, would using apple cider vinegar along with some minced garlic and soy sauce be a good dipping sauce for Asian dumplings?

Your welcome

 

[gorcorps]

Used quite a bit in Asian cooking.

True, if the OP was in a house he definitely should have some. But for traveling around with I like to travel light, and for me I don't use it often enough to warrant carrying it with me to places. That's just based on how I cook though. I have rice wine vinegar that I use for some Asian recipes, but that's about it.

 

[gorcorps]

If you travel a lot, I'm assuming your equipment is also limited. A few questions:

1) What is your available equipment?
2) Who are you cooking for?
3) What type of foods do you enjoy?

Cooking is a passion of mine - I rarely eat out. Some people are quite the opposite. If you eat out 50/50, I would just pass on the vinegar. However, vinegar is great for a lot of things - pickling, homemade dressings (ie, balsamic vinaigrette is a favorite of mine), etc. These types of things require a decent amount of vinegar though - not just an ounce or two. I doubt you want to lug around a giant thing of vinegar wherever you go. Hell, if you want pickles THAT bad ... you can just go buy a jar (Tho the Bobby Flay recipe is amazing!)

I've always wanted to try making pickles. I'll have to look up that Bobby Flay recipe and give it a go.

 

[DigDog]

i have been using a lot of these

they are saltier than i would like, but far superior to your classic stock cube. several brands make them, including knorr.

 

[CraKaJaX]

I've always wanted to try making pickles. I'll have to look up that Bobby Flay recipe and give it a go.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/dill-pickles

Very simple. I add red pepper flakes and some cayenne to make them a bit spicier. For some reason people think it takes months to let them pickle ... but really it's only overnight (~1 day). So much better than store-bought. :thumbsup:

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Vinegar for cooking, almost never. Vinegar for cleaning, it happens. Vinegar for something strange like making a buttermilk substitute with whole milk because the store is closed or a salad dressing ingredient, once or twice a year.

 

[DigDog]

i use two kinds of vinegar in my kitchen; a big bottle of rice (sushi) vinegar, and balsamic.

sushi vinegar is rounder, less pungent than normal white vinegar, and i use it for sushi and for any other asian-inspired dish where i want to add a bit of acidity. very little use outside of this.

balsamic (which i buy from LIDL, it doesn't have to be the expensive, posh stuff) i use both as a condiment in salads, and as a flavor in dark sauces, such as tomato sauce; it needs to be cooked off to remove the acidity.

we "euro flavor" people (that includes you US folks) don't have that much use for acidity; maybe the occasional lemon slice, but generally we tend towards full, round, fat flavors. acidity breaks through the fat so you will rarely use it, although it can be useful in things such as marinades, as it helps infuse the flavor in the meats.

 

[NetWareHead]

White vinegar used for cleaning or as acidity addition in certain dishes. Also useful for making pickled items.

Red vinegar mostly for salad dressings.

Balsamic vinegar mostly for Italian dishes or salads items.

Apple cider and rice vinegars are specialty items for my kitchen for very specific recipes. Like when I do asian dumplings, the dipping sauce calls for rice vinegar. My fiance is on a health diet at the moment and apple cider vinegar (with the mother) is called for. I think its tasty and has a sweetness not found in other vinegars.

 

[Cheesemoo]

https://www.tonychachere.com/

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Do you cook, or bake?

A lot of quickbread (pancakes, waffles, biscuits, anything that uses baking soda/powder for leavening) recipes that I've seen use a tablespoon or two of vinegar to improve fluffiness. (Helping out the baking soda.)

Other than that, I mostly just use it to clean the coffee maker.

 

[Xstatic1]

I bake and cook.

Surprisingly, I use it moreso for baking. Whenever a recipe calls for buttermilk, I can easily substitute vinegar and milk in its place.

And because I also replaced my non-stick cookware with stainless steel, I use vinegar a lot more (it's great at cleaning stainless steel but I'm not entirely happy with how much more high-maintenance it is ).

 

[Carson Dyle]

I just bought another gallon of white vinegar the other day. I have my coffee maker soaking right now and I used it yesterday to descale a humidifier. I also keep some in the laundry room for removing odors from some things in the wash. I've also found that it's good to remove stains from stainless appliances that the window cleaner I use won't remove. Which doesn't really answer the OP's question.

In the kitchen I use at least five vinegars: white, apple cider, red wine, (cheap) balsamic, and rice vinegar. If I were to choose just one, it would probably be red wine vinegar for use in vinaigrettes.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Rarely. Sometimes I like to make a balsamic reduction but it's not needed every day like salt and pepper.