Vinegar is the result of fermentation, and you can ferment a lot of weird shit. Anything with a good amount of sugar in it can be turned into a vinegar (provided it doesn’t kill the yeast strain in initial fermentation and it has enough oxygen for the acetic acid bacteria to ferment further).
if they’re so different, why are cooking recipes never called for a specific type of vinegar? Most of the time I just see them listed as “white vinegar” or just “vinegar” in the ingredients.
Most are interchangeable and will not significantly impact the flavour in recipes where only a bit is used so it is mostly a matter of preference. I use mostly white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar for most uses but also have balsamic for italian food and salads and red wine vinegar of some others. There is also just generic vinegar that is made from neutral grains or chemically and i would use that for all the cleaning needs and maybe if i would do a lot of pickling
I only use laboratory-grade glacial acetic acid in my cooking. I’ve only had to go to the hospital twice and call the fire department once, but if you use proper PPE, you should be fine.
White vinegar rather than malt or cider.
TIL there is more than one type of vinegar.
Vinegar is the result of fermentation, and you can ferment a lot of weird shit. Anything with a good amount of sugar in it can be turned into a vinegar (provided it doesn’t kill the yeast strain in initial fermentation and it has enough oxygen for the acetic acid bacteria to ferment further).
Rice vinegar, wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, champagne vinegar. There are more!
if they’re so different, why are cooking recipes never called for a specific type of vinegar? Most of the time I just see them listed as “white vinegar” or just “vinegar” in the ingredients.
Most are interchangeable and will not significantly impact the flavour in recipes where only a bit is used so it is mostly a matter of preference. I use mostly white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar for most uses but also have balsamic for italian food and salads and red wine vinegar of some others. There is also just generic vinegar that is made from neutral grains or chemically and i would use that for all the cleaning needs and maybe if i would do a lot of pickling
I only use laboratory-grade glacial acetic acid in my cooking. I’ve only had to go to the hospital twice and call the fire department once, but if you use proper PPE, you should be fine.