cheap brown vinegar works for...?

cattkitt

I just put the vinegar in overnight, then tip out the vinegar and rinse the kettle with water.

The trick is to put the kettle out of the way whilst it's soaking, so that you or some hapless family member doesn't end up with vinegar tea/coffee. :rotfl:

Lou76

Thought I'd bump this existing thread up rather than start a new one, as I want to ask about a [possibly] daft idea.

Is it possible to freeze vinegar?

I've recently had a waste disposal unit fitted (it's fab, love it ) and the manufacturer recommends chucking ice cubes into it occasionally, to help clean out any food that's stuck in the grinders. Chicken bones are also recommended but sadly I never cook a whole chicken/ chicken thighs etc so that rules that one out.

I've been reading that vinegar is good for pouring down the sink to help clean out the drains.

So, I thought (bad idea, I know ) that if I could freeze vinegar, I could kill two birds with one stone and use 'vinegar cubes' to clean the unit and the drains at once?

Cheers

Lou xx

amibovvered

Lou76 wrote: »

Is it possible to freeze vinegar?

No idea off-hand but I imagine the easiest way to find out is to put some in an ice-cube tray and try it! Do a couple with neat vinegar and a couple with diluted - saves time if the neat vinegar doesn't freeze - and I imagine it would work just as well really.

The temperature in my shed at the moment (my guilty smoking room!) is well below zero and the bottle of vinegar in there hasn't frozen but it's a nearly full bottle, smaller amounts may still freeze.

Lou76

amibovvered wrote: »

No idea off-hand but I imagine the easiest way to find out is to put some in an ice-cube tray and try it! Do a couple with neat vinegar and a couple with diluted - saves time if the neat vinegar doesn't freeze - and I imagine it would work just as well really.

The temperature in my shed at the moment (my guilty smoking room!) is well below zero and the bottle of vinegar in there hasn't frozen but it's a nearly full bottle, smaller amounts may still freeze.

Thanks for replying. Not sure why I though vinegar wouldn't freeze, but maybe I'm not such a numpty afterall. :rotfl:

I don't actually have an ice cube tray (I use the bags, but could be messy filling them with vinegar, I struggle with water ) so thought I'd ask before I buy something that might end up in the bin.

janb5

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

I don't really have that problem as we buy vinegar in the large 5 litre plastic containers for pickled onions/eggs and to make chutney when there's the usual summer glut of tomatoes from the greenhouse (you can only ever give so many away !) and to make use of the green ones which remain at the end of the season, so there's always a couple of litres or so left over. It's usually so much cheaper to buy vinegar this way if you've got space to store it.

Anyway, something which hasn't been mentioned so far .... we live in a quite hard water area and although our kettle has a coating which reduces the buildup of limescale, the removeable filter in the pouring spout still tends to scale up. After wrecking a couple of filters in the past by rubbing them between my fingers under a running tap (they're ever so expensive to replace you know ... big moneysaving tip !!) I decided it was better to soak the filter in a cup of vinegar ..... works a treat.

HTH
Z

Best way to clean kettles that I`ve found is to stand the empty kettle in the sink having filled it to the brim with brwon vinegar. Following day using a funnel decant the vinegar back into the bottle to use for another occasion ( not for your chips!) I`ve found that my kettle needs four bottles of vinegar and I reuse about 4 times. Very hard water area and kettle is gleaming! I boil fresh water in it about 3 times before use afterwards.

Lou76

Quick update; vinegar can indeed be frozen.

I had a brainwave earlier, after posting my original question, and decided to try a little experiment. :rotfl:

I poured some malt vinegar (Aye, the cheap stuff) into a small freezer bag. Then, to make it a useable shape, for my purpose, I pulled the bottom corner of the bag up to the top and tied it all into a knot.

Basically, it resembled a piping bag IYKWIM - wouldn't recommend 'icing' cakes with it though. :eek: Then chucked it in the freezer and... voila, a "vinegar ice cube/diamond" I can snap out of the bag and chuck straight down the waste disposal unit when I need it.

No need now to buy an ice cube tray. I'll just use this method once a month, or so, using recycled freezer bags. It'll save taking up unnecessary room in the freezer, and saves me spilling vinegar everywhere, as I try to juggle a tray into the freezer drawer, in the process :T

amibovvered

Good idea - I was going to suggest putting a bit in a yoghurt cup or something but your way is less messy. Not that I need to freeze vinegar - my waste disposal has four legs and barks a lot!

Fruball

amibovvered wrote: »

Good idea - I was going to suggest putting a bit in a yoghurt cup or something but your way is less messy. Not that I need to freeze vinegar - my waste disposal has four legs and barks a lot!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: I used to have one of those! Also, essential for weaning time I find

vl2588

Awesome thread; have learnt a lot and am no longer searching for 'cheap' white vinegar

Thanks to all :T

mummyjane

After reading this thread I now find myself wondering why I have spent the last 10 years or splashing out on the white stuff :eek:
Not very MSE eh!