What is "cream of tartar" made from?

Question

What is cream of tartar made from and how does it differ from baking powder? When is it used and can baking powder be used instead?

Many thanks!

Answer 1

Cream of tartar is is the more common name for potassium hydrogen tartrate, an acid salt that has several  uses in cooking. Cream of tartar is obtained when tartaric acid is half neutralized with potassium hydroxide, transforming it into a salt. Grapes are the only significant natural source of tartaric acid, and cream of tartar is a obtained from sediment produced in the process of making wine. (The journal Nature reported some years ago that traces of calcium tartrate found in a pottery jar in the ruins of a village in northern Iran are evidence that wine was being made more than 7,000 years ago.)

Cream of tartar is best known in our kitchens for helping stabilize and give more volume to beaten egg whites. It is the acidic ingredient in some brands of baking powder. It is also used to produce a creamier texture in sugary desserts such as candy and frosting. It is used commercially in some soft drinks, candies, bakery products, gelatin desserts, and photography products. Cream of tartar can also be used to clean brass and copper cookware.

Baking soda and baking powder have some similarities, but differences can cause one to make a cake rise, while the other allows the cake to fall flat of expectations. Both baking soda and baking powder contain sodium bicarbonate. Baking powder, however, contains both sodium bicarbonate and cream of tartar. This means differences in both taste and results.

Sodium bicarbonate tends to produce carbon dioxide (CO2), when mixed with an acidic substance. This accounts for dough or batter bubbling when sodium bicarbonate in baking soda is added to ingredients like sugar, milk, or shortening. However, baking soda alone tends to become unstable at higher temperatures. So for example, one might see baking soda in recipes for pancakes, or cookies, because these food items don’t require long baking times.

Recipes that generally don’t take baking soda, but instead require baking powder generally have longer baking times. This is because the cream of tartar in baking powder acts as a second leavening agent, and takes over when the baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is rendered inactive by long exposure to heat.

Thus one often sees baking powder required in recipes like muffins, cakes, and non-yeast breads. It is also popular in recipes like biscuits, which have to cook at a high heat.

It is possible to substitute baking powder for baking soda, though one may need to add a larger amount of powder to get the same results. However the reverse is not true. Substituting baking soda for baking powder will not work in recipes that require high heats or long cooking times. As well, baking soda has a somewhat bitter taste, which can be hard to mask.

Answer 2

ORIGIN OF "CREAM OF TARTAR".

Cream of tartar is the common name for potassium hydrogen tartrate and also tartaric acid, an acid salt that has a number of uses in cooking.

It is obtained when tartaric acid is half neutralized with potassium hydroxide, transforming it into a salt.

Grapes are the only significant natural source of tartaric acid, and cream of tartar is obtained from sediment produced in the process of aging wine.

It is found on the insides of the wine barrels and sometimes at the bottom of bottles of wine. It crystallizes out as a hard crust in the barrel.

hope this helps.               good luck and enjoy.

Answer 3

www.ochef.com/933.htm

It is not a substitute for baking powder.

Answer 4

Plaque.

Answer 5

Cream of tartar is is the common name for potassium hydrogen tartrate, an acid salt that has a number of uses in cooking. Now, before you get all jittery about the thought of cooking with an acid, it's worth noting that lettuce, brown sugar, steak, plums, and just about every other food we eat is acidic. In fact, egg whites, baking soda, and milk are the only non-acidic (alkaline) foods we have.