Other uses: Cream of tartar can also be used, if you're a hippie, as a homemade cleaner. It can also be used as an ingredient which will help activate baking soda (hence you may see it in some cake recipes), and it also sometimes is listed as an ingredient in salt substitutes. However, there are other food uses for cream of tartar, including stabilizing whipped cream, preventing discoloration of vegetables which have been boiled, and preventing sugar syrups from crystallizing (I have never used it for this purpose but am intrigued!). This allows them to brown nicely, hold their shape, and to not melt away and expose the delicious interior of these desserts! The cream of tartar not only stabilizes the egg whites and allows them to maintain their texture when whipped into stiff peaks, but it also increases their tolerance to heat, which is very helpful, say, when you put a meringue topped pie or a baked alaska into a hot oven. Interesting factoid: it's said that cream of tartar residue has been found in pottery dating back 7,000 years!įood uses: Arguably the most famous use for cream of tartar (or at least the one I've seen and used it for most frequently) is to stabilize egg whites when making meringues or meringue toppings. It is formed from the sediment left over in barrels after the winemaking process once formed, it is scraped off of the sides of the barrels and then cleaned and ground to form cream of tartar. Where it comes from: Believe it or not.it is a by-product of wine production! I'm totally not kidding. Though tartar sauce is creamy, it has nothing to do with cream of tartar. That name is derived from tartare, which is a dish for which this sauce a condiment of choice. I wasn't able to find a good explanation of where the 'cream of' came into play, but I should clear up any confusion regarding Tartar Sauce. As you might surmise, the 'tartrate' part can explain where the 'tartar' came from. Why the name? The chemical name for this substance is potassium bitartrate, or potassium hydrogen tartrate. Were I to see it on the counter and not have the benefit of seeing its packaging, I might confuse it with baking powder. What it is: a fine, white, odorless powder. But what exactly is the stuff? For those of you who have ever wondered.let's take a moment to consider the life, times, and purpose of this unique white powder. Perhaps you've even used it in a recipe-it's a common ingredient for meringues or meringue toppings. National Kidney Foundation.You've probably seen Cream of Tartar in recipes, or at least have seen it in the spice aisle in the grocery store. Potassium chloride lowers blood pressure and causes natriuresis in older patients with hypertension. On the mechanism of the effects of potassium restriction on blood pressure and renal sodium retention. Nutritional management of kidney stones(Nephrolithiasis). Effect of potassium citrate on calcium phosphate stones in a model of hypercalciuria. Effect of increased potassium intake on cardiovascular risk factors and disease: systematic review and meta-analyses. doi:10.1016/j.jash.2014.01.001Īburto NJ, Hanson S, Gutierrez H, Hooper L, Elliott P, Cappuccio FP. Journal of the American Society of Hypertension. High potassium intake blunts the effect of elevated sodium intake on blood pressure levels. Rodrigues SL, Baldo MP, Machado RC, Forechi L, Molina M del CB, Mill JG. Effect of tartaric acid and dietary fibre from sun-dried raisins on colonic function and on bile acid and volatile fatty acid excretion in healthy adults. Spiller GA, Story JA, Furumoto EJ, Chezem JC, Spiller M.

Extracellular potassium homeostasis: insights from hypokalemic periodic paralysis. Leavening agents, cream of tartar.Ĭampbell I.

Life-threatening hyperkalemia from cream of tartar ingestion. Rusyniak DE, Durant PJ, Mowry JB, Johnson JA, Sanftleben JA, Smith JM. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. PubChem compound cummary for CID 23681127, potassium hydrogen tartrate. National Center for Biotechnology Information.