Five Ways to Use Vinegars

This is for those vinegars that you can see through quite easily such as rice wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, champagne vinegar, etc. I'll do a 'part 2' later on down the line with your balsamic and similar. Here's a tip for the road, too: Keep them in a cool, dark place to store them, and only have them open long enough to pour out your amount and close it right back. Vinegar is like spirits where oxidation is concerned. It just doesn't taste the same the farther down the bottle you get if you don't respect it.

1. Make your own salt and vinegar potato chips! Or pork rinds! You might possibly need a mandolin to cut the potatoes to the right consistency, but there's no reason that you can't have thick salt and vinegar potatoes now, is there? Mmm, definite side dish potential there. You can grab a bag of plain Jane (I use ruffles and kettle chips) and brush them with vinegar, or throw a vinegar damp paper towel into the bag and shake it up. Then add the salt. Same goes with the pork rinds.

2. Sweet and sour glazed everything, right in your slow cooker. 6-8 hours isn't a long time to wait until the first time you taste it, then you're going to wish you had a time machine to fast-forward to dinner! Vinegars can carry along such great tang. Seriously just shake up some of your favorite flavor vinegar with your favorite oil and toss a meat of your choice in it. Throw it on a salad or pull out a few veggies to compliment it sweetly, like carrots.

3. Alfredo sauce. I don't make one without it. I'm a firm believer in depth when it comes to my tastes. If it doesn't give me a 'wow' moment, it's not worth my time. A small amount goes a long way to jazz up a boring cheese sauce.

4. Make your own barbecue sauce! I'm not joking! Use different fruits and veggies pulverized in it or make it chunky style with your favorite vinegar. You just add enough sugar or salt in one form or another until it's to your tastes. Dates make a good add-in to stretch your tomatoes.

5. Pickle everything! Vinegar, water, celery seeds, mustard seeds, garlic, sugar, salt, dill, etc. Find your perfect flavor for the food you would like to pickle, and go for it! Fridge them a week before trying one for best results, unless it's something that you'd like a quick result, then just warm the mixture and toss in your items, allowing them to sit for a bit. Unless you're sealing cans, make sure to watch them in the fridge for when they start to go to Heaven.