Cream of Tartar

Do not take an overdose of potassium with richly filled cream of tartar.

Cream of tartar is a white compound of powdered potassium acid salt that is derived from tartaric acid.
Crystallised cream of tartar forms inside barrels of fermenting grape juice and sometimes in bottles of wine, that have been cooled at 10°C (50°F) or lower.
Cream of tartar is often used for culinary purposes as a stabiliser, to boost the volume of egg whites and their resilience to heat; to keep the fluffiness of whipped cream; to stop crystallisation of sugar based liquids; and to stabilise colour enzymes of vegetables so that they keep their colour.
Cream of tartar is often used to make baking powder as well as in salt replacements that require limited or no sodium.
Cream of tartar is a combination of potassium, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen in the chemical makeup of KC₄H₅O₆.

‘Cream of tartar’ is officially known as ‘potassium bitartrate’, and is also called ‘potassium hydrogen tartrate’, ‘potassium acid tartrate’ and ‘monopotassium tartrate’.
A mixture of dissolved cream of tartar in either an acid solution or water can be used for cleaning; the former for metals including aluminium, brass and copper and the latter for most other objects.
Cream of tartar was originally made in wine barrels, until a modern method was produced by CW Scheele, a chemist from Sweden in 1769, and characteristics of the substance were documented in 1832 by Jean-Baptiste Biot, a French physicist.
Cream of tartar is very high in potassium, so consuming large quantities of the powder can lead to potassium-related illnesses such as hyperkalemia, and women that are pregnant and elderly people should be careful about ingesting it.
‘Tartar’ of ‘cream of tartar’ has been used since the 1300s, and is originally from the Greek word ‘tartaron’, and later the Medieval Latin word ‘tartarum’.

Amazon: