The Many Faces of Vinegar

Vinegar is readily recognized as a condiment base and food preservative for canning. However, there’s more than one type of vinegar. Food ingredient supplier Bell Chem shares with you a variety of different vinegars we stock and how they will benefit your company.  

Vinegar for Flavor and Preservation

As a condiment, vinegar is utilized in cooking because of its strong, sharp flavor. Surprisingly, it depends where you are in the world as to what variety of vinegar you are served in or alongside your food. In the United States and England, cider vinegar is the choice of chefs and culinary experts. Across the channel from England, Ireland’s vinegar of taste is malt vinegar while wine-producing countries such as Spain, Italy, and France choose wine vinegar. 

Many condiments contain vinegar as a key component, including ketchups and other tomato-based products, salad dressings and sauces, mustard, aspics and other gelatins, and vinaigrettes. Because vinegar has preservative properties and deters bacterial and other microbial growth, meats are often fermented in vinegar for “raw” meat dishes.

Distilled Vinegar

Distilled vinegar, such as Bell Chem’s white distilled vinegar, is the primary choice for food preservation, such as pickling. Cider vinegars, such as the apple cider vinegar in Bell Chem’s inventory, share the limelight in industrial use with distilled vinegar. Apple cider vinegar has found niche markets in pharmaceuticals and personal care, being sold as gummies and in capsule form. These two types of vinegar form the brunt of food preservation and condiment ingredients. While distilled vinegar has the market cornered, other varieties, such as malt, wine, and cider vinegars add different flavors and nuances to the products in which they are added.

Balsamic Vinegar

Commercial balsamic vinegars combine grape “must” (the juice of pressed grapes) and wine vinegar in an array of flavors and consistencies. Commercial kitchens tend to enhance the flavor of their prepared dishes with balsamic vinegar rather than cook with it.

Rice Vinegar

Rice vinegar is the fermentation of rice rather than grapes and has a milder flavor that allows the natural flavors of foods to be enjoyed. Much like distilled vinegar in the west, rice vinegar is used as a preservative in the east, such as for chicken and processed meat. Many beers and wines contain rice vinegar.

With a wide range of types and uses, Bell Chem’s selection of vinegars can certainly help your business. Bell Chem is a food ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including several varieties of vinegar. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.