10 Surprising Uses for Cream of Tartar: Baking, Cleaning, and Pantry Hacks
This mysterious white powder in your pantry is known for its use in baking, but can it really help you around the house? Yes! See the list.
Quick Reference: Cream of Tartar
- What it is: potassium bitartrate (KC4H5O6), a white crystalline acid that crystallizes naturally inside wine barrels during fermentation.
- Top baking use: stabilize whipped egg whites for meringue and angel food cake.
- Top cleaning use: mild abrasive for aluminum cookware (with hot water).
- Top household use: homemade play dough.
- Tool: the Almanac’s Best Days canning + preserving calendar.
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Related Almanac guides
Cream of tartar is potassium bitartrate, the natural acid that crystallizes inside wine barrels during fermentation. It is the secret behind perfect meringue, the lift in angel food cake, the brightness in aluminum cookware, and a handful of other household uses your grandmother probably knew. This guide is the 10 uses to put a jar of cream of tartar to work in your kitchen and around the house, with the simple food chemistry from the American Chemical Society that explains why it does what it does.
What Cream of Tartar Actually Is (the Chemistry)
Per Britannica and the American Chemical Society, cream of tartar is a single naturally occurring compound with one simple function: a mild stable acid.
- Chemical name: potassium bitartrate (potassium hydrogen tartrate, KC4H5O6).
- Source: tartaric acid is naturally present in grapes. During wine fermentation it crystallizes out on the inside of barrels as a hard white deposit.
- The processing: the deposit is scraped, purified, and milled into the fine white powder sold in spice aisles.
- Function: mild acid (pKa about 3.0) that lowers pH without affecting flavor.
- Why it stabilizes egg whites: the acid denatures the proteins in egg whites just enough to lock them into the whipped foam, preventing collapse.
10 Uses for Cream of Tartar
Beyond the meringue stabilizer most cooks know.
- 1. Meringue and angel food cake. 1/8 teaspoon per egg white. Adds 50 to 100 percent foam volume and stops deflation.
- 2. Snickerdoodles. The tangy bite in classic snickerdoodle cookies comes from cream of tartar plus baking soda (which makes the cookie rise without needing baking powder).
- 3. Homemade baking powder. 2 parts cream of tartar + 1 part baking soda = single-acting baking powder. Mix only as needed.
- 4. Prevent sugar crystallization. 1/8 teaspoon per cup of sugar in syrups, caramel, and frosting.
- 5. Whip cream stabilizer. 1/4 teaspoon per cup of heavy cream extends piped-whipped-cream life on cakes.
- 6. Aluminum cookware brightener. 2 tablespoons in 1 quart hot water, simmer in stained aluminum pan 10 minutes.
- 7. Rust remover. Make a paste with hydrogen peroxide. Apply, wait 30 minutes, scrub.
- 8. Brass and copper polish. Paste with lemon juice. Rub, rinse.
- 9. Homemade play dough. Standard recipe: 1 cup flour + 1/2 cup salt + 2 teaspoons cream of tartar + 1 cup water + 1 tablespoon oil + food coloring. Cook on low until dough pulls together.
- 10. Soothe canker sores (folk). Pinch dissolved in 1/4 cup water as a swish. Mildly acidic; not evidence-supported but widely used.
Original Cream of Tartar Uses
Below is the original Almanac coverage of cream of tartar applications.
Cream of Tartar FAQ
Is cream of tartar the same as baking powder?
No. Cream of tartar is a single acid (potassium bitartrate). Baking powder is a pre-mixed blend of an acid (often cream of tartar), a base (baking soda), and a buffer (cornstarch). You can make single-acting baking powder by mixing 2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part baking soda.
What can you substitute for cream of tartar in a recipe?
For 1 teaspoon cream of tartar use either 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 2 teaspoons white vinegar, or 1 teaspoon white vinegar + 1/4 teaspoon baking soda. Each provides the acid that cream of tartar contributes. In baking powder mix, substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons commercial baking powder for the cream-of-tartar+soda combo.
Does cream of tartar go bad?
Practically no. As a dry mineral acid it does not degrade meaningfully at room temperature. Stored sealed away from moisture it remains effective for decades. Some cooks have decades-old containers still in active use.
Is cream of tartar safe to eat in large amounts?
Small culinary amounts are completely safe. Per USDA FoodData Central, large doses can cause hyperkalemia (potassium overload) in people with kidney issues. Keep typical recipe amounts to 1 teaspoon or less per serving.
Can you clean a pan with cream of tartar?
Yes, especially aluminum cookware. Simmer 2 tablespoons cream of tartar in 1 quart hot water in the stained pan for 10 minutes, then rinse. The mild acid dissolves oxidation and brightens the metal without scratching.
Where can you buy cream of tartar?
Spice aisle of almost any US grocery store. Sold in 1.5 to 8 oz containers for $3 to $8. Bulk options through restaurant supply stores. Mountain Rose Herbs and Frontier Co-op carry organic-certified versions.
Deborah Tukua
Deborah Tukua is a natural living, healthy lifestyle writer and author of 7 non-fiction books, including Pearls of Garden Wisdom: Time-Saving Tips and Techniques from a Country Home, Pearls of Country Wisdom: Hints from a Small Town on Keeping Garden and Home, and Naturally Sweet Blender Treats. Tukua has been a writer for the Farmers' Almanac since 2004.
- Deborah Tukua
- Deborah Tukua
- Deborah Tukua
- Deborah Tukua
Is it 1/2 tsp or 1/2 tbsp with oj for the lungs? This recipes says tbsp but literally every other recipe I see says tsp. LMK! Thanks!
Hi Laura, we’re going to adjust our recipe to say 1/2 teaspoon, so we recommend that. But again, we stress that there’s no scientific evidence it works on cravings, but we hear from a lot of our readers that it worked for them.
Thanks so much for the reply and for making that adjustment! And noted on the evidence. I’ll see how it works for ME and report back. 🙂
Did it work? I’m on day 3 of quitting.
Explosive diarrhea but yeah.. I’m on day 7 use it at night fam it makes you gassy
Thank you for sharing!
Interesting uses
April 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic is not decreasing. The lungs are certainly one area that could use some help..the major cause of death has been pneumonia.
Great information and I agree we need all the good advice and facts only that are available.
I have use cream of tarter to help relieve the symptoms of msg (mono sodium glumate) that may be hidden in foods for my husband. We try to avoid it but “life happens”. We actually keep a little in our cars for just in case
Simply add 1/4 teaspoon to 4 to 6 ounces of warm water and drink it. His allergic reactions disappeared under 30 minutes.
We also had a pinch to our daily gallon of water to help balance ph and and potassium.
Everyone pray for those that are infected to be healed and live.
Pray for those of not infected to stay immune forever and pray for all of the persons known and unknown that are helping to assist and solve this pandemic all over the world.
Thank you for this great post I was looking for something to clean my stainless appliance. Using this time to do thing I did not make time to do. Stay healthy, wash your hands thoroughly, drink something warm to hot liquids every hour, stay hydrated, and stay positive.
Well its march 2020 now. I’ve heard this stuff about a year or 2 ago. So I went and got mine out of the cabinet, studying up on it wondering if would help destroy some or all the toxins out of the lungs to help beat this CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC that’s going on here now. I guess it would really be worth trying. I read once before about it clearing mucus from you lungs as well as helping to stop smoking.. I think with so many getting this respiratory virus and the world being in such a nervous chaotic situation right now with so man lives its taking, that this would be another great thing to be trying to stay healthy right now.. the oj would be a plus as well for those that can handle it. We blots of vitamin C too. And if it could get folks to stop smoking that will be a great help to. God bless us all. Some really horrible and historical times we’re all in right now ,and no way possible for anyone to know how long til its over
Lot of really good information I’m interested in possibly cleaning the nicotine out of my lungs I’m not so interested in quitting cigarettes but if I can clean my lungs out probably be a good thing
Amen!!
How many times a day do you drink the ok and cot mix??
Can you cot with another liquid like gatorade 0 i am diabetic and oj raises my sugar levels
I realize this is an old post but thought it might help someone. I mix mine with V8. It mixes well and you can’t tell it’s in there. Hope this helps!
I am just curious. Someone said they mixed the cot with o.j. 3x over 2 days and hadn’t smoked in 2 months . Did it make your stomach cramp? Diaherrea? Did you keep smoking when you drank it?
I am going to try this Stop Smoking recipe.
It calls for 1/2 cup of orange juice.
Would more orange juice hurt? Or is it the cream of tarter that matters, and the oj is just to make it taste better?
Hi Dan, you can add more. It’s just to make it taste better.
I have been doing a small glass of ok with 1 teaspoon of cot twice a day now for 3 days. My cravings have cut in half and the taste of cigarettes is getting nasty so I don’t want to smoke either. Haven’t noticed any side effects other than butts tasting like crap lol
Yes the cigarettes starts to taste real bad
Just tried a little and got diarrhea. It’s best used in baking and some cleaning recipes.
It’s cleaning out the nicotine so it’s best to take when you’re home or before bed
I did this and quit unfortunately I got depressed and started again but it really works