Purpose of vinegar and starch in meringue/pavlova

[cakedecorator1968]

What is the scientific purpose of vinegar and cornstarch in a pavlova?

How about the purpose of cream of tartar when whipping whites?

Ever had a batch of meringue that just wouldn't dry out in the oven? Even overnight-stayes a little wet and sponge-finaly dries out but it's too hard?

Do you find meringue a little bit mysterious? A little bit different each time you make it?

[chefpeon]

What is the scientific purpose of vinegar and cornstarch in a pavlova?

How about the purpose of cream of tartar when whipping whites?

Both of the above accomplish the same thing.

Cream of Tartar, which is the solid salt of the tartaric acid mixed with cornstarch,

and vinegar in combination with the cornstarch, help stabilize the egg foam by decreasing the pH level in the albumen, making the foam less apt to collapse.

Vinegar and Cream of Tartar are both acids. When you add Cream of Tartar, you are not adding additional liquid to the whites to destabilize them.....when you use vinegar or perhaps citric acid, you need to add a little of something dry to offset the liquid you have added.

Ever had a batch of meringue that just wouldn't dry out in the oven? Even overnight-stayes a little wet and sponge-finaly dries out but it's too hard?

Do you find meringue a little bit mysterious? A little bit different each time you make it?

If you don't totally understand the properties of meringues, they can be a bit mysterious, yes.

But if you work with meringues a lot, these "mysteries" aren't quite so baffling any more.

The basic key, is sugar. How much you add. How you add it......whether it's a sugar syrup or just granulated. Different meringues serve different purposes. If you want a nice light meringue that dries in the oven, the you need to go a bit lighter in the sugar department. Generally, baked hard meringues have a sugar to egg white ratio of two to one.

Soft meringues, which you would find as toppings for tarts and pies can be made with equal quantities of sugar and egg whites by weight. This is all variable and tweakable of course, to make it as you like it.

[piazzola]

I think the purpose of vinegar is to help boost baking powder activity

and cream of tartar is to help build egg white peaks which otherwise you may need salt to do that

Guess cornstarch would be to further weaken flour to break down protein(gluten).

Hope this helps

[pupkinpie2]

The best source for answers to these questions and others like it would be to consult "On Food and Cooking" by Harold McGee. Although this book can be a bit dry, it explains the scientific reasoning be everything in the kitchen. This is an amazing book. It is updated yearly to include up to date information.

[Becca Porter]

I know in many candy and meringue recipes, vinegar helps counteract the extreme sweetness. I am always very pleased when I see it in these recipes.

[chefpeon]

^^^^I don't suppose any of y'all bothered to read my post, did you?