On Wednesday, November 28, 2018 at 2:36:07 AM UTC-10, Ophelia wrote:
> "dsi1" wrote in message
> ...
>
> On Tuesday, November 20, 2018 at 5:33:56 AM UTC-10, Ophelia wrote:
> >
> > I am at a loss to understand why you have produce cheaper vinegar! A
> > bottle
> > of Sarsen's vinegar.here costs around 70p which is a little more then half
> > of £1
>
> I was eating at my dad's house and my Swedish step-mom made some cucumbers
> in vinegar. She asked me where she could get acetic acid. She didn't care
> for the stuff in America because they had a peculiar taste and at 4.5%
> acidity, it was too weak. She was looking for a 24% or 12% concentration
> level. She said that you could only get 12% acetic acid in Sweden because at
> 24%, "accidents" would occur.
>
> Accidents indeed - that stuff is dangerous! In chemistry class, I once stuck
> my nose in a bottle of glacial acetic acid and that snapped my head back. It
> forever changed my approach to smelling unknown chemicals. A most excellent
> lesson!
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJXSLmYlvIQ
>
> ==
>
> Good grief! I take it you think Sarsen's is safe enough?

If it's like the stuff sold in the US, it'll be around a 5% acidity level. That's fairly safe. Near as I can tell, the Swedes have some use for vinegar at higher concentrations. I can get 24% vinegar at the Korean market - my guess is that you don't want to get that stuff on your skin. I was surprised that she called vinegar "acetic acid." She used to work in a lab so maybe that's the reason.

My guess is that Sarson malt vinegar is not diluted acetic acid but beer that is allowed to turn. My step-mom is looking for for something completely flavorless so diluted industrial acetic acid might be her cup of tea.