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What is the effect of Cream of Tartar in making play-doh?
It's play-doh season - Autumn Downunder - and it's time to start creating indoor games for the nieces. I've checked out the recipe, calling for Cream of Tartar. I don't have any, so I'm curious about why it's so necessary. Looking up Wikipedia, it states under Cream of Tartar that it's an essential ingredient:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream_of_tartar#House...
Then there is the "Play-Doh" link, which says that "Cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate) used to be a vital ingredient [citation needed]", but doesn't say much more than that.
Other places confirm that Play-doh doesn't come out right without the mysterious wine-making additive, and wikipedia itself seems to be stumped (I'm looking at the citation request).
So what does Cream of Tartar actually do? What's it's effect on play-doh? Does it react with the salt or oil? Is there some magical binding or smoothing effect?
2 Answers
- Nana LambLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
tartaric acid can be used as a preservative as well as a leavening agent in baking. It isn't just a wine making additive.
I have one recipe for play doh using the cream of Tartar but some others that don't use it. Curious, the one teacher at our local elementary asked us to make the play doh some years ago for use in her class room, but her recipe didn't call for Cream of Tartar.
That is an essential ingredient in my candy making! It stabilizes the egg white in things like divinity and prevents excessive crystalization in other candies like the fondant for dipping.