About Citric Acid (Food Grade)
Citric acid is a popular product and ingredient that can be used in a number of ways from cleaning your home to making your own summer-inspired elderflower cordial (or any other flavour you prefer).
Citric acid is a compound found in naturally citrus fruits such as lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruits. It comes in a powder form and can be used in a number of ways as a powerful ingredient.
To make elderflower cordial
Using citric acid for elderflower cordial is easy. However you can create your own cordial with any fruits such as berries, lemon or lime. Here’s a quick recipe:
Directions: Add 2.5kg white sugar to 1.5 litres of water into a large saucepan and heat gently, stirring occasionally. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat and bring to the boil, once boiling turn off the heat. Then simply add dried or fresh elderflower to the sugar syrup along with the zest of two lemons and around 85g citric acid, cover and leave to infuse for 24 hours.
Pour through a colander into another pan, jug or a large bowl and discard the bits of elderflower and lemon. Decant into bottles and refrigerate for up to 4-6 weeks. Dilute with water to taste.
Why use citric acid in elderflower cordial? The addition of citric acid simply prevents the cordial from fermenting and acts as a preservative.
To use as a cleaning product
Citric acid can be used as a natural cleaning product to descale surfaces. It is a powerful product that can safely kill bacteria and remove mould or limescale particularly in kitchens and bathrooms in the home. It is considered to be an eco-friendly or ‘green’ way of cleaning as it is a completely natural product. Simply mix with water before using. If cleaning the toilet, pour a tablespoon into the water and leave it for 15-20 minutes before flushing. It can be used in dishwashers too, add to the dishwasher and put it on a hot cycle - this will remove and rinse away any build up. As it is natural, it can be used to descale and clean baby bottles by gently removing build up without any chemicals - it is completely safe and gentle.
Another way of being creative with citric acid is to create your own homemade bath bombs - you can find ways of doing this easily online.
To use in cooking
Citric acid can also be used in various cooking recipes where a sour taste is required, such as sweet and sour sticky tofu for a healthy take on your favourite takeaway. It is often used in cooking as it doesn’t disturb the flavours of other key ingredients in the way that apple cider vinegar or lemon might.
You can buy citric acid powder online in a number of sizes depending on how you choose to use this versatile product. We are popular suppliers of citric acid and offer delivery to the UK and throughout Europe.
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