Kitchen

[Sooner]

If you are a really good scratch cook, if you ever make a meringue, you have it and it is fresh enough because you replace it occasionally.

If you just cook, reheat, and buy the rest, no you don't need it.  

[Dusty1]

@Flatbush I always have some fresh for baking Snickerdoodles.

They are my most requested cookie. 

I bake for my husband to take stuff to work with him every now & then & people will ask him if I am going to make them Snickerdoodles any time soon.

That is the only thing I use it for.

The last time I bought a jar at the grocery the boy that was bagging asked if I was making Snickerdoodles!

[Carmie]

I use cream of tartar pretty often.  It is used for making meringues, cookies, cakes...especially angel food cake, some pies, caramel popcorn, some homemade candy like clear toys and for sprinkling a little on fresh tomatoes.

I use it in recipes to keep sugar from browning too.  I find it is very useful.

[Kachina624]

Cream of Tartar is a leavening agent, it makes things rise.  I know I have one old cookie recipe from my grandmother that calls for it.

List of leavening agents

Leavening Agents

• Yeast.
• Baker's yeast.
• Active dried yeast.
• Baking powder.
• Baking soda.
• Cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate)
• Sourdough.
• Sourdough starter

[loriqvc]

@Flatbush - Cream of tartar may lose its effectiveness over time for baking purposes, but a quick check of some reliable online resources says it should be good for about four years from the date of packaging— so use your best judgment to determine if your can is worth saving. 

Just to add my two cents with things others have posted, I use cream of tartar as a stabilizer in several baking recipes involving egg whites (e.g., meringues, pavlovas, and angel food cake) as well as in snickerdoodles, a pumpkin sugar cookie recipe, and a whipped topping-based frosting. In some recipes, you may be able to substitute lemon juice or vinegar, but you'd likely need to experiment or speak with someone who has done so with a particular recipe to guarantee similar results.

[LTT1]

@Flatbush 

I have a recipe for meringue cookies with chocolate chips in them...the cream of tartar does that..it stabilizes the egg white "puffs" so they bake properly in the oven.

[SaveTheTurtles]

I go through my spices yearly at least and toss what has expired. I can't remember the last time a recipe called for cream of tarter.

[SaveTheTurtles]

@781Florist  If you google cream of tarter biscuits you will find many recipes. One from New England comes up with a picture that looks really good.

[Flatbush]

@loriqvc 
I do a lot of baking, maybe I will replace it. It has been in the pantry for 1,2,3 ? decades. So long that I cannot remember.

[Flatbush]

So many interesting posts about the use of it. Think I'll look for it and see what interesting recipes I can find. Maybe find some old cook books that mention it.

Thanks every one.