The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-27

pension. When cold, the cream of tar
tar precipitates again as a beautiful
crystalline mass. A drop of tincture
of iodine added to the cooled solution
shows instantly by the blue color pro-
duced the presence of -four or starchy
material.
Sugar, Salt, Baking Soda, Tartaric
Acid.
These should dissolve completely In
cold water. Sediment and other in
soluble materials denote impurities or
adulteratiOn, as for example, a cheap
grade of salt mixed with starch; an
inferior sugar mixed with blueing, etc.
Extract of Lemon.
Essence or extract of lemon is a So
luton of g per cent? oil of lemon in al
cOhol. To dissolve the above amount
of oil requires practically a pure aIco-
hol which really is the costly ingre-
dent in an extract of lemon. The
cheaper extracts contain only a small
percentage of alcohol, but a large
amount Of water. In this mixture the
oil will not dissolve, consequently
these cheap extracts contain but little
or no oil, but merely a flavor of lemon
To determine the character of the ex-
tract:
To a wine glassfuI Of water. add a
teaspoonful of the extract in question
and stir NIiikineSs Immediately re-
suits if the extract contains the proper
proportion of oil (for oil and water will
not mix: If a perfectly clear solution
results no oil or only traces are pres
ent. thus readily identifying an infe-
rtor and cheap extract.
Extract of Vanilla.
Extract Of ,-o,,;lIo -bo,,,5 - -, -
tract of vanilla bean and contain the
constituents of the bean,
such as Vanillin, resinous matter, oil,
gum, colOring matter, etc. 1t is to all
of these principles combined that a true
vanilla owes its characteristic sweet
delicate, fragrant Odor and taste. The
majority of extracts on the market are
artificial preparations of artificially
prepared vanallin and cumarin dis
solved in weak alcohol and properly
coloTed with caramel or dyes. and do
not cost One-tenth of the price of the
genuine extract
To determine the character of the ex-
tract:
In a saucer place about one or two
Ia bleSpOOnfuls of the extract and set
the dish over boiling water in a tea
kettle. Allow the extract to evapo-
rate one-half, then add cold water to
make UP to the original volume. By
this treatment the alcohol has been
driven off and we have nothing but a
watery solution. In this watery sOlu-
ton the principles of a true vanilla are
insolUble, rendering the residual liquid
densely cloudy and a dirty brownish
color.
The artificial extract containing none
of the bean constituents will be per-
fectly bright and clear
Another simple distinction is the adj
ditiOn of a little sugar of lead Solu-
ton mote that this is poison) to the
extract in question. The true vanilla
extract Immediately gives an abundant
yellOwish-brown precipitation and
pale yellowish-straw colored liquid.
Upon an artificial extract the lead So
luton has little or no effect. Only
slight precipitation results and no. or
but little, discOloratiOn takes place.
Vinegar.
Vinegar is derived from cider, wine
and malt and, according to its source,
contains more or less of the substances
present in the original material For
example, cider vinegar contains GER
tain apple constituents; the malt, con-
stituents Of the grain. By evaporat-
ing a, vinegar over boiling water, a res
idue is obtained, which readily i'm
parts to the senses of smell and taste
the characteristics of true cider or
malt. The ordinary vinegar, as found
on our market, commanding only one
quarter to One-siXth of the price of the
former article, is a distilled product.
artificialIy colored. and contains gener-
ally artificial flavoring. When this
kind of vinegar is evapOrated over
boiling water the residue is very small.
hard and brOWnish and practically in
OdorOus- The residue from the cider
or malt vinegar usually contains nu-
merous air bubbles and is soft or semi
solid in consistency
Coffee.
Coffee was formerly aduIterated ex-
tensively with chickory, but very much
less so at present date. Take a tum-
bIerfuI of cold water and add the
coffee grains or the ground coffee
Genuine coffee will float and not i'm
part a distinct color to the water for
several minutes. ChickOTy. cereals and
other sdulterants will sink and settle
to the bottom. leaving brown trails of
color as they sink.
Spices.
Spices own their value 10 coustitu-
ents. which, as d rule, are characters
tically prominent to the odor and taste;
hence, these two physical tests are val
liable indicators Of the quality of a par
ticular spice. For example: If your
cloves do not posses a strong Glove
odOT and taste, the sample has been ex-
hausted and deprived If its valuable
constituent. the Glove oil. If your pep
per does not possess the prominent pep
per Odor and taste, the sample is an in
feTiOr article and probably mixed with
some worthless adulteration.
Borax.
BOrax. while not a food. is now used
extensively as z household article and
costs about Is cents to 20 cents per
pound. The cheap sal soda and bicar-
Donate of soda are sometimes mixed
with the bOrax or entirely substituted
for it. To detect adulteration add to the
suspected sample, in a saucer, one CT
two tablespOOnfuls of vinegar Pure
borax gives no change; If sal or bicar-
Donate of soda is present, abundant eff
fervescence or fizzing Ia mediately takes
place