Anyone use vodka for anything other than drinking?

[Zech]

It's always puzzled me that ten minutes or so is reckoned to be enough to drive off any amount of alcohol, whereas raising a pan of water to 100 deg C for ten minutes would only drive off some of it - it would take quite a while to evaporate the whole lot. My guess is that the stronger the alcohol mixture, the longer it will take to boil it off. Not sure whether it matters, though - does alcohol actually damage fabrics? More research needed

[southeast-isher]

If cleaning vinyl record grooves with vodka would that be ok or would it melt the plastic or react in some way?

[gregorach]

If cleaning vinyl record grooves with vodka would that be ok or would it melt the plastic or react in some way?

It will more or less do the job. Not as good as proper record cleaning fluid though (although the cheapest I can find the real stuff at is £17.50 a litre), and definitely NOT suitable for use on old-fashioned shellac 78s. You'll need a vacuum record cleaning machine to do the job properly though.

[MandyWB]

it is great for making herbal tinctures-just pack the herb into the vodka- I made some great comfrey tincture that way,

I also use it to make tinctures. Last year I made yarrow, motherwort and St John's wort tinctures. I would definitely recommend having a go at St John's wort tincture - the beautiful red colour alone is enough to cheer you up in the depths of winter.

[southeast-isher]

Oh thanks a lot Dunc/gregorach i will give it a try on a couple of records i have that need cleaning up.

Could i make a yerba mate tincture? How would i do it using vodka? And what would the tincture do? I've only ever tried the rescue remedy tincture...

[Helsbells]

My mum treated head lice with vodka and teatree oil.

[dave45]

I hate to say this (I really HATE it) but alcohol can be driven off by raising the solution above 70 degrees C for ten minutes or so.
Mike

ethanol's boiling point is 78 C.
So I built a digital thermometer controlled heater and raised the temperature of some scrap wine to exactly 78 C. Then 79C etc thinking that all the alcohol would boil off neatly.... but .... it aint so simple.. azeotropic mixtures get involved... We didn't do this in O-level chemistry. Why don't they teach you useful stuff at school.?

[MKG]

I hate to say this (I really HATE it) but alcohol can be driven off by raising the solution above 70 degrees C for ten minutes or so.
Mike

ethanol's boiling point is 78 C.
So I built a digital thermometer controlled heater and raised the temperature of some scrap wine to exactly 78 C. Then 79C etc thinking that all the alcohol would boil off neatly.... but .... it aint so simple.. azeotropic mixtures get involved... We didn't do this in O-level chemistry. Why don't they teach you useful stuff at school.?

Very true, Dave, and well spotted - 80 degrees would be quicker. I must admit I was thinking in terms of minimum flavour alteration, which wasn't so appropriate for this question. However, vaporisation begins at an appreciably lower temperature than the overall boiling point (defined as when vapour pressure is equal to ambient pressure throughout the BULK of the containing medium). Think of heating a pan of water - you can clearly see vapour rising long before boiling point is reached.

Oh - and stills are run at the boiling point of alcohol, not water - but you still get water vapour produced (hence the reason distilled spirit is never 100% ABV).

Mike

[okra]

We use vodka to make prickly pear sorbet which is a member of the cactus family and is found growing throughout Cyprus. The fruit is ripe and harvested between August and September.

The prickly pear is harvested wearing gardening gloves to protect from the small but very sharp spines. Gloves are also necessary to peel the fruit, start by cutting off both ends , cut a vertical slit down the fruit and peel back the skin to leave the fruit.

To make the sorbet pick 8-10 fruits, peel as mentioned, and using a fruit press extract the juice until you have about two cups. Add half a cup of water to thin the juice and one tablespoon of vodka which is required to keep the sorbet smoother as alcohol does not freeze. Stir in sugar to your own taste. Freeze for 45 minutes, remove, whisk and re-freeze for a further 30 minutes. After the second period of freezing your prickly pear sorbet is ready to serve as an appetiser or dessert.

[frozenthunderbolt]

Oh - and stills are run at the boiling point of alcohol, not water - but you still get water vapour produced (hence the reason distilled spirit is never 100% ABV).

Mike

Although also due to the fact that above about 96? 97? % ABV it becomes a hydroscopic liquid and absorbs moisture out of the atmosphere unless tightly stoppered.