Citric Acid - Where to buy??

[Snadger]

Shouldn't be toxic in such dilution. Are you in a hard water area? Fizzing suggests some form of carbonate reacting with the residual acid, unless you are using a galvanised watering can, in which case there might be a reaction you could do without, but still unlikely to harm plants if well diluted (more likely to 'eat' the watering can).

Is that one of those plastic cubes in a frame?

Yep it's a plastic cube in a frame and yes it's a galvanised watering can. Might try using my plastic can today!

PS Just had a thought.........it's rainwater not tap water so shouldn't be hard water?

[Hilary B]

Yep it's a plastic cube in a frame and yes it's a galvanised watering can. Might try using my plastic can today!

PS Just had a thought.........it's rainwater not tap water so shouldn't be hard water?

If not hard water (and rain shouldn't be, might be acid in its own right<g>), it must be the galvanised can.......Acid can react either with the carbonates in hard water, or with the zinc on a galvanised container. Both will fizz. Thinking about it, the acid in acid rain might be more likely to react with metal (especially galvanising) than citric acid. Too long since my chemistry A level to be sure (and we didn't do much about organic acids and metals) but acid rain contains very dilute sulphuric doesn't it? Maybe the citric acid traces just... encouraged it?

[Brewer-again]

It was instead of !!!

Hi! Sluglobber,
The point of my post was not to show a recipe. It was a bit of one, to show how much vit c is in lemons.

'if you cannot find citric acid, simply double the amount of lemons'

Lots of veg bases need citric acid but it is already in citrous fruit!!!!

[Letbyliz]

Wanted to get some citric acid today, for Elderflower cordial, but advised by chemist that there's a manufacturing problem. So - unless you know somewhere that's got an old stock of it, there might not be any available for some time. Does anyone know exactly WHERE there IS some?

[Jardiniere]

I've made loads of elderflower cordial for the first time this year just doubling up on the lemons and not using the citric acid...its absolutely gorgeous - i have put some in bottles in the fridge - frozen some in those soup bag thingies and frozen some as ice cubes in the ice cube bag thingies......dont know how long the fresh will keep but am drinking it quite quickly..............

[glut]

I just made my cordial today and ended up increasing the lemon juice. As I was freezing it in bottles (like Jardiniere) I figured the acidic preserving part of the process was a bit less important.

[Twinkle]

some chemists won't stock citric acid as IV drug-users add it to their heroin to make it dissolve more easily.... I've had trouble getting it in the past.

[shirley]

I ended up in a local home brew shop for mine. And to answer a previous query the Sophie Grigson recipe for elderflower cordial does ask for 75g citric acid

[Waffler]

Just did a search on here for citric acid because I was also having probs obtaining. Sent hubby this morning to big Boots store and was told they're not allowed to sell it anymore. Presumably because of drug users as listed above. The recipe I was going to use uses 75g. I know you can manage without, as I made elderflower cordial last year, and, since it was optional, I left it out. However, it drastically affected the storing time. I was hoping this year to store bottles to last months rather than a couple of weeks or so and don't want to clog up the freezer with it.
I asked in our little Boots and they said they didn't have any (rather than couldn't sell it) so I guess I'll keep trying the chemists.

[Hilary B]

Just did a search on here for citric acid because I was also having probs obtaining. Sent hubby this morning to big Boots store and was told they're not allowed to sell it anymore. Presumably because of drug users as listed above. The recipe I was going to use uses 75g. I know you can manage without, as I made elderflower cordial last year, and, since it was optional, I left it out. However, it drastically affected the storing time. I was hoping this year to store bottles to last months rather than a couple of weeks or so and don't want to clog up the freezer with it.
I asked in our little Boots and they said they didn't have any (rather than couldn't sell it) so I guess I'll keep trying the chemists.

Our local pharmacy sold me 3 x 50g packets of citric acid no problem. I didn't ask in Boots, they have given me the 'can't sell it' answer on other things, and it turned out to be completely wrong.

[nikiwitch]

I am a dispenser in a pharmacy and there is a manfact problem, it is used by druggies and some pharmacies wont stock it at all,, we do ask what it is being used for, but always sell it for elderflower cordial

[coomber]

I got some in my local oriental supermarket, think it was about 80p for 100g

[ohbeary]

I'm sure we have been here before, please go to your home brew shop or you can get it online.

[SarzWix]

Art-of-Brewing website, Citric Acid;
Acids : Art of Brewing Acids UK

Hamstead Brewing Centre, Citric Acid;
Citric acid 100g

[Polly Fouracre]

Lemon juice will do as well or better. The juice of two or three lemons, depending on the acidity of your main ingredient.
If you can find it, read "Winemaking the Natural Way" by (?) Ball.