is distilled vinegar the same as white vinegar for cooking
Vinegar The term "distilled vinegar" as used in the United States (called "spirit vinegar" in the UK, "white vinegar" in Canada[8]) is something of a misnomer because it is not produced by distillation but by fermentation of distilled alcohol. The fermentate is diluted to produce a colorless solution of 5% to 8% acetic acid in water, with a pH of about 2.6. This is variously known as distilled spirit, "virgin" vinegar,[9] or white vinegar, and is used in cooking, baking, meat preservation, and pickling, as well as for medicinal, laboratory, and cleaning purposes.[10] The most common starting material in some regions, because of its low cost, is malt,[11] or in the United States, corn. It is sometimes derived from petroleum.[12] Distilled vinegar in the UK is produced by the distillation of malt to give a clear vinegar which maintains some of the malt flavour.[11] Distilled vinegar is used predominantly for cooking, although in Scotland it is used as an alternative to brown or light malt vinegar. White distilled vinegar can also be used for cleaning, and some is actually sold specifically for this purpose.
Azeotrope If two solvents can form a positive azeotrope, then distillation of any mixture of those constituents will result in the distillate being closer in composition to the azeotrope than the starting mixture. For example, if a 50/50 mixture of ethanol and water is distilled once, the distillate will be 80% ethanol and 20% water, which is closer to the azeotropic mixture than the original. Distilling the 80/20% mixture produces a distillate that is 87% ethanol and 13% water. Further repeated distillations will produce mixtures that are progressively closer to the azeotropic ratio of 95.5/4.5%. No numbers of distillations will ever result in a distillate that exceeds the azeotropic ratio. Likewise, when distilling a mixture of ethanol and water that is richer in ethanol than the azeotrope, the distillate (contrary to intuition) will be poorer in ethanol than the original but slightly richer than the azeotrope.[9] This means the solution left behind will be richer in ethanol.[10]