[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Using good wine for cooking? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 4/28/2015 11:03:25 PM EDT
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Bought a good bottle of wine for cooking. Had a duck on the label, from Napa. Forget the name, just a single word. It was $30.
Wife and I don't drink. It's just for cooking. Friend hears that I'm using that for cooking and says you cannot tell or taste the difference between good and cheap red wine for cooking and I'm wasting cash. Opinions? Just cheap wine to cook with? |
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Quoted: Bought a good bottle of wine for cooking. Had a duck on the label, from Napa. Forget the name, just a single word. It was $30. Wife and I don't drink. It's just for cooking. Friend hears that I'm using that for cooking and says you cannot tell or taste the difference between good and cheap red wine for cooking and I'm wasting cash. Opinions? Just cheap wine to cook with? Duckhorn? Paraduxx ? (probably not for $30). Don't use a good wine for cooking. |
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As a guy who has been cooking in the kitchen "forever", I can definitely say that using cheap wine in a dish that you are cooking will make that dish taste like cheap wine! If you are any sort of a cook or know what you are eating, then you most certainly don't want "cheap wine" as an ingredient!! I used to think I could get away with using that cheap "cooking wine" from the center aisle but it always ended up destroying the dish and I always ended up tossing it out. The alcohol "burns off" while cooking and that leaves the rest of the body of the wine adding the taste. Do Not cheap out on wine as an ingredient!!! You don't need to purchase top shelf wine but do not purchase bottom shelf wine.... |
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Babbo has a great dish called "Short Ribs Braised in Barolo." I tried cooking it myself. Used Barolo (drank half). Then I read his book, and it revealed that he uses California Merlot.
Don't use crap, but don't waste your money. Put the cash toward the drinking wine. |
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Babbo has a great dish called "Short Ribs Braised in Barolo." I tried cooking it myself. Used Barolo (drank half). Then I read his book, and it revealed that he uses California Merlot. Don't use crap, but don't waste your money. Put the cash toward the drinking wine. This!! Leave the Mexifornia Box and gallon jug wine for the winos, but snag a decent Table grade for cooking. 6-10 bucks is about right, and don't be afraid to snag stuff at Aldi. They do a darn good job of keeping above the bar, mid range wines, in the Table wine price range, and some can be downright surprising. The high end stuff is for savoring. Leave it corked, for when you have company you don't mind spoiling a little. A LOT of fussing, effort, and luck goes into the better wine, it should be appreciated. |
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As a guy who has been cooking in the kitchen "forever", I can definitely say that using cheap wine in a dish that you are cooking will make that dish taste like cheap wine! If you are any sort of a cook or know what you are eating, then you most certainly don't want "cheap wine" as an ingredient!! I used to think I could get away with using that cheap "cooking wine" from the center aisle but it always ended up destroying the dish and I always ended up tossing it out. The alcohol "burns off" while cooking and that leaves the rest of the body of the wine adding the taste. Do Not cheap out on wine as an ingredient!!! You don't need to purchase top shelf wine but do not purchase bottom shelf wine.... He doesn't drink though. So, fuck him. 
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They say use a wine you would drink because cooking wines often have added salt. Cheap wine is fine. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I heard the same thing. That said, I wouldn't spend more than $10 on a bottle of wine, if I was going to use it just to cook. If you have left over wine that you don't want to go to waste, just pour it into some ice cube trays and freeze it. It will last for a month or so. |
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I heard the same thing. That said, I wouldn't spend more than $10 on a bottle of wine, if I was going to use it just to cook. If you have left over wine that you don't want to go to waste, just pour it into some ice cube trays and freeze it. It will last for a month or so. Quoted:
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They say use a wine you would drink because cooking wines often have added salt. Cheap wine is fine. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I heard the same thing. That said, I wouldn't spend more than $10 on a bottle of wine, if I was going to use it just to cook. If you have left over wine that you don't want to go to waste, just pour it into some ice cube trays and freeze it. It will last for a month or so. So if cooking with it, how long does an opened, corked bottle of Cab or Red last? |
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I suppose if you drink enough of it - it could taste like wine if that's what the recipe called for....  Quoted:
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I cook with bourbon. Cause I have it on hand It's an acquired taste. |
| Not to threadjack, but this is somewhat pertinent to my interests. I don't drink win; I really can't stand it. However, I enjoy some dishes made with wine. So, the old "wine you would drink" rule-of-thumb is bewildering to me. How does one, then, determine an appropriate wine to cook with? I don't mean the type, but the label. Do I just pick whatever within a certain price range? |
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Quoted: Not to threadjack, but this is somewhat pertinent to my interests. I don't drink win; I really can't stand it. However, I enjoy some dishes made with wine. So, the old "wine you would drink" rule-of-thumb is bewildering to me. How does one, then, determine an appropriate wine to cook with? I don't mean the type, but the label. Do I just pick whatever within a certain price range? Same boat here. What I do is grab the first liter bottle I can find that has "Manager Pick", or whatever to indicate that its popular. Most of the HEBs around me seem to have at least a few with some sort of rating on it. At the end of the day I don't worry too much about it. Buy a bottle around $10 of the right type (thats the hard part for me) and get your cook on. |
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Quoted: Medium priced wine to cook is fine then drink the rest with the meal. It doesn't keep more than about a week in the reefer once opened anyway. Don't buy expensive "cooking wine." Whoops. I just used some red that I am sure has been opened (and recorked) about a month ago. Couldn't tell the difference personally. |
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So if cooking with it, how long does an opened, corked bottle of Cab or Red last? Quoted:
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They say use a wine you would drink because cooking wines often have added salt. Cheap wine is fine. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I heard the same thing. That said, I wouldn't spend more than $10 on a bottle of wine, if I was going to use it just to cook. If you have left over wine that you don't want to go to waste, just pour it into some ice cube trays and freeze it. It will last for a month or so. So if cooking with it, how long does an opened, corked bottle of Cab or Red last? For me....About an hour. If you don't drink it, 3-4 days. You can stretch that if you get a vacuum cork. |
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Same boat here. What I do is grab the first liter bottle I can find that has "Manager Pick", or whatever to indicate that its popular. Most of the HEBs around me seem to have at least a few with some sort of rating on it. At the end of the day I don't worry too much about it. Buy a bottle around $10 of the right type (thats the hard part for me) and get your cook on. Quoted:
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Not to threadjack, but this is somewhat pertinent to my interests. I don't drink win; I really can't stand it. However, I enjoy some dishes made with wine. So, the old "wine you would drink" rule-of-thumb is bewildering to me. How does one, then, determine an appropriate wine to cook with? I don't mean the type, but the label. Do I just pick whatever within a certain price range? Same boat here. What I do is grab the first liter bottle I can find that has "Manager Pick", or whatever to indicate that its popular. Most of the HEBs around me seem to have at least a few with some sort of rating on it. At the end of the day I don't worry too much about it. Buy a bottle around $10 of the right type (thats the hard part for me) and get your cook on. HEB stores are great !! Ours has a good wine and craft beer selection and the Dept Manager taste tests a lot of what they carry himself so is very knowledgeable. Our everyday wine is in the 10 to 15 dollar range so that's what my wife uses in her cooking. |
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What are you cooking with tequila? Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile Quoted:
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I have no experience with wine, but I do cook with tequila. I have tried cheap shitty tequila and good tequila. Never noticed a difference in taste with the food. What are you cooking with tequila? Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I cook Tequila-Lime chicken, AKA Margarita chicken, occasionally. I used the tequila that I had from a trip to Mexico a few years ago, El Jimador Reposado. Now I can't find any more. Admittedly, I've only looked at Fry's. |
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As a guy who has been cooking in the kitchen "forever", I can definitely say that using cheap wine in a dish that you are cooking will make that dish taste like cheap wine! If you are any sort of a cook or know what you are eating, then you most certainly don't want "cheap wine" as an ingredient!! I used to think I could get away with using that cheap "cooking wine" from the center aisle but it always ended up destroying the dish and I always ended up tossing it out. The alcohol "burns off" while cooking and that leaves the rest of the body of the wine adding the taste. Do Not cheap out on wine as an ingredient!!! You don't need to purchase top shelf wine but do not purchase bottom shelf wine.... I am going to have to disagree with this somewhat. It really depends on what you are using the wine for. In every restaurant I have worked at in the past 20 or so years (I work country clubs and resorts/upscale hotels) they only time we were using wine that didn't come from a box or a jug was when we were making a dish that specifically had that wine listed in the description of the dish to help sell that wine or it was an intregal part of the dish. Deglasing pans, Poaching, butter sauces, compound butters, au papillote, steaming, Sherry for soups, Maderia based dishes, Marsala dishes, Bourguignonne all used cheap wine. Making a complex dish such a coq au vin where wine is an intergral part of the dish then yes. I am not say go and grab a bottle of MD20/20 and start cooking with it. I mean it might work  but you would want to be able to drink it. If it is vineagary make salad dressing.
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Quoted: I once heard someone say "Never cook with wine you wouldn't drink". BS in my opinion. Cheap wine gives you the same flavor. ETA: The person I was referring to claimed it affected the flavor, nothing to do with additives. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile That was the war-cry of the late great Cajun chef and humorist Justin Wilson. "Never cook wit a wine dat you would't drink...no". He was one funny ol' boy.  |