cooking wine vs. regular wine

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 5:57pm

just wanted to hear everyone's thought on this because i've been doing research online and hear different things...

does anyone prefer to use regular wine in cooking or using cooking wine... do you taste a difference at all?

i'm reading that regular wine is preferred to cooking wine...

so i'm basically just trying to cook more (not a chef by any means), just like trying new dishes... and i always see stuff using cooking wine but was never really familiar with it...

thoughts?

thanks!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 5:59pm

I always use regular wine. And in the case of risotto, I read from a famous chef to always use whatever wine you plan to drink with the meal.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 6:04pm

yeah that's what i read too...

now does it matter the wine? like could i just go and get the cheapest wine and it'll be ok? like if it asks for a white wine... let's say i just used a c****nay vs. a sauvignon blanc.. does that make a difference in the recipe?

btw... thats so hilarious that the message board censored the wine! haha Updated On: 6/23/14 at 06:04 PM

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 6:05pm

Nigella wouldn't dream of cooking with anything she wouldn't happily drink.
And her tastes ain't cheap..

Use something dry/medium - nothing too sweet that's going to imbalance your flavours..
Sauv is good and often cheaper than a Chenin Blanc.

Updated On: 6/23/14 at 06:05 PM

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 6:13pm

thanks!

i used to go wine tasting a lot but i haven't in a while.. i used to be better at knowing my wines... now it's just white and red! haha

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 6:18pm

The comment that made me decide to use med-to-good quality wine for cooking came from Julia Child's THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING. She mentions how when you cook with alcohol, you basically burn out the alcohol so the flavor that is left in the dish is the taste of the wine sans alcohol. Therefore, you probably want to get something that you'd be okay with drinking. My rule changes depending on whether I'm using red or white wine. On one of the COOK'S ILLUSTRATED books (from America's Test Kitchen), they have an entire section discussing using wine for cooking. They tested a variety of red wines, ranging from cheap to expensive, and they said that for cooking, they saw a huge improvement between the $5 reds and the $10 reds; however, they saw little difference between $10 and the more expensive kinds. For whites, I'm more willing to use less expensive wines.
I also think you should choose depending on the dish. If you're making coq au vin, where the wine is a huge component, you probably want to pay extra attention to the quality of the wine. If you're making something where the wine isn't the star, you can probably adjust accordingly. I will say, cooking wine is pretty gross and I wouldn't recommend it.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 6:32pm

I wouldn't either. It also usually has salt in it, so if you do use it, you'll need to adjust accordingly.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 6/23/14 at 11:23pm

This thread is a happy coincidence. I happen to be making scallops at home tonight for the first time. Simple recipe with the usual ingredients: butter, shallots, chives, parsley, olive oil, salt & pepper and some white wine. Do you think I'd be okay with a c****nay (only white I have on hand) or do I need to schlep to the store for a sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio?

[bethnor]

Posted: 6/24/14 at 12:35am

chefs seem to eschew cooking wine.

that said, i don't think they demand that you use super expensive stuff either. one thing to remember is that recipes don't often call for a lot of wine (1/2-3/4 a cup, usually), the problem being that you have to do something with the rest of the bottle, as it will not keep forever.

the easy way around this are the little wine four packs that you can find in your local groceries, like sutter house. usually the little bottles contain exactly as much wine as needed for your recipe. another thing to use is buy the wine in the boxes.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/24/14 at 8:42am

Yes, HorseTears, charddonay will be fine. (spelled incorrectly on purpose.)

[HorseTears]

Posted: 6/24/14 at 2:17pm

Thanks, dramamama! It was more than fine. It was heavenly. Damn, now I want to make scallops every night. But, first I need to meet an investment banker.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/24/14 at 3:40pm

Love scallops, but I'm with you: can't afford them too often!

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 6/24/14 at 5:58pm

thank you all so much for the comments! very helpful