Cooking Wine

I make apple wine every year & always keep a gallon jug in the kitchen for cooking. Screw top, sits there for 6-8 months till it's empty, then I get the other one from the basement & use it. No detrimental effects. An old guy who used to own a local winery told me years ago that you can store it for up to 2 years "under cork", I'm assuming as long as it's sterile. My thinking on jalipenos would be that they would stretch the 2 yr limit a bit further as capcaisen is good for keeping the bugs off my pepper & tomato plants & may very well serve to deter bacteria as well. Good luck.

I make a yearly batch of apple & always keep a gallon in the kitchen for cooking. Screw top glass jug, takes me 6-8 months to empty & then the one in the basement comes out & by the time thats empty, the next batch is ready. The old guy that just sold one of our local winerys told me that "under cork" it can be kept for up to 2 years. I'm assuming that means as long as it's sterile. Never had a problem. Jalepino wine may even stretch the 2 yr limit as I use a jalepino & habenero "tea" to keep the bugs off my pepper & tomato plants & the capcasen could kill bacteria as well. Good luck.

What do you cook with your apple wine? I have two apple wines bulk aging right now.

I do too, but I have not added any metasulfite. I just let it ferment till it stops and then plan on leaving it in the carboy for about a year. This is my first apple wine. Should I do anything else at this point?

You may want to sulfite it if you are going to age it that long. I have heard that if you have no head space in your carboy that the sulfiting wont water as much though. I do it just in case...

David

Everything. Marinading, beef jerky, salsa, venison, bar-bQ sauce, salad dressing, anywhere a recipe calls for water. Use about 1/3 wine to 2/3 water even in hamburger helper or those cheapo bags of rice or pasta mix, adds nice flavor to ANYTHING. Thats why I go thru 2 gallons a year, plus it's good for ya.

I'll have to try that the next time I'm marinating some chicken or something.

David

So far, I don't think anyone was responded to your actual question concerning the necessity of aging cooking wine and worry about oxidation. That is probably because it is a bit out of most of our experience. Most of us cook with the same wine that we drink since that is what we have and we make enough of it.

I have heard people who seem to know say that left over wine is fine to cook with indicating that oxidation is not a problem. On the other hand, I have heard professional cooks on TV say that you should cook with the same wine you drink and that if there is a flaw in the wine, cooking with it will not remove the flaw, but only magnify it as you reduce the wine. Oxidation definitely is a taste that is considered a flaw so I would not think it good. Then on the other hand we cook with sherry ....

I don't think I have an answer either. But I would protect from oxidation. Consider it this way. If you cook using a Merlot or Cab. Sauvignon. you will get one flavor. If you cook using a sherry you will get a VERY different taste. And I bet that if you cook with an oxidized Cab. Sauv. you would get a different taste again. What are you after?

Ray

good points.

I am not really sure what I am after to tell you the truth. I don't usually cook with wine but I enjoy making wine. So I thought to branch out I could try making some wine intended to be used in cooking. Something specifically for cooking and not drinking. I know that I like spicy garlic'y foods so I thought I would make a jalapeno garlic cooking wine. In my pondering I got to thinking about aging and oxidation with all the head space and was wondering if it would be a problem or not.

What you are saying does make sense. If a sherry gives a totally different flavor than typical red then oxidation would cause some problems. Or maybe not problems per say, but would definitely change the application of the wine.

David

Good point indeed. I have always used the wine I drink to cook, or a leftover that I'll keep in the fridge for not more than a few days. Now that I'm in country wine making, I have a garlic wine and a coffee wine that are clearing right now and that I intend to use for cooking only. If oxidation proves to be a problem, I will consider using a wine preservation spray (nitrogen) or a stopper kit with a vaccum pump.

As for aging a cooking wine, I used the garlic wine recipe on Jack Keller's site and it says the wine is ready to use once it's cleared. However, I'm sure some other types of wine would gain by aging a bit. I'll try every ways.

Marc

Hello, I've been cooking with bottles of my pepper wine for almost a year. Once I opened the bottle and used it, I used a cork stopper and put it back in the fridge until the next time I needed it. Sometimes, I'm sure the bottle sat in the fridge for over a month, maybe two...until it was done. Now, I didn't notice any problems with the wine. By that I mean, it seemed to be fine, didn't turn brown, or seem to oxidize over that time period. I'm sure it changed a bit, but nothing major. Darlene Wisconsin

I guess I have a different definition of "Cooking Wine". My definition of "Cooking Wine" is the wine you drink while cooking. :)

Ahhh, Darlene, you are not doing it right! I have eaten with Paul. The trick is to have the guests there drinking the "cooking wine" along with you while you are cooking. You get lots of complements that way however the food turns out. ;o)

I have never made cooking wine specifically for putting in my cooking. I can see some justification to making a garlic or pepper wine for cooking but then I would just add wine and garlic and pepper to what I was cooking. IF I were making a wine like this specifically for cooking, I think I would just make my regular wine and when bottling, I would put a few garlic and red peppers directly in the wine bottle, rack the wine on top of it and cork. Then I would age it in the kitchen on display. I would think that a couple of weeks would be plenty for flavor extraction. Has anyone done it this way?

Ray

Ray, Ah, so that is how it is done...the last time I allowed my mother (who doesn't drink and has no head for it) to have a glass of wine while I was almost done cooking; well, she was a bit (a lot) giggly by dinner time. My Dad cut her off then, and this year encouraged her to wait until dinner to have a glass. Actually, it was pretty funny at the time. My parents don't drink much, but I do make a sweet Welch's grape wine for them which they seem to like. As to your idea about racking a homemade wine into a bottle with peppers and garlic; that's interesting, I have not tried that. I wonder how that would work...?would the garlic and peppers stay somewhat preserved and not rot...? Darlene

Ray I must admit that I totally agree with you with regard to cooking with wine. I use all sort of marinades which I make up depending on the particular dish that I am designing/preparing. And I select a wine as a basis for that marinade as appropriate.

I just don't see the point of fermenting a specialised "cooking wine" when I would then be tied to that particular flavour. Much better to make what I need on the spot, at the time that I need it.

Since the wines I use in cooking ( apart from wine vinegars) are selected from those that I drink then I certainly believe that the cook should enjoy a glass or two of the wine he is cooking with. In my younger, more flamboyant, days I certainly often used the principle of equal shares -- i.e. one glass for the pot -- one glass for the cook (and multiples thereof!). and certainly I still often cook "live" with my guests --- so it is a natural part of the evenings entertainment that we share the wine with which I am cooking.

I have read many of the recipes for these "peculiar" wines as they have appeared at regular intervals and have often considered making a response as I have done here today. Are any of these concoctions actually drinkable. By that I mean are any of them pleasurable to drink and relish as I would any good wine.

I am not criticising in any way -- I just don't see the point in making a quantity ( 6 bottles to a gallon imp) of a specialised cooking wine when I can make a marinade to my own specification just for the single dish that I am making -- and have the pleasure of drinking a glass or two of the wine I am using. I mean what do you do with the rest of the bottle that you haven't used -- let it oxidise or turn to vinegar (taking up precious space in your fridge), if you are lucky?

I do make all sort of preserves through the year. Chutneys, pickles and so on. Some of my favourite things are various wild mushrooms and fungi in extra virgin Olive oil with different herbs and spices -- matured slowly for well over a 12 month period. I can tell you that a few of these mushrooms served with chunks of warm crusty bread to mop up the flavoured oils are a delicious starter ( or a fantastic lunch time snack). I never have enough on hand to meet demand! Collecting suitable fungi in the autumn is often a bit hit and miss -- and I never reveal where I harvest them from to other folk!

I am obviously not as sophisticated a chef as yourself. I just thought that since I enjoy spicy and garlicky foods that I would try to make a wine with these flavors. I also posed the question about the effect of oxidation because I realize that I would not use it up very fast. I definitely understand your point about selecting the correct wine for the meal and I am sure that you cook a wider variety of foods than I. I wouldn't mind "tied to that particular flavour" if it is a flavour I enjoy. Also, I don't have to cook every meal with the same wine. I would only use it when I wanted it. You are correct too, 6 bottles is a lot of undrinkable wine but I don't have a carboy less than a gallon.

I am curious to know some of your marinade recipes if they are not top secret.

David

extraction.

Firstly, the middle of this thread talked about oxidation.

I use this, I picked it up at a gadgets-n-more at the mall.

It really works... you just have to have enough of those little vacuum corks and it is great.

As far as cooking. I love to cook and drink wine while cooking. However I never seem to get the wine into the food. I guess it is just my choice.

I've used beer in food, steaming clams, mussels and such, and in the butt of a chicken on the grill.

I make killer Fajitas, but I use a 2 oz of tequila and cilantro and lime which are the keys to the best...

I will eventually make a cilantro and try to marinate with that. And of course garlic too.. What about Jalapeno? There's just so many possibilities.

My problem is that I tend to hold strange schedules and cooking is on the run instead of an event. I would like to change that in the future.

Oh well, my point really is that the thing above works great on drinking wine, I imagine it would work well if you store the wine a bit longer, or just for cooking.

Greg