Which cheap wine for bourgignon?

[Susanwusan]

Sorry guys, but I'm choosing between boxed Gourmet Classic Cabernet Sauvignon Cooking Wine and boxed Gourmet Classic Red Cooking Wine - would there really be any difference in end result?

[rotuts]

use the wine you would be comfortable  drinking.

 

sometime cooking wine has salt in it.  Avoid salted wine.

[Shel_B]

It's my understanding that "cooking wine" usually (always?) contains salt and possibly other ingredients.  The ingredients in the Cab are de-alcoholised wine from concentrate, Cabernet Sauvignon (40%), salt, preservative (Potassium Metabisulfite).  The red cooking wine has the same ingredients except for some generic red wine instead of the cab.  To answer your question, I doubt that there'd be much, if any, noticeable difference between the two.

 

If possible, I'd suggest using some regular, inexpensive, red wine and stay away from cooking wine.  The general rule is that if you can't/won't drink the wine, you shouldn't cook with it. For most people, salted wine is undrinkable.

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 06:22 PM by Shel_B
Additional information (log)

[Alex]

5 hours ago, Shel_B said:

I'd suggest using some regular, inexpensive, red wine and stay away from cooking wine.  The general rule is that if you can't/won't drink the wine, you shouldn't cook with it.

 

Yes, this, absolutely. 

[liuzhou]

A number of renowned chefs and food professionals have spoke out against the 'only cook with wine you'd drink' mantra.

 

Should You Really Only Cook With Wine You'd Drink? (seriouseats.com)

 

I would also note that salted wine is mainly a North American thing, not universal. It seems to be a result of licencing laws in some territories and is done to make it undrinkable so that it can be sold in unlicensed premises.

 

 

Edited 19 hours ago by liuzhou (log)

[Susanwusan]

A little change in topic, what does MK followed by a number mean with regard to bread?

[liuzhou]

3 hours ago, Susanwusan said:

A little change in topic, what does MK followed by a number mean with regard to bread?

 

I believe it is the kosher certification number for the Vaad Ha'ir or Jewish Community Council of Montreal. I don't know where you are so, if you're nowhere near 'Montreal or even Canada, please ignore this.

 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by liuzhou (log)

[Susanwusan]

UK, but that was interesting info.

[Shel_B]

14 hours ago, liuzhou said:

A number of renowned chefs and food professionals have spoke out against the 'only cook with wine you'd drink' mantra.

 

Should You Really Only Cook With Wine You'd Drink? (seriouseats.com)

 

I would also note that salted wine is mainly a North American thing, not universal. It seems to be a result of licencing laws in some territories and is done to make it undrinkable so that it can be sold in unlicensed premises.

 

I read the article you linked and found no comments from renowned chefs, just a series of "experiments" from Daniel Gritzer from Serious Eats.  Over the years, I've found a number of such tests and comparisons from Gritzer to be flawed in some way. One example was a test he did on the Vitamix blender. He attempted to warm/heat a liquid in the blender, didn't follow Vitamix's instructions, and concluded that the machine was not capable in that regard. I followed his instructions for a particular tomato sauce and was very disappointed in the result, but that could just be me.

 

The wine that @Susanwusan mentioned in her original post is from the UK. As you noted, it was made to be undrinkable. Reading the ingredient list of the wines showed it to be a very poor choice for cooking, especially for the dish Susanwusan was planning to make.

 

When people say to only use wine that you'd drink, it means, at least in part, that salted, fortified, or adulterated wines might best be left out of your recipes. Even Gritzer, the renowned chef and food professional, says:

 

The "wine product" is disgusting stuff, and, as you can probably imagine, made a rendition of coq au vin that couldn't be less appealing, creating a braise with a fake fruity flavor that didn't even hint of tasting like wine.

 

Gritzer also says: 

 

Bad wine can be good to cook with: At least sometimes, flawed wines can produce good results through the transformational power of cooking, but proceed at your own risk because good results aren't guaranteed.

 

You pays your money and you takes your choice ... Mark Twain taking his cue from Punch magazine.

Edited 5 hours ago by Shel_B (log)

[liuzhou]

32 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

 

I read the article you linked and found no comments from renowned chefs, just a series of "experiments" from Daniel Gritzer from Serious Eats.  Over the years, I've found a number of such tests and comparisons from Gritzer to be flawed in some way. One example was a test he did on the Vitamix blender. He attempted to warm/heat a liquid in the blender, didn't follow Vitamix's instructions, and concluded that the machine was not capable in that regard. I followed his instructions for a particular tomato sauce and was very disappointed in the result, but that could just be me.

 

The wine that @Susanwusan mentioned in her original post is from the UK. As you noted, it was made to be undrinkable. Reading the ingredient list of the wines showed it to be a very poor choice for cooking, especially for the dish Susanwusan was planning to make.

 

When people say to only use wine that you'd drink, it means, at least in part, that salted, fortified, or adulterated wines might best be left out of your recipes. Even Gritzer, the renowned chef and food professional, says:

 

The "wine product" is disgusting stuff, and, as you can probably imagine, made a rendition of coq au vin that couldn't be less appealing, creating a braise with a fake fruity flavor that didn't even hint of tasting like wine.

 

Gritzer also says: 

 

Bad wine can be good to cook with: At least sometimes, flawed wines can produce good results through the transformational power of cooking, but proceed at your own risk because good results aren't guaranteed.

 

You pays your money and you takes your choice ... Mark Twain taking his cue from Punch magazine.

 

Well, I didn't say what my view was. I was just pointing out that there are conflicting views. I only gave one reference to show that. I assumed that other members have search engines, too. There are many articles on both sides.

 

I am British and Have never encountered salted wine in 70+ years on sale there. While England makes great white wines, reds are rare. She may be buying it in England but then most wine in the UK is imported. I very much doubt it's UK produced.

 

Fortified wines are often used in cooking. Port, sherry are prime examples. Even here in China, fortified wines are regularly used.

 

 

[Shel_B]

3 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

I am British and Have never encountered salted wine in 70+ years on sale there. While England makes great white wines, reds are rare. She may be buying it in England but then most wine in the UK is imported. I very much doubt it's UK produced.

 

Fortified wines are often used in cooking. Port, sherry are prime examples. Even here in China, fortified wines are regularly used.

 

https://www.gourmetclassic.com/about-us/

 

From the link above, seems like they are producing the product, but it could just be marketing-speak.:

 

About Gourmet Classic

Buy British Manufactured Goods

 

Part of our growth strategy was to always be able to ensure ultimate control of our production processes and to that end we built our own food processing plant in 2015. Based in Ringwood, Hampshire, our facility has been awarded BRC AA accreditation.

 

You are correct about fortified wines, of course. I should have been more specific in my comment to avoid misunderstandings.

 

Have a good day/evening, my friend.

[liuzhou]

13 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

seems like they are producing the product,

 

They may be producing their blend. I'd still bet they aren't making the wine but importing it. The UK grows negligible amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon.