"Overreduced" balsamic

[Sony]

I was getting components for a steak dinner ready for tomorrow. Wanted to reduce a bottle of balsamic down by half as part of a simple sauce (reduced balsamic swirled with a little butter)...

Well, I accidentally dozed off , and woke up (thank goodness!) to a reduction that's 1/4 the original volume. There's a hint of bitterness, kind of like caramel that's been taken just a shade too long, and this stuff is THICK (actually forms threads when I stick a fork in it and pull it out!)

Any suggestions for what to do? I was thinking of mixing in a little honey and water to balance the flavor and texture out...but maybe I should just come up with a different sauce for the steak, and find another use for the balsamic reduction.....

Suggestions, please?

[robert40]

As long as it has not scorched you can thin it with more balsamic if you have it on hand.

Also a bit of honey will cut the bitterness if not due to scorching.

[k43]

Been there, done that. It's almost impossible to get the bitterness out once you over-reduce. I hope it was supermarket balsamic, not the $50 a bottle stuff.

You might try adding a little brown sugar.

[Qwerty]

Um, you could always try water. Thin it out a bit, dilute the bitterness.

Balsamic has more sugar than a lot of other vinegars though, more than likely you burnt some of them and created that bitter flavor, but you probably know that.

My advice would be to just start over.

[Sony]

Thanks everyone. Just went with a flavorful rub on the steak....

It wasn't very expensive, but I'll see what I can do with a little sweetener. I'm sick right now and my taste buds are shot....at the most I lose another tablespoon of sugar or honey.

I did add water before storing in the fridge for fear that it would permanently become one with my Pyrex container when refrigerated .

Thanks for the advice!