Alternatives to wine in cooking?

[Pancho]

I have a fair few recipes that require wine as an ingredient and am wondering what I could use instead? Currently I either leave it out or use water but this makes things either dry or watery. Any ideas?

[trekker12]

I think it will depend what you are cooking. If the requirement is only a 1-200ml and you are reducing the liquid in an open pan then you can probably leave it out. The wine will evaporate fairly quickly so it shouldn't make a significant difference. It's there as a flavour enhancer, not to create extra fluid.

If making the difference up I wouldn't use plan water but a little extra stock might give more flavour than just plain water.

For something in the oven you are not reducing and if the quantity required is qute high, again I would use stock. Add extra herbs and seasoning to give it a little kick.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Balsamic vinegar can be used with moderation as a substitute.

[jsabine]

Sherry vinegar works well, IMO

[Pancho]

Thanks, all. I'll try a splash of special vinegar.

[pcolbeck]

Or just use wine ...

If its the alcohol you object to it mainly evaporates in cooking plus most of the alternatives are based on alcohol anyway (all vinegars).
If you don't drink so would be wasting 2/3 of a bottle when you use wine in cooking then get those little airline style bottles instead.

[rafletcher]

Or just use wine ...

If its the alcohol you object to it mainly evaporates in cooking plus most of the alternatives are based on alcohol anyway (all vinegars).
If you don't drink so would be wasting 2/3 of a bottle when you use wine in cooking then get those little airline style bottles instead.

Or do a Raymond Blanc, boil off the alcohol first, let the residue cool, then freeze what you don't use as cubes.

[pcolbeck]

Or just use wine ...

If its the alcohol you object to it mainly evaporates in cooking plus most of the alternatives are based on alcohol anyway (all vinegars).
If you don't drink so would be wasting 2/3 of a bottle when you use wine in cooking then get those little airline style bottles instead.

Or do a Raymond Blanc, boil off the alcohol first, let the residue cool, then freeze what you don't use as cubes.

Excellent idea !

[Kim]

The absence of wine tastes much better than wine, I find.  Regulate liquid volume by the amount of simmering.

[jsabine]

Hmm. Most recipes I've used that call for wine - stews, gravies, risottos - taste distinctly bland if you make them with plain water instead, no matter what you try in terms of herbs or seasonings. Stocks can work, but IMO they need something with a bit more of a kick: as I say, I find that sherry vinegar is a pretty good substitute, to the extent that I very rarely even think about using wine now.

(Taste is, of course entirely subjective, and I realise I'm cooking for my palate rather than yours ...)

[trekker12]

If you don't drink so would be wasting 2/3 of a bottle when you use wine in cooking then get those little airline style bottles instead.

We buy supermarket 'house wine' in the red or white variety for the special purpose of cooking - it never gets drunk for any other reason, don't try it at home, take my word for it - but works fine in cooking and as we cook regularly it doesn't hang around very long so doesn't turn to vinegar.

Sainsburys used to sell 'cooking wine' which was cheaper than their house stuff per 100ml in the special ingredients section but that stopped about a year ago. I kept the bottles as they are a handy size and screw top so can decant the house bottle for quick grabbing off the shelf.

[spesh]

Sainsburys used to sell 'cooking wine' which was cheaper than their house stuff per 100ml in the special ingredients section but that stopped about a year ago. I kept the bottles as they are a handy size and screw top so can decant the house bottle for quick grabbing off the shelf.

My nearest Sainsburys still sells them. Morrisons do small plastic bottles of 'cooking wine', but you have to use the entire bottle in one go, because unlike Sainsburys' offering, it doesn't keep.

[Pancho]

IIRC, "cooking wine" is still about 4% alcohol.

[spesh]

Red wine:
Non-alcoholic wine, beef or chicken broth or stock, diluted red wine vinegar, red grape juice diluted with red wine vinegar or rice vinegar, tomato juice, liquid from canned mushrooms, plain water.

White wine:
Non-alcoholic wine, chicken broth or stock, diluted white wine vinegar or cider vinegar, white grape juice diluted with white wine vinegar, ginger ale, canned mushroom liquid, water. For marinades, substitute 1/4 cup vinegar plus 1 Tablespoon sugar plus 1/4 cup water.

http://www.thekitchn.com/simple-nonalcoholic-substitutes-for-red-and-white-wine-tips-from-the-kitchn-184394
http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blalcohol6.htm

ETA - both sites I've linked to are Leftpondian, so 1 cup is roughly 236.6 ml.

[ian]

I don't understand. Why not use wine? Any alcohol will evaporate quickly (instantly in a hot pan). If you don't want to drink the remaining bottle (a shame) you can freeze it (ice cube racks recommende). I just a leave a white wine box in the fridge and splash it in the pan as needed, it keeps for several weeks. It's not really the taste of wine that you're adding, it's the flush of hot alcohol that helps release the flavours in a way that water won't. I generally had a splash to anything I'm cooking in a pan at the end of cooking.

[rafletcher]

IIRC, "cooking wine" is still about 4% alcohol.

But cooking boils off the alcohol. You can smell it boiling off if you sniff the steam, it's quite distinct, and hence why Raymond Blanc pre-boils his wine - he's not interested in keeping the alcohol. You don't get an alcoholic stew if you use wine in it.

[Kim]

It's not really the taste of wine that you're adding, it's the flush of hot alcohol that helps release the flavours in a way that water won't.

[citation needed]

Other than the obvious issue of it rapidly boiling off, wouldn't something more alcoholic than wine be more effective if the alcohol's to be used as a solvent?

[ian]

I am not sure there's scientific research (probably, can't be arsed to look), but hot solvent (even if brief) is likely to dissolve something in the process. There's little in a biochemistry lab that can't be improved with hot solvents. Certainly a splash of wine loosens up the tasty gunk on the bottom of the pan far better than the equivalent splash of water. Plus the faster evaporation seems to ensure food ends up less mushy.

You can use a splash of vodka for more alcohol, and there's a few recipes that specifically request vodka. Vermouth and brandy are common but add a lot more of their own flavour. Admittedly, drinking the remaining 2/3rds of the brandy bottle is more challenging, but hey, it's open.

But anyway, given the relative boiling points of ethanol and water, even a few minutes of simmering will reduce the alcohol content to nil. I have a recipe where I marinade chicken in half a bottle of white wine, lots of garlic and coriander seeds, some lemon juice overnight and then slow-cook the lot for at least 8 hours with the rest of the bottle of wine, and at the end reduce all the wine to a sticky sauce and combine with yoghurt. Then I eat it all before anyone dibs it. It's lushly decadent but doesn't, per se, taste of wine.

I'm not sure about replacing wine with vinegar, that makes things taste of vinegar (boiling point of ethanol is about 78 degrees, acetic acid 118 degrees Celsius). I wouldn't use it in place of wine

[philip]

But anyway, given the relative boiling points of ethanol and water, even a few minutes of simmering will reduce the alcohol content to nil.

There is some research to contradict that. The US Department of Agriculture publishes http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/80400525/Data/retn/retn06.pdf and page 12 (the 14th page) shows 25% of the alcohol still present after one hour simmering.

[ian]

I was thinking of a splash of wine (i.e. a tablespoon) in a ragu or similar. Twenty-five per cent of not a lot is ever less. I'm not sure how much they started with. But in a hot pan, all the liquid goes in a minute or so.

[caerau]

I don't understand. Why not use wine?

I dunno, maybe he's already considered why not, why not just answer his question?  I'd find being returned with 'meh, just use wine' (to paraphrase a few here) a pretty irritating answer if I was the OP.


Anyway, my suggestions.  Beer,  whisky, brandy, sherry... 


My (more serious) thoughts are why use recipes that require wine - it won't taste the same changing the ingredients.  Just use recipes that don't ask for it.
Stews can be perfectly nice without wine or beer in them.  Perfectly nice too.  Coq au vin - well that really needs wine so just don't cook it.


Does non-alcoholic wine work?  Prob not I guess but I've never tried it.

[Mrs Pingu]

I think I have the answer

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries/just-add-red-wine-60g?langId=44&storeId=10151&krypto=DGHrEDjx1xY92PfnnL3CI0Rhhxy%2FkyBQoA5UEiqZzbPyW3l6aNu4WAeHDUUHQJH2SuDrtabJaluoZ25leBALOpteNoX1QH6KGxHSTwrQKOKBjYTk%2FEy3iKptrjMkDHWn&ddkey=http%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fjust-add-red-wine-60g

[Mr Larrington]

Or this?

[ian]

I don't understand. Why not use wine?

I dunno, maybe he's already considered why not, why not just answer his question?  I'd find being returned with 'meh, just use wine' (to paraphrase a few here) a pretty irritating answer if I was the OP.

Because it's the motherfucking internet, that's why. We are here to ask impertinent questions. There are only two other known uses of the internet.

[trekker12]

Two?