Saving White Wine for Use in Cooking

[KellyTheChef]

Hey all!

I do not drink, so I normally do not have wine in the house. There are a few recipes that I want to try that include white wine. Once I have opened the bottle, (once I find a bottle opener...LOL) how can I save the remaining wine? Is it possible to freeze it in 1/2 cup sizes for use in cooking down the road? Can I do the same thing with red wine?

BTW- when a recipe calls for "white wine" or "red wine" what TYPE should I get? Looking at the white wines today there were chardonays, pinot gregios, and some others. (Don't laugh at my mispellings!! ) and I am sure if I decide to try cooking with reds I will run into the same thing. I know you are supposed to cook with a wine that is "good enough to drink" but other than that I am clueless!

TIA

 

[dannyzmom]

yep - u can freeze it.
When buying wine...I just ask the guy in the wine department - LOL

 

[kspry]

My grocery store has little 4-packs of single wines. That's what I use for recipes, if I don't want to open a whole bottle.

 

[KellyTheChef]

Good to know! Never saw the 4 packs...but then again, I have never purchased wine before! LOL

 

[PC_CPR]

I found a tip somewhere that you can use ice cube trays then put them in baggies!

 

[cmdtrgd]

I just keep it in the back of my fridge where it keeps cold. I mean, technically, it is already spoiled (fermented).

 

[kspry]

I've had wine turn sour & vinegary tasting in the fridge.

In a pinch, you can substitute dry white vermouth for white wine. Vermouth can sit on the shelf ..... forever. That tip is courtesy Julia Child.

 

[bsaxman]

Wine Sealer

$12.99

Metrokane® Rabbit Silver Wine Preserver

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You can get a wine sealer, fairly inexpensive. This is what I recommond. I am a wine drinker and I do know that temperature changes of any kind-- hot or cold do change the flavor of the wine, and to preserve the great wine flavor re-sealing the bottle and storing it somewhere away from hot things (dishwasher, oven, etc.) is the best way to go! check it out!


ALSO--- When you are looking for white wines or red wines... A Merlot will work well for your red and a Pinot would be fine for your white but for in my own kitchen I 've found that going with a "table wine" of some sort works for me. Turns out not to be too dry, and not too sweet, somewhere in between and perfect for sipping or use in most recipes. Look for "white table wine" or "red table wine" on the label... Hope this helps p

Brandi

 

[ljeffries]

I do have wine all the time in the house, but I hate to open a bottle just to use in cooking. I, too, keep the little 4-packs of white and red to use for cooking. They have twist caps on them, so you don't have to use a corkscrew. The other good thing, they are pretty cheap and the wine is a good enough brand to use in cooking.
For a while, I tried to substitute cooking wine for regular wine. BIG MISTAKE!!

 

[mpkegley]

This thread reminds me - I have seen white cooking wine in the vinegar section of the grocery. Is that good for these recipes that call for white wine? I have been curious about this because I don't keep wine at my house either and when I saw that at the store, I thought I could always buy that and try it, but have been kind of scared it would not work.

 

[grayby]

I would not use "cooking wine" for anything. It's not drinkable, and if you won't drink it, why would you want to eat it? Avoid at all costs, imho.

 

[raebates]

No, it's not. It has added salt and is a very low quality wine. You're better off buying an inexpensive bottle of table wine and freezing the leftover portions. As someone mentioned earlier, pour it a tablespoon or two at a time into an ice cube tray. Once it's frozen, you can put them in a zippered bag. When you need it, you'll have a couple of tablespoons of wine at hand.

 

[bsaxman]

Cooking Wine! Ick! :cry: You can get a decent bottle of table wine for $5.00! Check out some of the local varieties. I"m in newport news, va and the Williamsburg Winery puts out a great Two Shilling Red and Governors White, both around $5.00!

 

[kspry]

Another vote against table wine!

 

[mpkegley]

Thanks, I was just curious to see if it would be the same. Guess I will invest in some wine then. Didn't know that you could freeze it like that.

 

[PampChefJoy]

I get the "two buck Chuck" at Trader Joes... it's $1.99 and is their store label brand -- Charles something or other ("chuck"). It works great for cooking and comes in both red and white varieties.

 

[chefann]

It's only 2 bucks in CA. In the rest of the country, it's $3. Still a great deal!