Opened a 2001 Malescot St. Exupery. Corked! Question, if i use to marinade a steak will it ruin the steak?
I would not use it.
It’s an interesting question. I think I would not, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it turned out okay either.
I’ve read that cooking with corked wine is okay — somehow the cooking makes the tca go away.
Corked bottles go in my vinegar crock not in cooking.
I sure wouldn’t marinate or cook with a corked wine. You’re going to get a bit of that flavor in there, which is just nasty. Just open a solid, inexpensive bottle and use that.
I’ve cooked with corked bottles but not in a marinade as meats aren’t cooked to the excess of say, chili or pasta sauce. Hard call.
Really? I’ve avoided that because I don’t see what would make the TCA break down. I could imagine that cooking might evaporate much of it off, at least.
My experience is that even light cooking destroys TCA while corked wine in a vinegar crock makes the TCA somehow even worse. I usually have a tainted bottle recorked in the fridge waiting for bolognese, but would not use it in a marinade.
If mildly corked (and no flavour impairment beyond loss of fruit). I def use for deglazing. Marinade, not so sure. Sauces, no.
Major TCA it’s probably down the drain or Re corked for refund before it has a chance to get to the fridge.
I’ve had corked carrots in soup and stew before. Terrible! Have also had fish at a restaurant where part of one side was corked - presumably, that part of the fish had been on the surface, where it was treated with chlorine for food safety reasons. Yummy.
Yes, I avoid corked bottles in my vinegar.
Think okay in sauces or stews with long cook times, I think TCA boils off pretty efficiently. Did as an experiment once. But really, I’m not short enough of cooking wines to really use.
Someone posted an article here a year or so ago on cork taint that was truly fascinating, and went into more detail about how the molecule wrecks havoc on your sensory abilities outside of the unpleasant taste/aroma that it adds. No idea whether heat denatures TCA, but I would error on the side of caution and not use it for anything that you would want your senses in prime form for. (The article even talked about possible medical uses for TCA, as it was such a powerful and unique blocker of human ability to taste/smell.)
I think Greg Tatar had some details about this, as he usually does about everything.
No. If I won’t drink it, I won’t cook with it.
I have previously cooked a coq au vin with a corked wine, and ended up with corked coq, foul fowl. I will never do it again.
You could try to see if Saran wrap (the actual Saran brand too) would tidy it up.
Basically take about 6 to 8’ of it and make a loose ball. Shove it into a pitcher and pour the corked wine over it.
All depending on how corked it is there is the possibility of salvage. You have nothing to lose…
Dinner is too important to risk.
I would cook with it but would hesitate to use in a marinade.
I’d worry (perhaps without cause) that the flavor might permeate the meat and not cook off.
That’s what cheap wine is for…
This is the opposite, I think, of the right answer. It’s OK to cook with corked wine, Something about the cooking removes the TCA. If you put it in your vinegar crock, you’ll have corked vinegar. If the proportion is small and the vinegar is strong and acidic, you may not notice it, but I’ve done this and the persistence of the corking was evident. As to the marinade, I guess if the steak were burnt through, it would be OK. But if you are cooking it rare or medium rare and the internal temperature is 130-140F, I don’t know that I’d risk it.