# sub dry vermouth for white wine?



## latemp (Mar 1, 2012)

i read an article in cooks illustrated saying you can substitute dry vermouth for white wine in sauces as long as it doesnt require more than half a cup. have any of you tried this? if so what were your results?


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## durangojo (Jul 30, 2007)

i use extra dry vermouth A LOT in cooking.  it just seems to elevate the dish or sauce, and personally i just like it better....i suppose you can overdo it depending on what and the amount  that you are making but half a cup seems a bit stingy to me(for a stewfor instance)..  i like to use it in dishes when i want a bit more oomp flavor.  vermouth is fortified with herbs, so in a dish like chicken picatta you might not choose to use it as you want to taste the subtle flavor and mellowness of the white wine, lemon and butter.  dry vermouth might be too 'herbaceous' in that dish.  to me, in most dishes, just the right amount is a subtle mistress.

joey


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I was so glad to read in Julia Child that you can substitute dry vermouth for wine because i rarely have wine, and when we have it, we rarely drink it.  I would hate to buy a bottle of wine that has to sit around open because we aren't really enthusiastic wine drinkers and it always goes bad.  (Yeah, i know, we're unusual) 

Vermouth is great because it doesn;t go bad once open. 

I think the half cup thing is that you probably need less of it because it's stronger?  maybe?  so you'd put less than you'd put of wine?  not sure.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

I too use dry vermouth instead of white wine.  Not sure what the half cup limit has to do with anything, maybe it is based on the higher alcohol of the fortified vermouth.

Try the different brands available in your area to see which has the flavor profile you like best.

mjb.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

I always use vermouth instead of white wine.  First of all, we don't drink white wine and the only time it's around the house is for guests.  I don't like cooking with white wine either, it lends too much wine flavor.  Vermouth has a smooth clean flavor and does a better job than wine.  Who am I to argue against Cooks Illustrated, love those guys!  However I can't recall ever having to use more than a cup of vermouth or wine.  Why do you need to use more, are you making vermouth stock?


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## durangojo (Jul 30, 2007)

actually siduri, i do keep my vermouth in the refrigerator as it will lose flavor once opened, just as white wine does...that and because it makes a better martini when it's chilled! 

what i find really unusual siduri is that you don't drink wine AND you live in italy!!!

joey


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## jimbo68 (Feb 3, 2012)

I would think that you could substitute any similar liquid for another in most recipes.  The flavor would be different, not necessarily better or worse, just different.  I do use sherry, wine, or vermouth interchangeably in sauces, depending on what I am trying to achieve and my mood.

If you want to keep wine around for cooking, there are smaller bottles available than the standard 750.  Also, I would think you could freeze the leftover wine in ice cube trays.  Don't know for sure as I have never had leftover wine around.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

For what it worth vermouth is a white wine that is fortified.


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## jimbo68 (Feb 3, 2012)

cheflayne said:


> For what it worth vermouth is a white wine that is fortified.


True, but it is also laced with various spices and herbs.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

durangojo said:


> actually siduri, i do keep my vermouth in the refrigerator as it will lose flavor once opened, just as white wine does...that and because it makes a better martini when it's chilled!
> 
> what i find really unusual siduri is that you don't drink wine AND you live in italy!!!
> 
> joey


ah, durangojo, there's a saying in italy, "chi ha pane non ha i denti" - who has bread doesn;t have teeth.

I grew up in an immigrant italian household in the states - wine was always around, and kids were encouraged to try it. My father would say "try it, just stick your finger in and taste it" and i would try because i'd see this bright red sweet-looking stuff and then BLAAAA it was SOUR!

I never drank in high school or college because i couldn't stand the stuff. Beer was bitter, so that was out too, and anythinbg else was just too strong. Made me look like a baby, but i really never cared what other people did.

In the end i never developed any tolerance for alcohol, and though in adulthood i developed a taste for bitter flavors, (so i enjoy beer) i still don;t like sour. I use lemon sparingly, etc. And though i like beer, especially the wonderful complex beers that are more available nowadays, i can drink a very small glass, maybe 6 oz, and will feel weird and tipsy, and sometimes, rarely, will laugh like a maniac. Any more and i feel downright lousy and can;t enjoy a meal.

I CAN enjoy some wines, but i drink a lot of liquids, and if someone only has wine on the table, and i want to drink for thirst, i'm done for.

The vermouth may lose flavor like wine, but it doesn;t turn to vinegar like wine, so i can keep it on hand.

To JIMBO, i tried to freeze leftover wine for cooking, and we only have these ice cube plastic bags (you fill with water, and tie off the top, and they;re sectioned off so they form "cubes" which, when frozen, you can tear open and use. But wine... guess what... it doesn;t really freeze! alcohol prevents the freezing, so the bag leaked all over the freezer and that was the end of that.


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## margcata (Sep 18, 2011)

Please keep in mind, there are several types of vermouth; sweet, dry, red or white, and several good Italian producers.

It is quite subjective as to preference, and palate --- as there are so many " wines ", herbally fortified, and oak aged and young etcetra ...

Have nice wkend.

Margcata.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I think we're all talking primarily about dry white vermouth.  I wouldn't use the sweet stuff to substitute wine - it would be an entirely different dish.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

durangojo, i thought of someone who would make you even more perplexed.  A friend of mine is married to a producer of brunello di montalcino - the most expensive wine I know of around here.  Since his family has a vineyard and he was the main administrator and salesman, he always had plenty of it.  We were invited to their house in the mountains for a week once and there were cases of wine but they always forgot to bring it out, because they don;t drink wine.  Not only, but neither do we, so it was no big deal. 

But the funniest thing was going to the supermarket with my friend she picked up (get this) a small three-pack of cardboard juicebox type containers of cheap white wine!  I was shocked, but she said that they only produce red, and she was making something that called for white, and said it really wasn;t worth buying a bottle for one dish, and the three pack was perfect, because the other two stay good unopened.


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## durangojo (Jul 30, 2007)

siduri,

in mexico the 1 liter cartons are hugely popular. i haven't seen the single serve size but what a good idea for those that don't drink wine yet still like to cook with it.  personally, i enjoy the anticipation and expereince of uncorking a bottle too much to buy the cartons...the sound of a cork gently popping is one of my most favorite sounds on the planet...comforting somehow.

interesting that you think of lemons as sour. i don't for some reason... puckery, citrusy, and plucky yes, but sour,no.  crabapples are sour as are fresh cranberries, some cherries, buttermilk, sourdough bread, some yeasts and of course 'sour grapes'.  to me lemons are just pleasantly and perfectly 'lemony'.

joey


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