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I've tried to reduce red wine sauce and failed. It just evaporates without significant thickening. I've reduced 1.5l to less then 0.5l but no thickness. Is the wine the problem, temperature or something else?

Ask Me Anything (Office Half Hour)

Char Nolan - Ask Me Anything (Office Half Hour)

Recorded

This event was on July 11, 2023

Join Chef Char Nolan in her virtual office as she welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to ask anything – from cooking techniques to course-specific questions, to how to turn your cooking passion into profit or simply hearing the perspective of a professional chef, Chef Nolan is ready to answer them all.

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Question

Mijo Kaliger

I've tried to reduce red wine sauce and failed. It just evaporates without significant thickening. I've reduced 1.5l to less then 0.5l but no thickness. Is the wine the problem, temperature or something else?

Answer

I personally, when I reduce, uh, balsamic vinegar, uh, sometimes I have to put a couple of drops or, you know, a little pinch, a cornstarch in it just to kind of help it thicken along. You could, I, I know some, uh, vegan chefs would put a little bit of agar in it just to help it thicken along as well. But sometimes it's difficult for the reduction to take place without some sort of an agent. And if you read this, you know, you bring up another very good point, uh, just about, uh, commercial, uh, balsamic lasers, uh, because some of them have a lot of added sugar in them. Uh, a lot of them have other different kinds of preservatives. So make sure that you read the label of the, uh, commercial balsamic glaze. And that's the other part of the equation here, um, mijo, is that, uh, oftentimes we are comparing things to how we know them commercially, which might be something different. So you might wanna try that and let us know how that works out for you.

Char Nolan

Chef Instructor

Char Nolan is a serious crusader for plant-based education, armed with a degree in public health from Philadelphia’s Temple University. She teaches nutrition and plant-based cooking throughout Philadelphia, and in many underserved communities. Char holds a certificate in plant-based nutrition from eCornell and completed Rouxbe’s Plant-Based Professional Certification course in 2015. In 2019, Char completed post-graduate course work in social media marketing at the University of the Arts. When she is not cooking or teaching, she manages social media accounts for several plant-based influencers. Char prides herself on learning everything she knows about cooking from growing up in her grandparents’ Italian restaurant. Her favorite vegetables are Brussels sprouts and kale, of course. Char originally hails from Queens, NY, but has lived in Philadelphia most of her adult life. She is a former Peace Corps Volunteer.