I know what it's used for...

[Dreamstalker]

SC was looking for the branded 'cooking wine'; my dad remembers that stuff, hated it, and was surprised to hear it still exists.

[notalwaysright]

When I had a little more money, I would buy those tiny bottles of wine they sell in four-packs to use for cooking, since I don't really care for wine but also don't like wasting a whole bottle. Now I have food stamps and don't have even a little spare money, so I look up substitutions for alcohol in recipes. And I've never seen anything called "cooking wine" in a recipe. It will say like "a dry white wine." I think I've seen cooking sherry before, though.

[Minflick]

I don't think I've heard cooking wine recommended in ANYTHING since, oh, the early 1960's?.... My family was low budget enough that we had no money to devote to a wine solely for cooking purposes, but also sniffy enough that wine with salt in it would NEVER be purchased. You cooked with what you drank, period, IF wine was called for in a recipe.

[wolfie]

It often has salt added to it. Enough that nobody should drink it, which allows it to be sold in circumstances where regular wine might not be.

But it will badly throw off the salt balance of whatever you're cooking, so it's far better to use regular wine instead!!

A few things I've heard about cooking wine:

- It's normally made from the cheapest available wine
- Serious cooks don't use it - a rule of thumb is don't cook with a wine you wouldn't drink
- A very high proportion of sales are to street alcoholics ("undrinkable" means not taxed as an alcoholic beverage)

[MadMike]

Did everyone miss this post from a moderator?

Aaaaaand let's just leave it at that, mkay, all? We don't need any examples. Already deleted a couple responses along those lines. You all know we don't endorse violence against people, even in jest, and even if they're assholes.

I just had to delete another post, and edit another one. I'd rather not be handing out infractions as Christmas presents, but if it proves necessary, so be it.

[Nunavut Pants]

It often has salt added to it. Enough that nobody should drink it, which allows it to be sold in circumstances where regular wine might not be.

But it will badly throw off the salt balance of whatever you're cooking, so it's far better to use regular wine instead!!

[EricKei]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't "cooking wine" normally imply "we use it for cooking because nobody would ever drink this crap"...?

[Dreamstalker]

More "I know what it is" questions...

Cooking wine. I think she was trying to explain to me how you can use wine in place of other liquids...I know that. We do sell awesome wines that can be used for cooking, but we do not sell anything specifically labeled "cooking wine". (also with our wines you should know exactly what you're using it for/with to get any decent results).

Vanilla powder. Yes, I know what it is; no we don't carry it. We do have vanilla beans in the spices section and a mortar and pestle in Housewares...

[EricKei]

Just to head things off at the pass:

I'm honestly surprised SC walked away intact.

Aaaaaand let's just leave it at that, mkay, all? We don't need any examples. Already deleted a couple responses along those lines. You all know we don't endorse violence against people, even in jest, and even if they're assholes.

[Dreamstalker]

Sorry, our psychic product teleporter's on the fritz.

Our fish counter guys can be nice as pie, but take zero shit from anyone, and I'm honestly surprised SC walked away intact.

[Slave to the Phone]

*shoves Dreamstalker under a bright light and demands to know why she doesn't run around and stock things in the right place for every customer even before they come into the store*

I have honestly forgotten how many times customers have told me that our office should be in a more convenient to them place. My job is to help them, so I respond by helpfully offering them the email address for the Governor's Office. For some reason, this seems to offend them.

[Dreamstalker]

...however, I do not control where they decide to put things.

We do carry squid (cuttlefish) ink for use in sauces and the like...it's in the cold case next to the fish counter. Because it's fresh and fishy and...fresh. Needs to be kept cold. I got a couple requests for the stuff and a few people were confused as to why it was by the fish counter, but two treaded into SC territory.

The first woman kept showing me a picture of what she wanted (we didn't carry that particular brand of squid ink but we do have some), and then actually went to Google and tried to explain to me what squid ink was

A few hours later I'm blocking the pestos, and a man asks me where the squid ink 'sauce' is. We don't have any prepared sauces with ink, only the fresh ink as it has many uses and we can't predict who uses it for what.

Me: "We have squid ink in the cold case next to the fish counter."
As they're walking away, the guy leans in and gives me a glare. "It's a sauce for pasta, you know." (in the 'you stupid stockgirl' tone) I later saw him arguing with one of the seafood guys...who was covered in fish juice and holding a large filleting knife. The last person one would want to annoy, I'd imagine.