Balsamic taste test / Locanico on the grill

[TXNewbie]

So I tried a balsamic marinade steak the other night on the grill topped with fresh imported Greek Feta.

It was absolutely amazing.

But since the balsamic I use is $39 for a small bottle, my wife and I wanted to do a taste test between my regular bottle and the Costco one as they both have the same certifications. The Costco price was $11 for a much larger bottle.

The test today was done with fresh trench bread and olive oil. Same amount of each to keep the test consistent.

The Costco was noticeably thinner, and had a different aroma. In terms of taste, the Costco was excellent. The more expensive one was a noticeable step up in terms of smoothness and complexity.

I then threw in a mid-priced one I had at $25/small bottle, and felt the Costco bettered it by far. It was much more tangy vs the Costco.

I made the test for her blind, and she came to the same conclusions.

For Christmas I am going to do the test again, but this time on steaks to see if using meat changes the outcome.

For dinner tonight we did some Greek Locanico (Old Neighborhood brand - the best) on the grill with fresh squeezed lemon and fresh oregano. Yuuummmmm.........

 

[Smoking Piney]

Nice cook, TX.

Balsamic is just like wine - lots of them out there, at lots of price points.

 

[mike243]

You can make a great BBQ sauce with it also, mustard ketchup onion powder and onions add balsamic as the main liquid and simmer till reduced by 1/3 and pepper to suit you

 

[TXNewbie]

You can make a great BBQ sauce with it also, mustard ketchup onion powder and onions add balsamic as the main liquid and simmer till reduced by 1/3 and pepper to suit you

I would suggest using the Costco version for that as it is thinner. The O&CO is already very, very thick.

 

[Bacchus2b]

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar is aged in barrels that have small openings covered with cheesecloth, so a certain percentage of vinegar evaporates through the years. That's why the price goes up exponentially for the 10, 15, and even 35 year old bottles that started out as gallons of vinegar and years later are sold in tiny 150 ml bottles that have a noticeable difference in viscosity and flavor from the bulk balsamic's.

One trick restaurants use is to cook down a less-expensive balsamic by simmering until reduced by half. It ups the flavor and makes it noticeably thicker, but you have to again factor in your yield by reducing by 50%.

Probably more than you wanted to know about vinegar...….

 

[TXNewbie]

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar is aged in barrels that have small openings covered with cheesecloth, so a certain percentage of vinegar evaporates through the years. That's why the price goes up exponentially for the 10, 15, and even 35 year old bottles that started out as gallons of vinegar and years later are sold in tiny 150 ml bottles that have a noticeable difference in viscosity and flavor from the bulk balsamic's.

One trick restaurants use is to cook down a less-expensive balsamic by simmering until reduced by half. It ups the flavor and makes it noticeably thicker, but you have to again factor in your yield by reducing by 50%.

Probably more than you wanted to know about vinegar...….

You can definitely taste more of the barrel in the more expensive one.