I recently made a 'coq au vin' recipe in a slow-cooker, and I left out the bacon entirely.

[Richard Steele]

I know that Julia Child, many years ago, recommended
BLANCHING the bacon to avoid excess saltiness in the end product...

But these days, the cheap factory-farmed supermarket chicken
that I'm forced to work with is already pre-brined.

So, I left out the bacon and added two cans of soduim-free beef broth
to the 3/4 gallon of water involved. (I'm cooking for a houseload
of people these days- we have a HUGE slow-cooker wherein I mix up 'supper'
before I go to work at noon, and get feedback on said supper via sticky-note
when I return at 10:00 or 11:00 in the evening.)

Now, everyone in the house LOVED it...but, frankly, these folks
know JACK SHIT about real food.

To me, it tasted very bland and flat, even though I splurged some $$$
and used wine that had an actual CORK; much pricier
than the $10 screwcapped red pisswater I normally purchase
for my own personal consumption.

Anyway, I'm thinking that "Wine + Slowcooker" created a TIMING problem.
Perhaps I should have measured out the 3 cups of wine
and left them on the counter with a note that said:
"Add to slow-cooker 60 minutes before Suppertime"?

Has anyone here had experience with such matters?
If not "experience", do y'all have any notions or suggestions?
In lack of notions or suggestions, I'm willing
to open the floor to rumour and innuendo!

Sincerely,
Richard Steele

[Stinky The Clown]

1. If theres any left, try a small taste and add salt to it.

I think the dish might have been salt deprived.

[Warpy]

3. That was my thought, as well

Yes, commercial grade chicken is drowned in water as soon as it's dressed, but it's just plain water with very little salt and kept just at freezing.

Likely there was just far too little salt in it. People who liked it probably thought nothing of salting it at the table.

Bacon would have added a smoky undertone to the wine as well as the salt, but I find you don't really need it.

You do need some salt, though.

[Richard Steele]

5. OK, if you and H2S * agree, then I'll accept your premise as GOSPEL.

Both of you have probably FORGOTTEN more about cooking
than I will ever learn, with the possible exception
of a rarifed area of the field: the gathering & preparation
of ROADKILL.

I'll definitely include the bacon when I make this recipe again.

Thank you for your response.

[Retrograde]

7. A little salt goes a long way

I cook with unsalted stock (homemade) and find that a small amount of salt at the end really makes a big difference (biologically we do need it - that's why we have those receptors. Just not as much as most commercial products).

Browning the chicken parts before adding them may also help. See "Maillard Reaction": you may not have enough fat in your chicken, though, another taste we're programmed to like.

I get my chickens at Costco: I'll have to check to see if they're pre-brined. It does seem that chickens have changed a lot over the years - it used to be a chicken would be good for 2 meals for 2 people, and I now regularly get 4 from them, not counting wings, livers, and stock parts.

[leftyclimber]

2. What about pancetta?

It's not quite as salty as bacon, but may add the flavor you're missing.

[Tab]

4. I don't know where you buy your chicken

but I suggest the two following things:

1) Never buy any meats from Wal-Mart. Even frickin' steak they somehow manage to "immerse in a 10% solution". I asked the VP once about it, the response was that people wanted it, probably because they can't cook frickin' meat. Major brands of chicken fall into this pre-prepared category.

2) Forget Purdue and the rest. I actually like the cheap store brands. Purdue has oversized breasted chickens, and often pre-brined. The store brand is a fraction of the size, but cooks up better, IMHO, and isn't screwed with, brining-wise.

[kestrel91316]

6. I made coq au vin at Christmas, but I used my cast iron dutch oven

rather than a crockpot, and I DID use bacon, so I don't have much to contribute. For wine, I used TJ's Two Buck Chuck cabernet and it was fabulous.