What bourbon?

MasterC

What bourbon would you prefer for a honey and soy based marinade? Liquor stores have so many, flavored smoked, spiced, blended.....

Beef is the protein 

theyolksonyou

For cooking, cheap, but that’s me.  

MasterC

I've used maker's mark in the past for a ginger snap crusted ham, very good, just curious to what others use and maybe why.

Laegger

 JD Honey Whiskey would be good and then you can sip the rest of the bottle as it is a great Whiskey. I use it in my Pecan Pie and have a drink by my side while watching it cook inside the egg. 

fishlessman

makers on the shelf for cooking, too sweet for my taste to drink so its always there.  the cheapest apple or pear calvados is another option, theres more flavor for cooking in the cheaper calvados if you can find a cheap less aged one

saluki2007

Not sure if they still sell it, but I've used the Costco brand bourbon in the past.  Worked well.

oldmandawg

Woodford for drankin, don't know about cooking.

MasterC

fishlessman said:

makers on the shelf for cooking, too sweet for my taste to drink so its always there.  the cheapest apple or pear calvados is another option, theres more flavor for cooking in the cheaper calvados if you can find a cheap less aged one

Calvados look interesting. Learning is everything.

DoubleEgger

Somebody gave this to me a while back. I didn’t really like it so I started cooking with it. Turns out it’s not too bad after you cook it down. 

Thatgrimguy

Maker's Mark hits the mark every time!!! LOVE IT!

dmchicago

Just like cooking with wine only use something that you would actually drink. I like makers Mark for cooking and drinking.

Jstroke

I cook with what I keep in the cupboard for drinking, so it’s usually decent stuff. I don’t actually cook much with booze, I keep that for the glass.

GrateEggspectations

Flashing the brown water signal for our friend @lousubcap.

lousubcap

I have no skill-set with brown water for cooking other than go for the lowest quality on the bottom shelf you can get.  The flavour nuances of any different brands are unique.  So, don't pay for anything that is being blended into some cooking recipe.  BTW- the cook cycle will likely burn off the true juice.  FWIW-

MasterC

Normally I use tequila, The alcohol in the marinade helps some flavors absorb deeper into the meat. Not all flavors are water soluble, the achohol can bond to the water.
 Bourbon shopping in the morning.
.

coachbriseno

Makers Mark is my go to.

CigarCityEgger

Did a maple bourbon glaze for a ham last Easter, used Jim Beam since it was cheap and came out great.

 Save the good stuff for post dinner drink. 

dharley

I'm sure you've made your choice and purchase by now, but Evan Williams is good enough to drink and cheap enough to cook with. That would be my choice for a marinade. For a glaze, maybe Makers Mark, but probably EW. 

Skiddymarker

Laegger said:

 JD Honey Whiskey would be good and then you can sip the rest of the bottle as it is a great Whiskey. I use it in my Pecan Pie and have a drink by my side while watching it cook inside the egg. 

Agree with using JD Honey, I use it to cook as I cannot appreciate it as a sipping liquor. Same goes for Crown Royal Maple.  

MasterC

I ended up purchasing woodford reserve double oaked bourbon.  

SmokeyPitt

That is a nice bottle of bourbon. I would only use that to marinade my insides. A marinade or sauce would get the Makers or lower. 

ColbyLang

For a marinade? $20 a bottle or so. Sipping? The sky is the limit on price

tgs2401

MasterC said:

I ended up purchasing woodford reserve double oaked bourbon.  

For cooking?!?  Way too good for that.

MasterC

When looking at bourbons and the difference between them I was perplexed by the amount of choices. After an hour discussing various aspects like ingredients, distilling, aging and flavors I chose the Woodford. It was $29 whereas makers was $24. What intrigues me was the aging in the two different barrels. I don't mind the price, shoot I'm grilling on an egg. I did not go for their cherry wood smoked $96 bottle. 
My question now is why people will only cook with wine they drink but don't drink the bourbon they cook with?

theyolksonyou

That’s a great price for Woodford.  Good choice. 

Fred19Flintstone

I’m partial to Makers Mark.  I love your thread title and used it yesterday.  Wilma was putting up the tree and I was getting egg nogs for everybody.  As I was fixing mine, Wilma walks in:
“Are you putting bourbon in your egg nog?”

To which I replied, “What bourbon?”

dcc

Depends on how much bourbon the recipe calls for.  We have used a couple TBS of $200 a bottle bourbon in a pecan pie recipe, but would use something less expensive in a marinade. A double Oaked Woodford would be an excellent choice for a marinade and great to drink the leftovers.  With cooking, we always choose a bourbon with a more intense flavor.  Any barrel proof or double barreled bourbon will have a more intense flavor.  The sweeter flavored bourbons also have their place depending on what flavors you want in your recipe.

GrillSgt

Makers is an excellent choice for cooking and cocktails that have other strong flavors. However you can still get good results with cheaper bourbons. 

MasterC

Hopefully this  woodford  will give a little hint of smoke. I'll share my bourbon surf and turf cook with you in the near future. 

MasterC

My wife wants shrimp as well now too. Who am I to argue.

Killit_and_Grillit

If your store is selling 5ths of Woodford Double Oak for $29 you need to go back and buy them out. 

That stuff is typically $55-60 here compared to $23 for Makers or Buffalo Trace