Cooking with Alcohol

[aeiou]

When I cook stew or beef tips in gravy I add about 1/2 cup wine. The primary reason for adding the wine is that it adds favor to the finshed dish.

Does anyone know if all the alcohol evaporates during cooking or is there a way of knowing how much alcohol would remain in the finished dish?

[Jafo232]

Alcohol will evaporate when boiled/burned out. I use wine for flavoring similar dishes. When making the stew, before I add the liquid (i.e. beef stock) I will add the wine and let it cook for a couple minutes to burn off the alcohol.

[KYHeirloomer]

Latest info is that not all the alcohol burns off; some small percentage remains.

So, if alcohol is a problem for any reason, its better to use something else.

That said, when you cook off the wine (or beer, or bourbon, or whatever) you will gain the flavor of the wine (beer....etc.) but not taste any alcohol.

So that's the trade off.

[aeiou]

Thanks for the suggestion to add it with the beef stock and then boil the mixture before adding the rest of the ingredients. I usually use the wine as the last ingredient added to the stew mixture before I begin to let it simmer for 1hr.

[Jafo232]

I add it BEFORE the beef stock.. Let it cook off a bit, then add the stock..

[oldbay]

Latest info is that not all the alcohol burns off; some small percentage remains.

I heard this too, on an NPR interview with the author of 'The Science of Cooking' (I think) from Carnegie Mellon Univ in Pittsburgh, PA.

[aeiou]

Thanks for everyone's suggestions and knowledge on cooking with alcohol. I don't think that anyone could really detect a very small percentage of alcohol that might be left in the finished dish so I won't be concerned with letting my guests know that alcohol was added.

[Jafo232]

When I was a kid, our parents would let us sip warm hard cider on special occasions, and how much alcohol is in cold medicine? The trace amounts of it in dishes won't hurt anyone IMHO..

[goodshyqtgurl]

That's a great idea... thanks!!!