Click on image to go to Author Website

Friday 26 July 2013

Does Alcohol Burn Off During Cooking

By Lori Buenavista


When preparing food with alcoholic beverages, you may ponder whether the alcohol is burning off like you believe it is. You would like the taste, you just don't want the alcohol that comes with it for personal, religious, as well as other reason. And so, is there any alcohol remaining when you cook from it? Is there a certain way it needs to be grilled to remove the alcohol? Let's merely say it's most likely not what you think it is.

The more common belief is that preparing food alcohol for a probably 20 minutes will leave and evaporate the alcohol. This is really false. It will take a lot longer than any other time considered to cook all the alcohol out. It could take around three hours for the alcohol to burn off completely.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture really tested simply how much alcohol remains with certain cooking techniques and created a chart to relay the outcomes. It's true that alcohol evaporates during food preparation, just not as fast as previously realized. Turns out, leaving alcohol uncovered overnight cuts down on the level of alcohol much better than a quick flamb. The chart looks something like this:

Alcohol Burn-Off Chart

Preparation Method Percent Retained

alcohol added to boiling liquid and removed from heat 85%

alcohol flamed 75%

no heat, stored overnight 70%

baked, 25 minutes, alcohol not stirred into mixture 45%

Baked/simmered dishes with alcohol stirred into the mixture

15 minutes cooking time 40%

30 minutes cooking time 35%

1 hour cooking time 25%

1.5 hour cooking time 20%

2 hour cooking time 10%

2.5 hour cooking time 5%

Seems like slowly building up the alcohol in the concoction is the best way to go about alcohol evaporation. You could prefer slowly building up the alcohol by itself until all the alcohol has been burned off then adding it to whatever you're cooking. It could rely on the recipe, your preference and the circumstance of the household how you start cooking, but it's good to know what's happening with that wine you're tossing into the dish.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment