Alcohol in Cooking:  How Much Boils Off?

Everyone has heard the phrase about alcohol, "Oh, it's OK, it boils off in cooking."  But does it?  Not necessarily, says Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Food Editor Suzanne Martinson. She interviewed several chemists who had run experiments, and found that it takes a lot longer to burn off alcohol than most people think.  It takes 30 minutes to simmer regular beer down to the "N/A" beer level, and it may take hours to bring down the alcohol level in foods that contain fats.  No matter how long you cook, as long as there's water left in the food, some alcohol will also remain.  Read the details. 

• Here's a quick summary based on USDA data in the Food Reference Website
• Does the rum bake off when you make a rum cake?  Ask Joan.
• Same story from Science of Cooking: Ask the Inquisitive Cooks

Cooking Without Alcohol is Easy

You can cook almost any recipe without using alcohol.  Here are some websites that give substitutions for alcohol in a wide variety of dishes. 

• Alcohol Substitutes in Food Preparation from What's Cooking America
• Andrew Hall, Ezine's food expert, has a page of suggestions for replacing alcohol in cooking.
• Recipe Source has a short list of suggested substitutions.
• A list of substitutes for wine in cooking is offered by the Hormel web site
• Cooking Light has its own list of suggestions
• The Mayo Clinic's diet advisor has these suggestions

-- Page by Marty N.