All of the Alcohol Can Cook Out of a Dish—True or False?

Published on Monday, November 28, 2011, by CHOW Video Team / Edit Post

If you expected all of the alcohol to evaporate out of your dinner entrée, then you may be in for a surprise. Mark Scarbrough, coauthor of Lobsters Scream When You Boil Them, fills in the details.

CHOW Tips are the shared wisdom of our community. If you’ve figured out some piece of food, drink, or cooking wisdom that you’d like to share on video (and you can be in San Francisco), email Blake Smith and tell us what you’ve got in mind.

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  • Yup, he's wrong. Other posters have detailed why.

    Ever had a dish served flambeau? The reason they add the liquor to the still sizzling dish tableside is that, if they added it earlier, too much of the alcoholic content would be gone by the time it got to your table and there would not be enough alcohol vapor to ignite. Notice, also, that the flame is usually out in 10 seconds.

    BTW: Liquid...+READ

    Yup, he's wrong. Other posters have detailed why.

    Ever had a dish served flambeau? The reason they add the liquor to the still sizzling dish tableside is that, if they added it earlier, too much of the alcoholic content would be gone by the time it got to your table and there would not be enough alcohol vapor to ignite. Notice, also, that the flame is usually out in 10 seconds.

    BTW: Liquid alcohol, like most flammable "liquids" including gasoline, won't burn; only the vapors will. I've actually watched the repair of a leak in a gas tank by a welder. The secret? Fill it -- with gasoline! Yes, it will boil at the point of contact with the welding rod -- producing vapor inside the tank that is immediately absorbed by the cooler liquid. Jus don't take too much time about the repair. :)-COLLAPSE

  • These tips are one of the most consistent sources of misinformation and opinion presented as fact on the internet- no small distinction.

  • i'm surprised no one has pointed out that the chicken in that video was still a bit raw on the top after being cooked! yikes.

  • Not exactly true

    (Step up on soap box)

    According the USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory they concluded that simmering a product for 1 minute will remove 50% of the alcohol content (Mark Scarborough says 85% is left - not true). If you want 85% left add the alcohol to boiling liquid and immediately remove from heat. However please note that these were calculations not experiments.

    In...+READ

    Not exactly true

    (Step up on soap box)

    According the USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory they concluded that simmering a product for 1 minute will remove 50% of the alcohol content (Mark Scarborough says 85% is left - not true). If you want 85% left add the alcohol to boiling liquid and immediately remove from heat. However please note that these were calculations not experiments.

    In experiments the amount of alcohol removed is greater in products that have higher alcohol content (liquor and liqueurs) than in beer and wine. In fact the residual amount of alcohol left when adding 2 ozs of hard liquor or 2 ozs of wine and then simmering for 10 minutes was virtually identical in tests that were performed. Btw the tests that I am referring to had only 31% of the alcohol remaining after 10 minutes.

    If you do the math and make a gallon of sauce and use 6 ozs of wine to deglaze with you will start with 6oz X 12%) .72 ozs of alcohol. After simmering for 10 minutes you will have *.22 ozs of alcohol left

    128 oz sauce
    6 oz wine
    134 ozs total
    8 oz lost due to summer
    126 Total amount of sauce

    For every ounce of sauce you will have .001746 ozs of alcohol.

    As an example non alcoholic beer contains between 0.2 and 0.4% alcohol (.00025 per ozs) but is considered under US federal law as being non alcoholic. Just FYI most naturally fruit juices usually measures around .2 - .4% alcohol content due to natural fermentation.

    So if you consumed 8 ozs of this sauce (a huge portion for sauce but maybe it's a soup you are having) in your meal you will receive .014 ozs of alcohol. On the other hand if you ordered a 8 oz glass of orange juice in its place you will consumed about .02 ozs of alcohol. (NOTE: If you take the USDA # of 50% alcohol left you will still only have .023 ozs of alcohol in your 8 oz portion, almost identical to your glass of OJ and let's say you think Mark Scarborough is correct you will only have .039 ozs of alcohol - about 2 8 oz glasses worth of orange juice - the bottom line it's not very much.)

    Hope this sort of comparison helps people to understand that the amount of alcohol you receive in food in so miniscule that unless one has severe religious reasons there is no reason to eschew a sauce or soup that has been flavored with alcohol.

    (step down from soapbox)-COLLAPSE

  • Some more info.

    http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/fluids-evaporation-latent-heat-d_147.html

    Latent heat of evaporation of alcohol 896 Kj/KG. Water, which makes up most of the other liquids, rate is 2257 Kj/KG.

    Seems like by the time 60% or so of the total liquid has evaporated, all of the alcohol should be gone.

  • They appear to be equating the alcoholic beverage and the actual alcohol as the same. Alcohol evaporates much quicker and at lower temperatures than the rest of the liquid(mostly water) that made up the actual beverage.

    So yes, the alcoholic beverage liquids may remain, but not much of the actual alcohol.