Cooking With Alcohol

[coachj26]

Hey SR. I just got back from having lunch with friend. Our topic of discussion was cooking with alcohol and eating foods with alcohol in them. It's been my experience in the program to practice abstinence. My friend stated it doesn't bother him to eat food cooked with or in alcohol, since he believes there isn't any alcohol content left after cooking. What do you think?

Thanks,
coach

[michski]

You're gonna get all kinds of different replies! After almost 5 years of not killing myself with booze I now do use a little red wine in my pot roasts, etc.

But for the first year of my sobriety I used good balsamic vinegar and I found it added a little more zest but did succeed in adding depth to my dishes.

I use Mirin when cooking chinese food and it's 12% btw. It's sold as a food condiment and I don't thing anyone checks the age of anyone who adds it to their food cart.

Just be careful with your motives when you plan on cooking with it. You don't need to by a big bottle of wine for most dishes. So if you must cook with it make sure you buy only the small 6 ounce bottles. That's usually more than enough for any meal...1/4 cup is plenty for even the deepest of beef dishes like bourgnion.
I did poach an entire salmon using my old recipe of a bottle of white wine and I gotta tell you I almost gagged and found that I no longer liked that recipe.
I've done it again with balsamic and fish bouillon and a ton of garlic and fresh lemon and I like it alot better.

Using wine with cooking is kind of the same as drinking near beer. It's OK for some but not for others. In my opinion early sobriety is NOT the time to mess around with finding out which type of alcoholic you are.

Just my 2 cents..

[CarolD]

Check out this thread

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ooking+alcohol

It is not exactly what you asked but
it certainly has a lot of opinions...

No, I do not eat or drink alcohol.

[aasharon90]

Hi Im Sharon and Im an alcoholic.

By the Grace of my HP and people
like u here in SR I havent had a
drink of alcohol since 8-11-90.
For that and u Im truely grateful.


I use to make a mean pot of speghetti
using the real Sherry in it for flavoring...

No i didnt cook with it..i added it at the
end so the dish could soak up that wonderful
sherry flavor....yum....

That was before I got sober 16 yrs ago.
Today, i dont make a mean pot of speghetti
anymore with alcohol but its flavorable with
other wonderful seasoning available.

I learned when i got sober that ALL alcohol
is "poison" to me. I dont have it in my home,
so im not tempted in case i have an off day.

If i go to a resturant...i read the menu and
whats in each dish..that way i know to
avoid those dishes made with alcohol.

Im not into whether alcohol is burned off
or not...this issue is for me is to stay away
from Alcohol all together. To say its ok to
have a dish where alcohol is cooked off
allows me to say its ok to have that one
that time, then its ok to have something
else another time and before i know it,
the obsession to want it...to need it...
to have it begins....and believe me one
sip, one glass, one of anything will NEVER
be enough to quench my thirst for alcohol.

Thank you for letting me share.

[chip]

Hi Coach!
Welcome to the AA forum!

Cooking with alcohol is an interesting question. I found Carol's response to be very interesting.

I wouldn't want to eat anything which would remind me of drinking. Last year, at my first sober christmas party, someone gave me a cheesecake tart. To my horror, the apriocot glaze on top had apriocot brandy in it. I spit it in a napkin, without anybody noticing. Just having the taste in my mouth made me feel like I had been violated. I actually washed my mouth out in the washroom afterwards.

I've done plenty of cooking with alcohol in my drinking days. Often, I would drink while I cooked.

When I quit drinking, I had half a keg of beer left in my beer fridge. I made a massive rack of ribs which I boiled in beer all day and then BBQ-ed with my tournament style sauce. I couldn't taste the beer, and the sauce was beer free. Boiling the meat in the beer helped break down some of the protiens, and made the ribs nice an tender.

I'm rambling now... I'll stop.

I avoid desserts and sauces with alcohol in them now, just because I don't want to be reminded of the taste. With that said, a good cook knows that if you cook with booze....it's not suposed to taste like booze. If it doesn't taste like booze, it probably doesn't have a substantial amount. I never ate food to get loaded.

I'm sure there are lots of opinion out there. My opinion is to avoid it in early sobriety. Later, one can use good judgement with what they choose to eat. I certainly wouln't eat a rum cake, but I might boil some meat in beer before BBQ-ing it.
chip

[Ten Chips Down]

Originally Posted by aasharon90

Hi Im Sharon and Im an alcoholic.

By the Grace of my HP and people
like u here in SR I havent had a
drink of alcohol since 8-11-90.
For that and u Im truely grateful.


I use to make a mean pot of speghetti
using the real Sherry in it for flavoring...

No i didnt cook with it..i added it at the
end so the dish could soak up that wonderful
sherry flavor....yum....

That was before I got sober 16 yrs ago.
Today, i dont make a mean pot of speghetti
anymore with alcohol but its flavorable with
other wonderful seasoning available.

I learned when i got sober that ALL alcohol
is "poison" to me. I dont have it in my home,
so im not tempted in case i have an off day.

If i go to a resturant...i read the menu and
whats in each dish..that way i know to
avoid those dishes made with alcohol.

Im not into whether alcohol is burned off
or not...this issue is for me is to stay away
from Alcohol all together. To say its ok to
have a dish where alcohol is cooked off
allows me to say its ok to have that one
that time, then its ok to have something
else another time and before i know it,
the obsession to want it...to need it...
to have it begins....and believe me one
sip, one glass, one of anything will NEVER
be enough to quench my thirst for alcohol.

Thank you for letting me share.

Hey everyone my name is John and I'm also an alcoholic.

Hi Coach and welcome to SR.

I quoted Sharon because I LOVE that post.

It articulates the same passion I feel about alcohol today: Ten years sober, I want no part of it.

You can call me phobic, LOL. It's ok. Maybe I am. And THAT'S ok.

Hell, I recently (there's a post in here somewhere describing it) quit using Listerine because of its alcohol content.

I want absolutely no part of alcohol. I have it bad enough as it is with these pills (some Klonopin, etc.) and you can bet the bottom damned dollar in your wallet that once I kick THOSE - I will practice the same strict abstinence.

See, I tried for years and years to drink in moderation. That didn't work. And now, I've been trying for years and years to eat tranqs with impunity.

THAT ain't cuttin' it.

So when I'm done son, I'm done.

=-=-=-=-=

I'd like to close on this note: I'm sure that cooking with alcohol poses no threat, similar to what your friend states. So my fear may be irriational--however, it is rooted in rational motives. Translation: I have a good reason for this phobia. LOL ...Well now I'm rambling. LOL

Follow what you're comfortable with is what the answer is, I'm sure.

TCD

[chip]

Hello John,
Just a quick line to say Hi, and welcome to the AA forum! I'm an alcoholic, and people call me chip.

Phobia is a good word. I work in a bar, and I NEVER leave my virgin drink unattended... I'm parinoid about drinking the wrong drink. Once, and only once, somebody joked about spiking my drink. I waited untill he had a break, and I called him up to my office. Needless to say, nobody ever made a joke like that again....

Yep, I don't do mouthwash either.

I'll tell this story here only because is sort of relates to the topic.... It's an example of an unwanted tasting of liquid.

Once, at work, I was stuggling with a stuborn beer keg. I was having trouble hooking it up to the system, and the bartender couldn't get it to work. All of a sudden, I was sprayed with a pressurized spray of beer. It soaked my shirt and hair. The worst part was that beer was shot into my nose...and yes...some was on my lips and in my mouth.

I sort of freaked out. I spat anything in my mouth out on the floor. I went to the sink and rinsed out my mouth and nasal passages. I went home and showered.

The cool thing about this experience is that the taste and smell of beer doesn't make me want to drink. Later, I was even able to laugh at myself about it.... Here I am, the alcoholic, working so hard at my program... and I get sprayed all over by beer. I know the staff snickered at me behind my back, but I'd snicker at me as well.

For me, the point is that if I am right with my HP, and I'm working my program.. Stuff like this isn't going to make me relapse. Eating food certainly isn't going to send be back to drinking, unless I am not working on my recovery. Just my opinion. Like I said earlier, though, I try and avoid eating things with booze in it. I've made ribs without boiling them in beer, and they are tasty. Boiling the ribs in a mixture of apple juice, spices, and water works great as well
chip

[collinsmi]

I try not to worry about it, and I don't have to think about it often. Never got drunk by eating, just from drinking. I will not, however, eat those candies with the cavity filled with rum!

[fraankie]

it's a program of abstinence
so...........................

i heard that a lot
the alcohol is gone
but
the flavor is there
after cooking

i read labels
so much has alcohol
i used to make brownies
and
was amazed to see vanilla extract has alcohol in it
but
there was also a non-alcoholic vanilla extract
i used it
between the browenies, the nuts, and the icing
it tasted great

and
then on the menu
is the old beer battered french fries
like, why bother
when onion rings are cool

so
as far as using any alcohol related ingredient
i just substitute
at the end
my appetite is satisfied
and
i don't have to have the burden of
"did i slip"

best
fraankie

[jlo34]

I drank anything that contained alcohol...rubbing alcohol, food color, food flavoring, mouthwash, didn't matter.

I went to brush my teeth once with this new toothpaste my mom had bought, shocked to find alcohol in it!!! I spit it out immediately!!!

Face cleaners...smell gross; but you know, they've got a bunch of alcohol in them too.

My home is entirely alcohol free. I did allow my husband to bring in a bottle of rubbing alcohol a few years ago. Several months later, I had a burning desire to drink and I remembered that bottle of rubbing alcohol. I took the lid off it, thinking by smelling it would disgust me - opposite, it smelled really good. My mind then justified that taking a sip would not be a relapse...(with almost 14 years sober folks!!!). The bottle was near my lips, getting ready to drink it (I regularly go to meetings, 4-8 a week; that day I had gone to 2! AA did not enter my mind, nor my recovery, my parents, my kids, my husband, my sponsors, my sponsees, my AA friends, my HP, NOTHING!!) when suddenly a loud voice screamed at me, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!!" It was my HP. I know it was. It had to have been. I was beyond anything human stopping me. Had that voice not waken me up, my life sure would be a lot different, if I were even alive yet. I dumped that bottle down the toilet, told my husband and it has nor will it be replaced. There are plenty of suitable replacements without alcohol in them!!!

Do I cook with alcohol? NO. Do I have alcohol of any form in my house? NO. My sobriety is too precious. I refuse to give up my life, my happiness, and my peace of mind for alcohol.

Blessings,
Jen

[Sheryl85]

I use the rule of thumb for ANY situation that causes me concern, “when in doubt, DON’T.” If eating something cooked with alcohol causes you pause for thought, and then don’t eat it. Just because I handle one situation one way doesn’t make it right for you. I’ll give you an example. I have over 21 years and it doesn’t bother me to go with my sister once in awhile and shoot pool in som poolhall or bar with alcohol being served all around me. However, I have a friend with over 33 years who says he doesn’t do that because he starts absorbing the atmosphere and the next thing he knows he’s shooting the bull, telling lies and chasing cocktail waitresses. You see he was as addicted to the atmosphere as he was the alcohol. Not everything is constant for every alcoholic.

The best thing I could suggest if you find you still want some input is to talk about it with someone in the program that you really respect and that you know practices these principles in all their affairs. I have found that when I pose a question to too many people I end up with too many opinions and then I’m back where I started from and having to make up my mind on my own again.

Good luck and I hope you find the answer...

[Ten Chips Down]

Eek. Sheryl you do realize that rubbing alcohol is not grain or ethyl alcohol, right? It's poison to humans when ingested. Just want to make sure everyone on here understands that anything with "isopropyl" or "rubbing" on the label is a solvent and you can lose your eyesight or die from THAT mistake.

Originally Posted by chip

Hello John,
Just a quick line to say Hi, and welcome to the AA forum!

Chip, I like your name... for some reason! LOL

And that was without a doubt the longest quick line I've ever had the pleasure of reading!

I like that story of you making absolutely no bones (bones.... hmm, odd time of the year to be using that...? AHEM anyway) ...about the dude joking of spiking your drink. REALLY like it, because I think I'd take it that seriously too. It would:

1) Shake me up as intended.
2) Offend me.
3) Be a thing to immediately address person-to-person just you did.

Thanks for that welcome. Oh and by the way, whenever I'm in a bar, I never leave MY virgin unattended either.

( j/k i never go in bars)


-TCD-

[coachj26]

Thank you everyone for your input. SR is truly a blessing...

[Sheryl85]

Gee TCD, after all these years that's really good information to know. (Guess now we know why my pot roast always tasted funny.) However, I hope you got more out of my post than that...

[CarolD]

I think TCD was referring to Jen's post Sheryl

too many strong lovely women does tend to
confuse sometimes!

[Sheryl85]

I was wondering...

[o2bserene]

Oh my God:

Some of your responses are hysterical! To cook or not to cook, that is the question ... do what works for you, that is my humble opinion! BTW - I don't cook with alcohol because I'm an alcoholic. Live Easy But Think First!

Smooches to you Coach ... It is good to have friends like you who ask the right questions.

Di

[CarolD]

Another strong lovely woman chimes in!

Welcome to our AA Forum Di...

[coachj26]

o2bserene - It is a joy and experience having you in my life. And yes it is a GREAT experience

Love ya - J.R

[barb dwyer]

I'm not much of a cook, but I was a fairly popular bartender, and I was under the impression that alcohol was only 'cooked' out if there was an actual fire - like the flaming shots and other incredibly stupid drinks like that.

(there's enough horror stories of those things going wrong to make anyone believe in the insanity part of the disease of alcoholism)

The incomprehensible demoralization of waking up without eyebrows! Or worse - half a mustache!

[Taiman]

It is a personal choice. The alcohol will burn off when you cook with it. You probably have to be more cautious about desserts that have alcohol in them because they can be quite filled with alcohol. Tiramisu for example. Alot of the 1/2 decent bakeries use alcohol in their desserts.

You have to examine your motives with honesty. I don't cook with alcohol but I never did even when I drank. I have known alcoholics who were sober 40 years until the day they died who who cooked with alcohol.

Many priests in AA still take communion with wine. Many truly believe in transubstantiation.

[CarolD]

Facts...

The following chart data comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture with information on how much alcohol remains in your food with specific cooking methods. Keep in mind that this is the percentage of alcohol remaining of the original addition.


Alcohol Burn-off Chart

Preparation Method Percent Retained
alcohol added to boiling liquid & 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 mixture:
15 minutes cooking time 40%
30 minutes cooking time 35%
1 hour cooking time 25%
1.5 hours cooking time 20%
2 hours cooking time 10%
2.5 hours cooking time 5%

[Ten Chips Down]

.... That's what's retained ?

OMG, that's alarming.

[Ten Chips Down]

Originally Posted by CarolD

I think TCD was referring to Jen's post Sheryl

Too many strong lovely women does tend to
confuse sometimes!

Oh my Lord! Indeed I was confused. I meant Jen - not you, Sheryl - so sorry.

Those particular characteristics - "strong," "lovely," and "female" - are like kryptonite to Superman for me. Fwiw, you dead nailed it in your post and I agree with Every Single Word.

Originally Posted by Sheryl85

I use the rule of thumb for ANY situation that causes me concern, “when in doubt, DON’T.” If eating something cooked with alcohol causes you pause for thought, and then don’t eat it. Just because I handle one situation one way doesn’t make it right for you.

Also found your anecdote about the 33-year veteran of abstinence' need to avoid poolhalls and bars and the reasons behind that need most engrossing indeed.

You see Sheryl? I did read your thoughtful post, every word.

-TCD-
(weak in the knees)

[Sheryl85]

No harm, no foul. :Wgla Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with who said what.

And by the way, I just love that ol’ 33 year veteran. One reason is that he also taught me the meaning of what’s on the bottom of page 84 in the Big Book. It starts by saying that we’ve stopped fighting everything and everyone, because sanity will have returned (he said, “provided that we have done everything necessary between Steps 2 through 9”). He also taught me what it did NOT say and that was that sanity would stay. That, my dear, is up to me and whether I choose to keep up with the maintenance part of the program which keeps me in contact with a Power greater than myself (in other words my working the last three steps). Sanity, “That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.” When I’m in fit spiritual condition I listen to that inner voice that can caution me about doing something and help me to practice the “when in doubt, don’t” business. That’s my HP talking to me. It also helps me to do or say the right things at the right time so I can be an instrument of His will. It’s amazing how that works. There are days when I’m still in awe of it all.

I also think it is wonderful that the author of this thread was listening to their HP and started this segment. It just goes to show you that God uses every means necessary to get His message across. I hope the author got the answer they needed.