Wine in cooking?
 

I was at my mum's house today and my sister was cooking dinner. Mum was reading out the directions, I was playing with my phone, when the phrase "Add 1 cup of wine" jumped out at me. I'm was surprised and pleased that I had an immediate reaction of "Wine?! No, no wine" before I even properly registered why I was protesting the wine (it was also kind of funny, like "what? Wine? Nooooooo"). I'm proud that it's become a base reaction to avoid alcohol :)

But I digress... My sister said "it's cooking wine, the alcohol burns off" I said "please, no wine" and so we had it without. I'm wondering - is there a 'rule' on this? Does the alcohol burn off? It got me wondering if I've had meals while eating out that have had wine in them without me knowing. I will never cook with wine, it's not allowed in my house at all, but just wondering what the general consensus is.

I'm really in a good mood at the moment, went today without wanting alcohol (a rarity in my still early days), and had a great long walk with the pooch after a nice dinner with my mum and sister :) This is by far the longest I've ever been sober, and I'm feeling :scoregood

people are usually surprised at how little alcohol burns off

Alcohol Burn-off Chart

D

Awesome chart Dee, thank you that answers all my questions :) Well, most of them, I still wonder if I've had wine in food from restaurants since quitting (by that I mean in the food I've ordered as take away cause I can never be bothered cooking now that I don't drink my dinner lol).

It always surprises me that. The only thing I've ever cooked with really is red wine and after a few minutes on a high heat you can never taste any alcohol. I also listen to a science podcast run by some Cambridge PHDs and they said it all burns off quickly.

Either way, while I prefer to eat healthily, I'll have red wine sauce, no problem.

I've never eaten anything cooked with wine where I got any sort of buzz so no, eating something cooked with wine would be no issue for me.

What keeps me sober, can cause someone else to relapse.

I can use mouthwash, Nyquil and eat rum balls. A splash of wine in sauce, for me, makes little stress. However, I cannot drink non-beer (found that out the hard way!), and sometimes seeing others drink can cause horrible cravings that come over me like a dark evil mood. If that happens I HAVE to leave.

If you have any doubts, remind your hosts, and suggest a splash of vinegar, or such substitute. There is also the possibility that the 'normies' in your life just don't understand the risk and torture they are putting us in. Or they are in as much denial about us as we were before recovery.

It's not rude to offer substitutes. It's not rude for someone allergic to peanuts to refuse a well intentioned P&J sandwich. And if worse comes to worse, it's not rude to LEAVE. It's simple survival. If they can't understand that, the THEY are the bore.

Alcohol Cooking Substitutions - Alcohol Substitute Recipes

I don't know but at AA last night a woman was talking about having to use alcohol in a baking class, and she drenched her cake with it and ate it (I wasn't clear whether she cooked it first or not?!), and she knew she was being excessive and pouring too much alcohol and then it gave her a warm feeling of happiness in her stomach, so, in her mind that was not maintaining her sobriety. Then again, my ex's parents are AA "leaders" (I'm not sure of the term... they are very involved in their AA program) with over 20 years sobriety, and they also like to cook/bake, and they always said that alcohol cooks off and is not the same thing as drinking. So in my opinion it's a personal decision and if you think it causes your sobreity to be at risk, I would stay away, even if it's totally cooked off.

I eat no foods prepared with alcohol in them. Period. To me, it's not worth the risk.

I never risk it. That chart was a real eye-opener when I first saw it. I think any alcoholic pouring booze on a cake and eating it is dancing with the devil.

I just don't risk it. Especially being on Antabuse. That said I was at a dinner last night and ate a chocolate truffle. By the time I got into my second one I realised they had some sort of booze in them. That's a big no no for me. It didn't make me want to drink, but I won't have them again.

I use to take Antabuse which is extremely sensitive to booze and I never got sick off eating things with alcohol cooked in it.

I don't mind having alcohol in a sauce that has been cooked down over a few hours, which Dee's chart shows leaves little % behind. 5% divided into 8 servings isn't likely to be an issue. I use cooking sherry at times, which is salty and dense and I would not drink, but some alcoholics in active use will drink anything even if it tastes bad.

For me, I've been a non-drinker for so many years, I don't much care about bottles of alcohol sitting in somebody else's fridge, but you won't find them in mine. I cook with sherry so seldom I have to go buy the smallest bottle I can find, and I end up throwing out the rest of it because it would just go bad in my fridge.

FT

I won't cook with it at this point because i don't quite trust myself not to take a swig off the bottle (it's more that i don't want to put that temptation in front of me at this point). I will eat things with a wine reduction or whatever though. it doesn't even register to me as a trigger. I have never gotten tipsy off of a wine sauce. and one cup of wine reduced in a sauce that will serve 6 people is not very much even if it were to retain the full amount of alcohol. I understand that it can trigger people though and they want to avoid it.

I wouldn't eat rum cake or rum balls or fruit cake soaked in alcohol because though because those things actually make me tipsy.

I've had chefs argue with me the same thing - they checked it out, and later backed down.

D

i think its ok. Cooked a pork, apple and cider casserole on sunday, but cider wasn't my drink.

cooking with wine - re Antabuse
 

That is very interesting - I've been sober 17 years, don't even eat apple sauce with less than 1% alcohol content on label but cook with wine in sauces etc - always thinking alcohol burned off.

Now I read it apparently doesn't but your Antabuse experience would seem to indicate that what's left doesn't register as 'alcoholic'.

Maybe metabolised differently once cooked?

Anyone have any additional info?

I suspect a lot of the issue with this is psychological, and since we have different psychological reactions to things, what works for one of us might not work for another. I've gotten to my current practice rather carefully. When I first quit drinking I wouldn't touch anything that had even been in the same ROOM with a bottle of alcohol! But as I become more confident I branched out and found that I have no trouble with most foods made with alcohol, as long as the food has been cooked for a while. I can use mouthwash too. I do draw the line at medicines (Nyquil is 20 proof) and ingesting "raw" alcohol in desserts, etc.

Strangely enough, the only thing I've ingested that has really triggered me was--get this--a sparkling water with a subtle hint of juniper. Not a molecule of alcohol in the stuff, but it smelled like gin! I had to toss it out!

Most people are very afraid of it but it doesn't bother me. I never liked to drink wine but it does enhance certain dishes nicely.

The mental craving for a beer is the last thing to bother me and what little alcohol might be in the food after cooking isn't going to change my craving.

That does actually resonate with me
 

That does actually resonate with me; the first part about hyper caution - I'm still iffy about mouthwash - after 17 years - but I'm fine with people drinking around me and having alcohol in the house for husband and friends - go figure.

Like you say - different strokes - tks:)