Jaxin1977

If anyone here is currently prescribed and on Disulfiram aka 'Antabuse', this is great info. Even a teaspoon of alcohol while on antabuse can make u very sick.

PhaseTwo

Well.. Kinda wish I hadn't read this. I was always under the impression the alcohol was burned off so I've ordered dishes with alcohol in them at restaurants.. Damn

Weaver

To each their own I say.

Weaver

Don't get to down on yourself. I think there is a HUGE difference in ordering a dish with miniscule amounts of alcohol in it (unknowingly or knowingly) and a full planned drinking outing.

I would just hate to see you tear yourself up about this.


Be well

PhaseTwo

It is kinda bothering me. I'm not counting it against my sobriety because I had no idea about this. Guess ignorance is bliss

LadyBlue0527

This is just me but I wouldn't count it against my sobriety either. I never ate a meal with the intention of getting drunk from the alcohol within.

I'm not going to stop putting a 12 oz bottle of beer in my chili that feeds at least 15 people and then cooks for a while. That doesn't mean that someone else wouldn't be affected negatively.

I never considered drinking vanilla or mouthwash for the effect nor did I ever order food because it had alcohol in it.

However, if you offered me a piece of rum cake which is soaked in and wreaks of alcohol I wouldn't even go near it. What it comes down to is if I can't taste it, smell it, or even catch the slightest buzz from it I don't find it a threat to my sobriety.

If you think you're going to have a problem if you use mouthwash or buy vanilla that has alcohol, or by eating something that has alcohol within they you probably shouldn't do it.

Again, this is just my opinion, for someone else it might be different.

IOAA2

LB I agree with you but we have to remember that we have tolerances different from each other. I'm not recommending to experiment but if it works for you or me fine. I don't recommend it but occasionally when eating out and my wife has a beer I've never heard of and I MIGHT have a sip of 1/4 teaspoon for a sample and that ends it, no horns grown.
I was surprised at the amount of alcohol remaining after cooking as I thought when 175 degrees arrived the alcohol was cooked out.

You mentioned rum cake and I started to taste it after not having it for probably 40 years.
Insidious. BE WELL

foolsgold66

Total abstinence from alcohol in all food products is pretty much impossible. Read labels and google and you shall see. For those that like specific flavors, there are substitutes, many of which have been posted.

Dee74

see, that way would lie madness for me.

As an active alcoholic I always wanted to push the envelope as much as I could.
That would start my brain off and running

I sampled enough beer to know what it tastes like.

D

LadyBlue0527

IOAA2, you know the tremendous amount of respect that I have for you and I appreciate what you posted. I was flabbergasted as I'm sure many were. I had no idea that alcohol remained when you cooked with it (except of course rum cake! No question there!). I thought that it all burnt off as long as it wasn't a large amount of it.

It does certainly give me pause and some searching in how much alcohol I ingest when I eat that chili. I know that I've made it when I was still drinking and ate it during the week and didn't feel as though I wanted to drink.

You're absolutely right, everyone's tolerance is going to be different. It's just a bit scary too that someone could actually be triggered by eating food that was cooked in alcohol.

Ugh, rum cake, probably one of the grossest things I have ever smelled and tasted. I think when someone cut me a piece and I took a bite my reaction was I might as well pour myself a drink. That was many years ago.

Again, thank you for posting what you did. This board is all about information and I'm sure that many weren't aware, including me, that high of a percentage remained!

LadyBlue0527

Total proof that it's all in the person (and hopefully honesty is a part of it). If you gave me a toothpick soaked in alcohol and I put it in my mouth I'd be talking myself into the fact that I had some alcohol so why not a bit more, and then a bit more, and then a bit more. We all know the game.

No taste, no smell, no buzz, it's ok in food for me. Give me anything that has one of those three and I'm off like a rocket looking for more.

digderidoo

There is alcohol in bread from the yeast in the baking process ... unless it's unleavened of course. The crustier the bread, the higher the content as the crust makes it difficult to escape as vapour.

If you have a problem with that then toast it, most of it apparently evaporates.

Personally I like a crusty sandwich.

Dee74

No offence to Didge who I'm sure is genuine in his remarks, but I think the alcohol in bread (or for that matter orange juice) thing that comes up in these threads every time is essentially what we aussies call a Furphy - a red herring.

If you're buying commercial bread it will almost certainly only have very minute trace elements....other things have these trace elements too, like the aforementioned orange juice and some soft drinks.

Boutique breads and home made breads may have a higher content, but I still would not worry about bread...

nutrition - Does bread contain traces of alcohol? - Skeptics Stack Exchange

digdug

As stated by many, this is clearly a personal issue. And by personal, I mean that we all have our triggers. I think the trick is to really acknowledge and understand these triggers.

For me, alcohol in a cooked dish is no issue at all. I eat out at restaurants at least once a week and have no problem ordering sauces with wine. I had a bourbon au poivre sauce with my steak last night and it was delicious. I cannot taste the actual alcohol.

But I do not eat desserts with alcohol because from past experience, I know I can taste it. I do not want that taste in my mouth.

I also know that me actually cooking with alcohol is a big trigger. I used to drink and cook a lot. So I do not cook with alcohol. I leave that up to the chefs in restaurants.

In fact, I keep nothing with alcohol in my apartment, including mouthwash, hand sanitizer and aftershave. I take no medications with alcohol in it.

Bottom line, do what makes you feel comfortable. Sobriety is not something that should be played around with.

thisisme

Alcohol is poison.
I would sooner add paint to my recipes.

freshstart57

The orange juice may be indeed be a furphy ( a new word YAY), but snapple juices have been banned outright from commercial sale in some parts of the world due to their alcohol content of 0.03%. We might feel that is an overreaction due to a fundamentalist view of what is a normal occurrence in our everyday lives. That may also be true. It is also true that the short ribs braised for a couple of hours with a cup of wine may have no more alcohol than what would be consumed in a bottle of snapple.

I see a continuum here, and our reactions seem to be emotional rather than rational. Fruit juice good, boeuf bourguingnon bad. Emotional objections are as valid as any other kind, but cannot be supported by rational means.

soberhawk

I do agree there are some emotion here – I at least is also taking emotions into account.

I made my brisket with sweet/sour source instead of basing it on dark beer, that was fine. I am using vinegar made on white wine and I even baked a bread, there will be some alcohol there – but it is ridicules small amounts. And I do not associate vinegar or bread with booze, I would be very aware of what I was doing if I was pouring a dark beer on the meat.

If I have any doubt then just leave it, there is not reason to play in the boarder regions without reason.

Not for me at least.

Dee74

good thing I don't like either - although the ribs would definitely unsettle me more.

Like several people have noted it's a personal decision - and it is emotive in the sense of personal decisions, but also in the sense that arguments that seek to ridicule the contrary point of view, or reduce it to absurdity, always seem to pop up in these threads, and tick people off.

Its best when we share our experience rather than trying to convert others I think.

D

Grungehead

For me it comes down to what are my motives? If I am even the slightest bit concerned about the alcohol content in food or another product I might as well not consume it, because my brain has already started the stinkin' thinkin'. In one of my previous stretches of sobriety (7 years) I ate food dishes cooked with wine and had no issues. I even drank whatever amount of wine that is given during communion and had no issues. Seeing as how that was a "previous stretch of sobriety" I did eventually relapse, but it was not related to trace alcohol consumption. I got addicted to opiates after heart surgery and I eventually started drinking again.

This time around I am being a bit more conservative with what I put in my body. I honestly don't think trace amounts of alcohol in food will trigger my physical allergy to alcohol, but I've reached the point that if there's a one in a million chance that it might then I am willing to avoid those foods. I was also on Ambien and Ativan for legitimate purposes after getting sober, but I felt the need to stop taking those drugs and see if I could adjust to life successfully without them. Again they may very well have not caused any problems but I didn't want to chance it unless they were absolutely necessary to function. So far so good.

360shoes

I'm not really one to tell people what they should do. Especially on this subject.

I can't explain it but I was a total wino. I could drink gallons of it. I, however, never could gag down a beer or whiskey. If that was all there was to drink, I'd have never drank. And there were plenty of times that was all there was and I tried. I just can't do it. I tried for over 30 years. Can't do it. Hate the taste more than I liked getting drunk on that one. Go figure.

Anyway, I'm kind of like that with the food thing. A chef in a restaurant can pretty much do what they want and I'll eat it. I wouldn't think to cook with it. Lucky for me I can't cook so it's not a problem. I don't pay any attention to mouthwash but I'm not so sure I want any of that NyQuil stuff around. That actually taste like a shot IMO. A bad one but one none the less. Maybe it's that it comes with its own shot glass that really just bugs me. I don't know.

I don't really like the taste of alcohol. Take out all the sweet and flavors out of it and what's left is right up there with gasoline I think.

So as long as my food or toothpaste doesn't taste like something I used to like to drink. I'm okay.

And I think cake should just taste like chocolate and not rum anyway. Hands down.