hearthealth

Hi, I was just wondering. Should I be cooking with wine or beer. It's not frequent or a lot, 1/2 cup, 120ml, every two weeks. Would/could it be a trigger?

entropy1964

For me, especially early on, it isn't a good idea. It isn't really the alcohol in the food as much as it is having it at home, purchasing it etc. I would either skip food that requires it or make substitutes.

HelenofTroy

I have wine in my house still that I use for cooking. I don't do it often and when I do I have to be very vigilant about it. My AV starts chirping in my ear "just have a taste" and I make a point of holding the bottle away from me so that I don't even get a smell of it. If I were in a more fragile mood at the time I'm not sure I would stand up to it, so I don't tempt fate often. I am better with my steak and ale pie because I was never an ale drinker (beer yes, ale no) and I can buy just the one can that I need for it. So long story short, I don't think the alcohol in the food is a problem but the temptation of the alcohol before it gets into the food can be a problem.

totfit

It is a trigger if you are drinking that much when cooking Seriously, what is a trigger for some is a routine for others. Just use your best judgement as to whether it affects you or not. The alcohol cooks out of the food, so that should be a non issue.

Mountainmanbob

Yes, that is the story. What may be a sin for one might not be a sin for another. Problem is that we deceive ourselves so often.

I think that my wife cooks with a little wine occasionally but, I truly don't notice it or taste it. If I did -- I would ask of her to stop.

My wife drinks usually one glass of wine a day -- no sin for her.

I know in my heart and mind that even one glass for me is a sin.

M-Bob

ScottFromWI

This is a topic that comes up often hearthealth and can be quite controversial. From a physical standpoint it's a fact that not all the alcohol cooks off in most instances, so there will still be a small amount of alcohol in the finished product.

Your motivations to use alcohol in your food should probably be more important for you to worry about than the small amount of alcohol itself. There are many other substances you can use to substitute for alcohol when cooking ( fruit juices, other spices, etc ) and you could also choose to simply use recipies that don't call for alcohol.

Like most have said, it's really up to you to decide, I personally choose to avoid it most times. For one thing, it requires you to keep alcohol around the house - which i don't do since I don't drink.

SeaOfSerenity

seems like a recipe for disaster

ill get my coat

August252015

For the Love of All That Is Holy. I don't know why but this issue is EVERYWHERE in my life right now. Sigh.

And here it is at the top of the new posts on SR. Two weekends ago, I was out of town and two issues with food cooked with alcohol came up in the same day. One, the only queso option was tequila flambeed (seriously? You can't just heat it instead?) and despite asking the (fairly inept hence untrustworthy) server to talk to the kitchen and make sure it didn't come that way, it came out looking "bruleed" on top. I didn't eat it; I hadn't consciously thought of what I'd do about cooked food- probably not eat it- so I passed. Then at dinner, we got tiramisu to go- one of my favorite desserts ever- and when we got back to the hotel, I thought "wait! doesn't this have alcohol in it?" Yep, rum. So I didn't eat it either. So I talk to my sponsor, think through it, realize I have hit a wall with a line for me- no food cooked with alcohol, at least right now.

So then what happens? I'm at a dinner party last night and my gf, who is a great cook, has made what looks like a super dinner. She had sweetly asked beforehand what I'd like to drink and even though I assured her water was ok, she got lots of club soda with lime. No problem. We sit down to the first course- octupus over a yogurt and olive oil base, delicious- and afterwards I happen to ask her how it was cooked because it was so good. "Oh, I boiled it in wine then braised it..." WHAT?! Didn't taste like alcohol, just goodness. So then the whole conversation becomes- how did you cook everything else? OMG, what did I just do? So now we're on salad, and I eat just the butter lettuce with the sliced avocado, no dressing just to be safe because she couldn't remember if she put the rice wine in the dressing like she did on the entree.

My stress level is rising this whole time. I'm trying not to become a problem guest and I'm texting my sponsor and mom after the salad course. Can I just eat the veggies that would come with the branzino (she did cook that in the rice wine)? Is any of this a big deal? I didn't MEAN TO DO IT!

Seriously? This is crazy making. I started tearing up after the salad and decided to leave. She feels horrible and because we are all really polite people, I just made a graceful exit about not feeling well - but it was so abrupt, I am sure there was "WTH happened" later since it was a dinner of 7.

What did I actually ingest? I don't know and articles I found pretty much say what Scott said above. *Here is one article I found - http://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/de...-with-alcohol/ *
The intent was certainly not to drink but I honestly can't tell you how I feel about all this other than upset- the control of the ONE thing I can control was....not in my control. Here come the questions....do I never eat out? Do I ask painstaking questions of future hosts? Do I just not get worked up about it and make a mental note of the lesson (be ever vigilant and opt for a preemptive no thanks?)?

Clearly, there is some reason this issue is on my plate right now (ha). Maybe it's because nine months is Fri and I need some heightened reminder of the fact that alcohol is everywhere.

Or maybe it's because I'm ok, and this isn't gonna make me drink.

Whatever the case, clearly alcohol in food is a no go for me. No cheese, cake or fish is worth the angst.

Gonnachange

A controversial subject around here, for sure, and one that does not have a one size fits all answer. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa. If someone believes that it could be a trigger situation then I would advise that a substitute be found; personally I occasionally make dishes that there is no adequate substitute and in those instances, which are less than ten times a year, I'll use the alcohol that the recipe calls for. Again, that's me and I know that I don't have an issue with the minuscule amount of residual alcohol in the finished dish or being tempted to take a swig from the bottle as I'm cooking. If you're concerned about the ingestion or even having alcohol in the house I would take the conservative approach and make another dish.

doggonecarl

Every two weeks? Must be a favorite recipe. I'm the cook in my house and I can count on one hand the times I've added alcohol to my food in 40 years of cooking.

There are thousands of recipes that don't require an alcoholic beverage as an ingredient.

Berrybean

Actually not as much alcohol burns off / cooks out as you might imagine. I was really shocked when I saw Dee's chart on this thread... http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...k-alcohol.html

OddOneIn

You can always replace the alcohol in a recipe with some other liquid. If you need a particular flavor you can usually find a substitute online somewhere.

https://www.americanspice.com/flavorings-and-extracts/

OddOneIn

Oh and fwiw when I used to use alcohol in cooking sometimes people would complain about the amount I used because I could not taste it.

neferkamichael

Most of the alcohol evaporates away while cooking, however, just looking at the beer can or wine bottle could possibly be a trigger.

Dee74

I'm afraid that's simply not the case nefer -this is in the link berrybean refers to above



D

Justincredible

This question always gets me. It always raises a little red flag for me that addiction or the addictive voice might be at play here. Subtly, so much so that the person asking the question may not even realize it. If you're here posting at sober recovery, maybe just do what you need to do so you do not put anymore alcohol in your body. Even with cooking yes. Lots of substitutes. I even use non alcoholic mouthwash. There are ways around not having to include booze in your life. If there are still little parts of you that want to hang on to being around and ingesting booze, maybe taking a look at why you feel that way might help in your recovery.

Now, this is just my opinion and I don't mean to sound harsh. Maybe there's something I'm missing about booze and cooking and Im just not understanding the importance of wanting to keep it in sobriety.

noneever

The past 5 years I've made christmas cake; very delicious, made with a good whack of booze. The chopping and mixing of the fruit with alcohol was always accompanied with a binge of the remaining booze. Classy.
I am not making the cake this year. No freaking way.

OddOneIn

Yeah this season is going to hard enough on it's own without any additional temptation.

And for me cooking and alcohol went together.

Loekken

Oh wow. Had no idea that much was potentially retained. Guess I'll keep it in mind next time I serve up my famous whiskey sauce.

Yogini1603

Thanks Dee, I read that it didn't evaporate but seeing it all laid out like that is helpful!

Personally, I'm newly sober after a relapse and I wouldn't cook with alcohol. I would absolutely put it down to whatever works for you though as I have a family member who has been in recovery for almost 30 years and she cooks with alcohol and doesn't give it a second thought. I just know that I can't have alcohol in the house without feeling uncomfortable; so if I'm putting wine in a dish, it's highly likely I'll have a bottle in the house and that's not good for my peace of mind.