mittens2020

I am new to this (day 4). I love to cook and was planning out my menu for the weekend when my boyfriend requested a pork dish that he likes that has white wine in it. I told him that I probably couldn't have that b/c I am going for sobriety. He said "doesn't cooking with wine burn off the alcohol."

Any advice? Wine is not one of the types of alcohol I drink - really the only time it gets used in my house is for cooking

I just don't want to blow it.
Thanks!

Sapling

Not a stupid question at all...That early in my sobriety I stayed away from it. Substitute apple juice...Your BF will never know.

Weasel1966

Holland brand makes an excellent cooking white wine that is non alcoholic.

Xune

Ultimately, you'll have to make your own decision. Cooking burns off the majority of the alcohol, but trace amounts will remain. ( At least that is what I have always heard and been told)

It's a personal thing.

I will not refrain from eating food cooked with wine...or baked goods containing artificial vanilla extract.

MIRecovery

It is debatable about whether the alcohol does or does not burn off but having a bottle of wine around IMO is a very bad idea

Pondlady

I know what you mean. I have a few special dishes I make that require wine.....but wine was my problem. I haven't made any of them....I'm at 6 months....not sure yet, what I'll do down the road. Haven't really missed them ......enjoying many other things....so pretty good trade off in my opinion!

hypochondriac

I used to love food cooked with white wine, so I stopped eating things I associated with that for a while. It took me ages before I decided to cook risotto again and when I did I just did it without the wine. I didn't notice the difference. I am sure I just used to use it as an excuse to open a second bottle of wine. Maybe just leave it out and see if anyone notices.

I wouldn't want to keep alcohol in the house for cooking but I avoid when eating out too. I accidentally had a bit of a curry that had wine in it (odd) and it was a definite trigger. It tastes like alcohol so that makes sense really. Even if the alcohol cooked off (which it apparently doesn't) it would still taste boozy and that's more of a risk than I want to be taking.

Dee74

It doesn't all burn off

Alcohol Burn-off Chart

and that's not really the point for me - having wine in my house is a no go even tho I was a beer drinker - in the early days? - no way

D.

jennikate

I personally don't eat foods made with alcohol. Just my preference though.

milly4me

Yeah, I'm going to agree that you should just avoid wine in food this early in your recovery. Why take ANY changes AT ALL??!!

MythOfSisyphus

Well, I'm a chef so I'll take a stab at this. Alcohol is hydrophilic, meaning it has an affinity for water. It evaporates at a lower temperature than water; this is why you can cook it out over time, but being hydrophilic there's a chemical bond with the water that won't be totally broken by heat. You need to distill it, and a rotary evaporator is the most practical way to remove it.

The purpose of wine in a dish is flavor to some degree, and acidity too. You can replace wine in a recipe with flavored vinegar and/or lemon juice.

I cook with wine myself quite a bit. Only a small amount goes in dish unless you're making something like Coq au Vin which requires two full bottles! Keeping the amount small and/or cooking for a long time will reduce the level of alcohol to the point where it's hard to imagine it being a problem.

That said, I didn't feel comfortable buying wine to cook with til I had two full months sober under my belt, and even then I bought a bottle that was just one glass worth so I wouldn't have any left over to tempt me. Since you're in the first week you may be wise to just use something else. No one dish is to special as to be worth risking your sobriety.

mittens2020

Thank you all for your advice. I had sort of made up my mind to wait a (LONG) while before trying to cook with wine, but after the conversation with my boyfriend - thought I would ask the question. This weekend we are having nice wine-free food!

Thanks
V