“Many people believe that because alcohol is sensitive to heat, it is eliminated with cooking. However, not all the alcohol content of alcoholic drinks is removed with heat; it depends on the type and time of cooking. For instance if you add beer or wine to boiling liquid, then immediately remove it from the heat, 85 per cent of the alcohol content will remain. If you light the alcohol, as in flambé dishes, 75 per cent will remain. Even after simmering the dish for one and a half hours, it will still have 20 per cent of the original alcohol content.”
This reminds me of a questions asked on Alim Online the other day. A person asked if working in a pharmaceutical factory where alcohol is used to make medicine for 'sugar' patients was halal income. The maulana who had more mehndi in his beard than a new dulhan on her hands, answered," agar sugarcane kay russ say banaaee jaaye tau qattun koi harj nahee". And I was like, hainjeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
A study conducted by the US Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Data Laboratory calculated the percentage of alcohol remaining in a dish based on various cooking methods. The results are as follows:
Preparation Method Percent of Alcohol 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, alcohol stirred into mixture:
Thank you Femme, aishaA, Code Red, and belle for the welcome and for thinking of me. So sweet. Not sure I am back as I was before, but I will try to post here and there. smile
Thanks Fraud, that was very helpful.
Mem, some muslims had mentioned to me that using alcohol was okay because they thought ALL the alcohol evaporates during cooking. So I brought up this post because I dont know how many here think the same thing. Some people will still think its okay, but thats upto the person to choose to use it or not.
Just wanted to add that unsweetened apple juice makes an acceptable substitute for white wine or sherry, and unsweetened red grape juice is a good substitute for red wine or burgundy.
The way I see it... if you're worried about the the exact percentage of alcohol left in your food afterwards, you shouldn't be messing with it in the first place.
Just substitute some apple or orange juice or water or "halal" chicken stock to it.
Having said that, if you don't want alcohol in your food, don't use recipes that call for it!
Now, how hard was that?
