ALCOHOL Cook Off Rates

MYTH: "All the Alcohol burns off when you cook it."

Foods that have been cooked with alcohol (beer, wine, vodka, etc.), still contain significant amounts of alcohol even if they've been sautéed, simmered, baked or set on fire.

The conventional wisdom accepted by just about everyone in the food world is that all the alcohol you add to a dish evaporates during cooking. It’s wrong. In fact, you have to cook something for a good three hours to removed virtually all traces of alcohol.

It may be that the amount of alcohol in a dish is modest to start with, but the fact that some of the alcohol remains should be of significant concern to Muslims.

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:

Alcohol that has been...	... has this much ethanol (alcohol) remaining.
added to boiling liquid, then removed from heat	85%
set on fire, flamed, 'flambé'	75%
left uncovered at room temperature, overnight	70%
baked, 25 minutes, alcohol not stirred into mixture	45%
baked/simmered, alcohol stirred into mixture:
for 15 minutes	40%
for 30 minutes	35%
for 1 hour (60 minutes)	25%
for 1.5 hours (90 minutes)	20%
for 2 hours (120 minutes)	10%
for 2.5 hours (150 minutes)	5%

ALCOHOL IN POPULAR DISHES
CHICKEN MARSALA (POLLO AL MARSALA)
Chicken Marsala is an Italian dish of chicken breasts cooked in a sauce of fortified Marsala wine.

SHRIMP SCAMPI
Shrimp Scampi is an Italian dish of shrimp (prawns) cooked in a garlicky, butter-wine sauce served over pasta.

SUSHI
Sake and mirin, both Japanese rice wines, are common ingredients in sushi rice.

RECIPE SUBSTITUTION IDEAS

Recipe calls for: Red Wine	Recipe calls for: White Wine
Used in sauces, desserts and meat dishes.	Used in seafood dishes, sauces
Substitute: Pomegranate Syrup, دبس الرمان , رب أنار	Substitute 1: Verjus, Sour Grape Juice, حصروم , آبغور
Use 1/4 - 1/3 the amount called for.	Substitute 2: Lemon Juice, Lime Juice
	Adjust amount according to taste.
Recipe calls for: Cointreau, Orange Liqueur	Recipe calls for: Vanilla Extract
Used in desserts	Used in desserts
Substitute: Fresh Grated Orange Peel	Substitute: Vanillin, Vanilla Powder, Vanilla Sugar