Alcohol in foods

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

Maybe this is a silly question, but I just wasn't sure... I know that when alcohol is put in foods and it is cooked, the alcohol is cooked out. But I don't know how some foods are prepared at WDW and I have a sharing 2 yo. For example, the cheese soup with beer or the whiskey cake or other deserts with alcohol in them. Are they safe for her to eat?

 

[ducklite]

Yes. The alcohol is evaporated off during the cooking process.

Anne

 

[bicker]

Uh, not all of it. This point is often made by Graham Kerr, and sometimes Alton Brown mentions it. If having alcohol-free food is important to you, you need to request that specifically, and they'll simply not put the wine or liquor in in the first place (if they can).

Here's a chart of how much alcohol burns off versus how much is retained:

[font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Alcohol Burn-off Chart
[/font][font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]
[/font][font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]Preparation Method[/font][font=verdana, geneva, helvetica] Percent Retained

[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica] alcohol added to boiling liquid & removed from heat[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]85%[/font]
[font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]alcohol flamed[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]75%[/font]
[font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]no heat, stored overnight[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]70%[/font]
[font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]baked, 25 minutes, alcohol not stirred into mixture[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]45%[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]

Baked/simmered dishes with alcohol stirred into mixture:[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]
15 minutes cooking time[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]40%[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]
30 minutes cooking time[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]35%[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]
1 hour cooking time[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]25%[/font]
[font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]1.5 hours cooking time[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]20%[/font]
[font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]2 hours cooking time[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]10%[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]
2.5 hours cooking time[/font] [font=verdana, geneva, helvetica]5%[/font]

http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blalcohol12.htm

 

[ducklite]

Actually Bicker has a point. I'll elaborate on my original post. The amount of alcohol left after cooking is marginal in most cases and not enough to affect the average adult or child. Of course eating Tortuga Rum cakes isn't advisable.

But if you add a half cup of rum to a cake, distributed among ten slices after over half of the alcohol has burned off, the amount left is negligable.

Anne

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Thanks for the chart Bicker.. I was about to agree that it does not always all cook off and it is important to us to be alcohol free as well.

 

[bicker]

The thing I was most surprised about was the whole brandy flaming thing... all that theater, but I was so confident that flaming the alcohol meant a majority of it burned off. I was shocked to learn that 75% of the alcohol remains! Even 10% is a lot, for a child, and it take 2 hours of cooking time for that much alcohol to evaporate.

 

[ducklite]

The thing I was most surprised about was the whole brandy flaming thing... all that theater, but I was so confident that flaming the alcohol meant a majority of it burned off. I was shocked to learn that 75% of the alcohol remains! Even 10% is a lot, for a child, and it take 2 hours of cooking time for that much alcohol to evaporate.

OK, 10% of a half cup divided by 10 portions is barely measurable. That's my point. Face it, there's alcohol in many extracts (Vanilla being the most prevelant) and we're not going crazy about that, right?

Anne

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Anne......you are right....when you break it down, it is a small amount......

But for those, who by choice, want an alcohol free life, it does mean something to them. And for small children, who knows how much is too much....

 

[ducklite]

And for small children, who knows how much is too much....

I'll never forget when I was little two of my cousins got into a rum cake at my grandparents and ate the entire thing... The results were funny as could be! No lasting harm, one's now an architect and the other owns a very successful business. I"m sure they both remember the spanking for eating grandpa's rum cake though LOL!

Anne

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Thanks for the laugh this morning Anne.....those rum cakes are sooooooo good.

 

[pperfectmom]

Gotta agree with Anne on this one. The amount of alcohol left in food is very small(except for something like a rum cake that is soaked in uncooked alcohol). I never worry about giving my kids food made with beer or liquor. Sometimes I wish it would slow them down a bit -just kidding. Please no flames.

 

[nascarcheshirecat]

thanks for the info Bicker!
I just adore alton brown and his info.......

 

[crisi]

OK, 10% of a half cup divided by 10 portions is barely measurable. That's my point. Face it, there's alcohol in many extracts (Vanilla being the most prevelant) and we're not going crazy about that, right?

Anne

Some people avoid alcohol for religous reasons, even vanilla extract. Even trace amounts of alcohol are forbidden. I don't participate myself, but I can respect that.

Other people live in cultures where its appropriate to give a six year old wine. I was drinking wine by six - both at the table and for first communion, as were all my Italian American cousins. If you are French or Italian, it isn't unusual to consume alcohol from a very young age. In Eastern Europe, its vodka, and even children are given a shot of vodka with their meal in much of Eastern Europe. I suppose we could argue that the French, Italians and Eastern Europeans have some statistically significant problem with child development, but I don't think it it would hold up to scrutiny. You can argue that Eastern Europeans have a statistically significant problem with alcoholism, but the cause of this is muddied - I'd say it has to do with economics more than early drinking, myself.

In the end, do what you are comfortable with.

 

[ElizabethB]

I remember when we once celebrated my mom's birthday at a fancy restaurant. We ended with Cherries Jubilee prepared tableside. It had rum which was then flamed. We all laughed because my sister, then 5 years old, said "that sauce is good". I thought all the rum burned off, but apparently not. Again, it was a little rum for six servings -- and no harm, no foul!

My sister now runs her own successful business.

I understand the religion thing, too. I was raised in a religion that forbid all forms of alcohol (although we never got worked up about vanilla extract for heaven sakes).

But -- I discovered I like wine. So, I gave up the religion and, instead, DH and I make sure we visit the Epcot Food and Wine Festival each year (religiously!).

 

[PureTcrazy]

But -- I discovered I like wine. So, I gave up the religion and, instead, DH and I make sure we visit the Epcot Food and Wine Festival each year (religiously!).

 

[ElizabethB]

PureTcrazy,

Thanks for finding the humor in my post. I figured religious people wouldn't appreciate it, but beer and wine lovers would!!

 

[DCDisney]

For example, the cheese soup with beer or the whiskey cake or other deserts with alcohol in them. Are they safe for her to eat?

They certainly aren't going to eat enough to put their life in danger but she may really not like the taste. The cheese soup has a very tangy/spicy taste that I think most 2 year olds would not like. It's not like a broccoli or potato regular cheese soup it's much more adult tasting. Again on the whiskey cake--my daughter is a total chocoholic and she tasted a tiny bit of the whiskey cake and thought it was terrible. Even if you aren't going to buy her a kids dinner you may want to buy her the kids desserts because they are so darn cute and the adult desserts most the time were very unappealing to my kids. There were very few apps to share with my kids as well so they generally ate a lot of bread instead

Yvonne

 

[bbangel]

I still remember tasting Hagan Daaz brownie ice cream in a store. (I was about 20) I had to spit it out. When I told the tester lady that there was rum in the ice cream she didn't believe me. I went and got a container with the list of ingredients and sure enough, there it was. For some of us we don't avoid it for any particular reason. I personally have yet to find an alcohol I like, so I avoid it because I think it makes food taste nasty. That just leaves more for the rest of you!

 

[bicker]

OK, 10% of a half cup divided by 10 portions is barely measurable.

For a recovering alcoholic, it is measureable, and it may be enough to trigger a relapse.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I hear you Bicker and totally agree.. Someone very dear to me once said after tasting alcohol in a dessert, although not listed in ingredients....wow, if I order 4 more of these, stop me. That is an exaggeration and just for fun, but the person stopped eating immediately.