Alcohol Evaporation in Cooking and Baking

  Questions and Answers

Alcohol Evaporation in Cooking and Baking

Question:

When you use alcohol in cooking a dish, how long does it take for alcohol to burn off?  Is the time the same for all forms of alcohol?

I baked a rum cake.  1/2 cup of rum went into the batter then was baked for 1 hour. glaze was put on top using 1/2 cup rum, 1/4 water, and 1 cup sugar.  Will the cake have active alcohol presents or does cooking the rum take out the alcohol leaving only the rum flavor?

When using alcohol in a recipe, for example a sauce, how long does it take or how can you be sure that you have cooked off all the alcohol and are only leaving the flavor of the alcohol behind without any actual alcohol.  I made a sauce for chicken last night, which had wine in it, and today I suspect that perhaps I did not cook off all the wine in the sauce.  I did not drink any alcohol last night, so that was the only source of alcohol if I have any in my system today.  I don’t feel like I have a hangover, but I am extremely tired, as if I had been drinking.  Any guidelines for working with alcohol and how long to cook something to ensure that all the alcohol cooks off?

Answer:

The conventional wisdom accepted by just about everyone in the food world is that all the alcohol you add to a dish evaporates or dissipates during cooking.  It is wrong.  In fact, you have to cook something for a good 3 hours to eradicate all traces of alcohol.  Some cooking methods are less effective at removing alcohol than just letting it stand out uncovered overnight.

Chefs and cooks can not assume that when they simmer, bake, or torch (flambé to the more sophisticated cook) with alcohol that only the flavor remains when they are ready to serve.

A study conducted several years ago showed that alcohol remained in several recipes after the preparation was complete.  In the study, a pot roast was simmered with burgundy for 2 1/2 hours; a chicken dish was simmered for only 10 minutes after the burgundy was added; scalloped oysters made with dry sherry baked for 25 minutes; and cherries jubilee was doused with brandy, then ignited.  The results showed that anywhere from 4 to 78 percent of the initial amount of alcohol remained when the dishes were done.  The study’s authors concluded that cooking will result in the removal of some, but not all, of the alcohol.

Important:  The fact that some of the alcohol remains could be of significant concern to recovering alcoholics, parents, and others who have ethical or religious reasons for avoiding alcohol.

In the same study, the extent of alcohol loss depended on a couple factors:

First – how severe the heat was when applied in the cooking process;

Second – the pot’s surface area. The bigger the pan, the more surface area, the more alcohol that evaporates during cooking.

James Peterson, a cookbook writer who studied chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, stated in his encyclopedic cookbook called Sauces:

You need to cook a sauce for at least 20 to 30 seconds after adding wine to it to allow the alcohol to evaporate.  Since alcohol evaporates at 172°F (78°C), any sauce or stew that is simmering or boiling is certainly hot enough to evaporate the alcohol.

Check out my web page on alcohol substitutions in cooking (click on the underlined):  Alcohol Substitutions In Cooking

Categories:

Alcohol    Cooking with Alcohol Hints & Tips   

Comments and Reviews

26 Responses to “Alcohol Evaporation in Cooking and Baking”

  1. Lisa

    The glaze still has alcohol omit the glaze and use powdered sugar instead

    Reply
    • Dawn

      If left overnight uncovered, about 60 percent of the alcohol in the glaze will evaporate at room temperature.

      Reply
    • Kelli

      I’m familiar with this recipe and the glaze is (or should be) boiled before its added to the cake.

      Reply
  2. Carolyn

    What can I use in kahlua, chocolate and whip cream topping recipe that will replace kahlua with non-alcohol and has the same flavor?

    Reply
    • Linda Stradley

      Here is What’s Cooking America’s Alcohol Substitution Chart: https://whatscookingamerica.net/alcoholsub.htm

      Reply
    • Mary

      Coffee, sugar, rum extract, vanilla extract or a vanilla bean

      Reply
    • Claudia Hilko

      substitute instant coffee

      Reply
  3. LAINEY

    I want to make traditional mince pies for the holidays but I have two sober relatives. Can I boil the brandy and rum alone (and how long) to get it to 5% or less, before adding it to my mixture?

    Reply
  4. Sandra

    Can I boil khalua or godiva chocolate liqueur to let the alcohol evaporate?

    Reply
    • Linda Stradley

      I wouldn’t boil the liqueur. It would be very hard to eliminate the alcohol.

      Reply
  5. Janice Christensen

    Great information to refute an old wives’ tale. Thank you!

    Reply
  6. Tammy

    When you use a bottle of red wine in a big pot of spaghetti sauce for cooking, will the alcohol cook off or will alcohol still be detected?

    Reply
  7. Salma

    Hello, I am seriously confused by this article. According to your quote from James Petersen, all you need to do is boil or simmer a sauce/stew for less than half a min to evaporate the alcohol! On the other hand, the study you list says that even after simmering a pot roast for 2 1/2 hours some alcohol still remains!??

    Reply
    • Whats Cooking America

      The beginning of my answer in the article: The conventional wisdom accepted by just about everyone in the food world is that all the alcohol you add to a dish evaporates or dissipates during cooking. It is wrong. In fact, you have to cook something for a good 3 hours to eradicate all traces of alcohol. Some cooking methods are less effective at removing alcohol than just letting it stand out uncovered overnight. (see chart below)

      Chefs and cooks can not assume that when they simmer, bake, or torch (flambé to the more sophisticated cook) with alcohol that only the flavor remains when they are ready to serve.

      A study conducted several years ago showed that alcohol remained in several recipes after the preparation was complete.

      Reply
  8. Keith Jensen

    Where is the chart mentioned in the article? I assume it lists the amount of alcohol left after cooking the above mentioned food.

    Reply
  9. Beverly Martin

    My son is an alcoholic who has been sober for several years. I made a cherry pie and put 1/2 tsp of almond extract into the canned cherry mix. (two large cans) and baked the pie at 425 for almost an hour. Now I am thinking I had better make another pie without the almond extract. Need an answer really fast! Thank you.

    Reply
  10. Dee Wimberley

    Can you tell me how long I would have to cook 2 c wine with 1/2 c lemon juice and 3 c sugar for the alcohol to be cooked out of it (at a rapid boil).

    Reply
  11. Robin

    I want to make infused popcorn with liquor Hennessy and cornmeal popcorn but after I make it you cannot taste the Hennessy so when should I put the Hennessy into the syrup so I can taste it on the popcorn.

    Reply
  12. Peg

    It is my understanding that some of the alcohol added to a recipe will bond chemically to natural sugars in the other ingredients during the cooking process, therefore preventing all the alcohol from burning off during cooking.

    Reply
  13. Sarah

    I want to make homemade butterscotch candies with rum flavoring. Can I leave rum out in a wide sauce pan overnight to allow the alcohol to evaporate?

    Reply
  14. Malak

    For religious reasons I cannot use medication with alcohol. Is it possible to completely boil the alcohol out of a syrup medicine? Its 1.95 percent of alcohol in a bottle of 100ml

    Reply
  15. CRAIG CAMIDGE

    Alcohol is in a combined state with the water in the wine called a zeotropic mixture, both will reduce as boiling continues at different rates. This can take quite a time and can run into hours for roasted foods. Pan frying is quicker but to remove most of the alcohol from a sauce will take up to 30/45 minutes.

    Reply
  16. Margaret Stenger

    I use a few drops of Everclear, from an eye dropper, with food coloring to paint on baked and iced cookies. Is that a problem for an alcoholic or does the alcohol evaporate?

    Reply

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