Does alcohol in recipes pose a risk to recovering alcoholics?

Question

Some recipes I've seen call for rum, brandy, vodka...and my thought is that if they're cooked at a high enough temperature (like a baked fruitcake with rum as an ingredient) the alcohol should be well evaporated out of the final product. A friend thinks the mere taste or suggestion of taste could make a recovering alcoholic start craving again. What're your thoughts on this?

Answer 1

Ok so unless you are serving a fruitcake with rum or something inside to a total crazy person who can taste every last ingredient in the world, then dont give it to them.
Otherwise, its perfectly fine. I cook all the time with wine and rum and vodka and you can never taste it because of the other ingredients. Unless you are splashing it over something without adding other ingredients, you should be fine.

Answer 2

An alcoholic doesn't drink because he/she likes the taste; an alcoholic drinks for the buzz. If a recipe calls for baking or cooking, there's precious little alcohol left in it by the time it's done. The only time I'd be concerned about a recipe is if it were not cooked and if the person were taking Antabuse - it creates a VIOLENT reaction to alcohol that can be life-threatening; even the alcohol in a teaspoon of cough syrup can be dangerous. In a cooked item, however, the half-cup of brandy (or whatever) is mostly evaporated, and the tiny bit that remains is divided into many servings, so there's no chance of a buzz.

Answer 3

it is my understanding that:

Heat itself does nothing to alcohol. Evaporation is what takes it out, but only at the surface. For instance, if you're making soup or stew, some alcohol will likely evaporate away at the surface, but the rest that is mixed in below that will remain. So, any moisture that remains in a food, can retain some alcohol.

Another thing to consider --not well known-- is the fact that our body can be a still for the production of alcohol within it. How? Yeast is in everyone. It is natural to have a small amount, and it causes no harm if kept in balance. However, foods high in starches (which the body turns into sugars), or sugars (of any kind) are fed on by yeast. The more carbohydrates eaten, the more yeast one comes to have -- it is Very Prolific! The more yeast & carbs there are, the more alcohol the yeast produces from the sugars. That's how alcohol is made -- both within & without the body. Yeast turns sugars to alcohol. I've read reports that some sensitive individuals have reposrted feeling the effects of alcohol while abstaining from alcohol injeswtion, but after eating starchy or sugary foods. This could Definately make it difficult for an alcoholic to quit & stay away from alcohol! Many people are adoptin a no-grain --or at least a whole-grain-only-- diet, which is helping them with their health in many more ways than just alcoholism. The web site is big on a no-grain diet, & has a lot of info on it. A great substitute sweetener is the herb Stevia rebaudiana. I understand there is at least 1 manufacturer of it that has figured out how to remove all the bitterness, so one can use even more in sweetening, without causing any bitter taste. But I'm content with the regular sweetening level. However, some brands may be more or less bitter, due to the difference in plants used. Find one you like, & stick to it. (BTW, sprouted grains are also full of carbohydrates!)
Here are some articles that have some other helpful ideas ...

The Drinking Trap---Are You at Risk? :
- Breaking the Chains of Alcohol Abuse
- Alcohol Misuse--A Social Catastrophe
- Alcohol Misuse and Health
- Breaking the Chains of Alcohol Abuse
http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2005/10/8/article_01.htm

>This ^ site is undergoing some URL changes. When/if this one is changed, its new URL can be found by entering a title in their on-site search engine at:
http://watchtower.org/search/search_e.htm
http://watchtower.org/

Answer 4

I dont belive cooking with alcohol would have any effect on a person who is recovering. A lot of times the alcohol changes flavor when it is cooked down and the actual alcohol is evaporated.
I cook with wine, rum and jack daniels a lot.
And most of the time like when it comes to JD the flavor becomes sweet and doesnt resemble JD at all. Same for wine. Usually just leaves the fruity-ness of the wine but not the actual taste.
I could be wrong but I really do not belive it would cause a problem.

Answer 5

John, It will not matter here what any of us tell you, including me because regardless of what any of us say, you will drink if you choose to, despite all the warnings that you already now have and know to be true..Yes, you will ruin your life, if you continue and are even fortunate to live until your next birthday..There is so much information on alcoholism today that it would take an imbecile (or an alcoholic) to say you would not be affected by it or that you would not become alcoholic..You already are John, and if you do not stop now, you will have nothing, no life, and what you do have will be gone in a very short miserable length of time, or you will be in jail, or an institution, or dead..Please do not even entertain the idea that you can drink or that you have control over this powerful disease..You are not exempt...

Answer 6

Well, once it is a hot recipe then the alcohol generally cooks out

Answer 7

No because all the alcohol is cooked out of it. My husband is a recovering alcoholic and it doesn't bother him at all.

Answer 8

Whenever using alcohol to cook with, always remember that you never cook off all of the alcohol. ( I have a friend who is allergic to alcohol).

Doubtless some doctor could give you odds or percentages on alcoholic recidivism in the face of temptation, but let's forget that for the moment.

It is my opinion, that, since there are so many other possibilities in cooking, that you would be kind, thoughtful and considerate to just "give it a miss" if your friend is coming to dinner.

I mean, how would you feel if 'the worst' happened?

Answer 9

Ever been somewhere and you smell something that just drives you nuts, you want whatever it is and all you did was smell it. My opinion? the craving never goes away, we've just learned how to control it, Hi I'm Steve G, I'm a Chef and an Alcoholic in recovery for 20 years and doing well

Answer 10

Not if it is cooked sufficiently. I am a recovering alcholic and often use wine for cooking especially in sauces and have had no problems even when I was taking anabuse.