Help! wanna cook with alcohol but im scared!

[lawchick04]

I want to experiment cooking with wines, liquors etc. but I'm afriad that I'll become engulfed in flames. Does anyone know which alcohols are super flammable? For instance, if I marinade something with wine, will it flame when I put it on a grill?

I don't feel like losing eyebrows and I'm not ready to flambe' yet...

I'd appreciate any tips and advice.

 

[urmaniac13]

No, no, don't worry lawchick... I regularly use wine in my cooking, occasionaly vodka, whiskey or rum, I never had such a problem. What I do is usually drizzle some over things that is already cooking in a skillet or sauce pan, or I also use it in marinades for grilling, I never experienced any danger or anything remotely close to it. It is perfectly safe as long as you use a common sense, like not to pour the liquor straight out of the bottle very close to the open fire. When you do something like flambe the liquor has to be well heated before adding to get the flaming effect, so if you use a liquor in the room temperature, it is quite safe... have no fear, you will discover so many wonders of cooking with alcoholic beverage!! But as for using wine, make sure to go for the real wine, it doesn't have to be expensive but those "cooking wine" you will find in the condiments section of supermarkets have lots of additives, and very low in quality. Here is an article that might help you...

http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/knowledge.asp?catitemid=57&id=579

good luck and buon appetito!!

 

[Alix]

Don't worry about the wine. It takes a higher alcohol content than that to flame. Something like brandy or rum flames, but usually only if a flame is applied to it. In a sauce or marinade you are usually pretty safe.

 

[marmalady]

Wine will flame, if you happen to splash a drop onto an open gas flame - (little voice of experience here!).


The best thing to do when adding any alcohol to a pan is to take the pan off the heat, add the alcohol, then put the pan back on. The fumes can actually catch fire, and send a fire-bolt straight up into the bottle; have seen this in the restaurant kitchen with show-off chefs !

You shouldn't have anything to worry about with a marinade, tho.

 

[Alix]

OK marmalady, the pyro in me just went COOOOL! at your description. I should probably mention that I don't cook on a gas stove so I don't have that trouble with the wine. Whoooooeee! I bet that was pretty funky.

 

[Andy M.]

You have some good advice here. Wine is the safest to cook with. Brandy and hard liquor are easier to flame. As mentioned earlier, add the wine to the pan off the burner then put the pan back on the flame.

After adding teh wine, cook it for several minutes to get rid of the raw alcohol taste. Then you'll be left with the taste of the wine in the dish.

If you're not a big wine drinker, buy a bottle of dry white vermouth. It's a fortified wine and will keep without spoiling for a long time.

 

[lindatooo]

Good advice from all - 151 Rum is very easy to flame but I've never had a flame accidentally.

Liquor really adds wonderful flavor.

To be safe - have a big box of salt and a lid close by. If, by some chance, you do manage a flame smother with salt and a lid do NOT go for the water! but you probably knew that!

Good luck!

2

 

[Tater Tot]

I want to experiment cooking with wines, liquors etc. but I'm afriad that I'll become engulfed in flames. Does anyone know which alcohols are super flammable? For instance, if I marinade something with wine, will it flame when I put it on a grill?

I don't feel like losing eyebrows and I'm not ready to flambe' yet...

I'd appreciate any tips and advice.

No you wont kill your self! Marinade = Safe, Cooking with alcohols: Eletric = Safe, Gas (open flame) remove from heat then add.. Im a lazy cook, I have heard all the advice but I just pour it in and I have been fine (I will only use a gas range) the chance of the room temp bottle blowing up in your hand is so minute that it dosent even call for concern..


The tot

 

[Tater Tot]

Wine will flame, if you happen to splash a drop onto an open gas flame - (little voice of experience here!).


The best thing to do when adding any alcohol to a pan is to take the pan off the heat, add the alcohol, then put the pan back on. The fumes can actually catch fire, and send a fire-bolt straight up into the bottle; have seen this in the restaurant kitchen with show-off chefs !

You shouldn't have anything to worry about with a marinade, tho.

Dont forget to mention that in a "real" kitichen th temp is around 120F to 180F and so is everything in it and the alcohol is more volitile at this temp then it is at the meger 78F home kitchen...The liquid it self is not flamable but the vapors are...

Flaming Tot

Electric is safer but with gas pay attention...

 

[kitchenelf]

Marinating in alcohol is one thing - pouring alcohol into a skillet/pan while it is still on the burner (gas or electric) is another thing. Always take your pan OFF the stove, pour your alcohol in, put your pan back on the stove. NEVER pour your alcohol in the pan/skillet while still on the stove. Doesn't matter what it is. That's the safest thing to remember. But marinating whatever in some kind of marinade with alcohol in it is NOT a problem. The fat will cause flames waaaay before the alcohol is ever an issue.

And just another note - NEVER wear long, flowy sleeves of any kind while adding alcohol to a pan. The alcohol will flame up very quickly and can catch them on fire.

 

[cara]

usually liqueurs etc. burn at more than 40Vol%... if you use this for a marinade, you don't have to fear anything, because of all the other ingridients which dilutes the Alc.I always have a cover for the pan near by me, just in case something should happen, which never has yet...*knockonwood*

 

[RPCookin]

And just another note - NEVER wear long, flowy sleeves of any kind while adding alcohol to a pan. The alcohol will flame up very quickly and can catch them on fire.

Actually, wearing any kind of very loose clothing when near a strong heat source is unwise. My mother caught the sleeve of her flannel PJ's on fire just cooking pancakes (no alcohol or fat involved) one morning about 40 years ago. It was put out fast enough that she wasn't hurt, and we all learned an easy but dramatic lesson from it.

 

[lawchick04]

im loving this!

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

I searched and searched the net an article or SOMEthing that'd answer my question but nothing beat reading about everyone's personal experiences (although urmainiac's Hormel article link was great).

Now that my fears have subsided, I'm gonna change out of my flannel PJs and hit up the liquor store as soon I finish this post...

Got any simple and elegant wine/spirit-based recipe ideas to help me get started?

 

[RPCookin]

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

I searched and searched the net an article or SOMEthing that'd answer my question but nothing beat reading about everyone's personal experiences (although urmainiac's Hormel article link was great).

Now that my fears have subsided, I'm gonna change out of my flannel PJs and hit up the liquor store as soon I finish this post...

Got any simple and elegant wine/spirit-based recipe ideas to help me get started?

BTW, in resonse to your original question, cooking with wine is easy and quite safe. I do so all the time. If you like mushrooms, I have an easy, quick method for them.

Sliced mushrooms ( At least one cup raw per serving desired they will shrink while cooking. If you like mushrooms as much as my wife and I do, no serving size is too large )
I first saute ( at medium to medium high heat) a teaspoon or so of finely chopped garlic in olive oil and butter (sometimes I add a couple of tablespoons of chopped shallots too, if I have them on hand), cook these for about 3 minutes (the garlic should be no more than just a light golden color). Then add the mushrooms to the pan and toss and cook till they are nearly done (about 3-5 minutes). Pour in about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of white wine (chablis or chardonnay is what I use). Cook for a couple of minutes more and serve as a side dish or over steak or grilled chicken. It can be done with red wine too, i just prefer white...

As you can see, the amounts I list are somewhat vague, as I've always done this by feel, never with a recipe, so I'm just guestimating on most of it. It's pretty hard to mess this one up though, so just play with it till you get what you like.

 

[lawchick04]

yum-may!

I too am a mushroom lover and will be trying this RPCookin's recipe very soon. In fact, there's some chardonnay in the fridge from last night...

 

[Lugaru]

Yeah... it actually takes some effort to ignite the alcohol in a dish so you would have to be pretty careless for it to happen on it's own. Avoid tilting the pan into the flames because the spattering oil will light up like a flair and provide enough heat to turn it into a ball of flames. If this does happen just put the lid back on the pan... or pretend you did it on purpose. If you gently put down the pan there should be no risk of anything happening (I ignite my chinese cooking wine all the time).

 

[jennyema]

I do something like RP's mushroom recipe except that I use brandy and flambee them. Very yummy.

 

[Claire]

Hmmm ... when using distilled alcohol on a gas stove, I've had it ignite from other burners when I'd turned off the burner under the pan in which I was cooking. Leaned quickly to take it away from the stove (just pick the pan away from the stove with a half-turn if I was pouring in brandy, whiskey, etc, when I had any burners going on the stove if I didn't want a flame. After puring the alcohol into the pan, I'd turn back). As others have said, the 100% best peice of advice is to keep a lid large enough to fit over any pan on the counter next to the stove.

 

[ronjohn55]

Hmmm ... when using distilled alcohol on a gas stove, I've had it ignite from other burners when I'd turned off the burner under the pan in which I was cooking. Leaned quickly to take it away from the stove (just pick the pan away from the stove with a half-turn if I was pouring in brandy, whiskey, etc, when I had any burners going on the stove if I didn't want a flame. After puring the alcohol into the pan, I'd turn back). As others have said, the 100% best peice of advice is to keep a lid large enough to fit over any pan on the counter next to the stove.

Good pointe Claire!

When you add heat to alcohol (about 180F is close to the magic temp) it begins to vaporize off en masse. What's happening is actually the first part of distilling again - it's just that the cooks aren't collecting and cooling the vapors.

Alcohol vapor is HIGHLY flamable. Not that I uh, have any experience with that...

John

 

[mish]

Actually, wearing any kind of very loose clothing when near a strong heat source is unwise. My mother caught the sleeve of her flannel PJ's on fire just cooking pancakes (no alcohol or fat involved) one morning about 40 years ago. It was put out fast enough that she wasn't hurt, and we all learned an easy but dramatic lesson from it.

Good point. Same happened here - w/o alcohol. I had a small fire extinguisher in my old home, close to the kitchen - wall mountable. I keep trying to remember to get another.

Wear loose clothing... but wear some clothes - OUCH! Or at least an apron.