By Anthony Orling

When you add that rum to your holiday cookies, brandy to your pudding or whiskey to your BBQ sauce all that is left behind is the flavor, right? That cooking sherry might get you drunk right out of the bottle but it just ads a nice taste to that saute, correct? You better think again based on a study performed by the USDA. Thanks to your tax dollars at work, we now have conclusive evidence that a surprisingly high percentage of alcohol remains in your food even after extensive cooking time.

The major factors seem to be the density of the food being prepared, whether the food forms a layer which may reduce evaporation or if you keep the food covered while cooking. Although there are many factors which can impact how much is retained in your food, as much as 10% still remains even after two hours of baking or simmering. A quick review of the list below will give you an idea of just how much alcohol you may have been giving your little nieces and nephews at your last holiday party.

• Alcohol added to food or liquid and stored overnight with no heat retains 70% of the original alcohol content
• Stirring alcohol into hot liquid without further cooking retains 85% or the original alcohol
• That spectacular flambe still has 75% or the original alcohol after the flames go out
• Baking or simmering for fifteen minutes retains 40% or the original alcohol
• Food which has been baked or simmered for thirty minutes still has 35% of the original alcohol
• Cooking for a full hour still retains 25% of the original alcohol
• Even two full hours of baking or simmering retains 10% of the alcohol

As you can see, eating a few too many of Auntie Marge’s famous rum balls really could give you enough alcohol to impact your driving or even fail a roadside sobriety test. Assuming you had a careful drink or two with a meal, the extra alcohol in your flamb

Categories : Cooking