Kitchen Garden Forum

More of a query than a tip:

I often use wine in my meat cooking, like slow cooking venison steaks in red wine or chicken breasts in white wine. Over the cooking period, much of the wine evaporates and has to be topped up. So what happens to the calories from the alcohol? Do they evaporate with the alcohol or do they become more and more concentrated in the remaining liquid?

Just interested to know, in my drive to consume fewer calories!

Hi Monika, I suspect the calories get more and more concentrated as it will be mainly the water content that evaporates out. Perhaps we have an expert who can tell us.

I'm on the diet wave length now too, another 5 lb to lose on top of the one and a half stone I wanted to lose before Christmas - oh heck! Still got some lovely Christmas cake to finish off first though.

Alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, so will evaporate (boil out) before the other constituents of the wine.
The energy value of the alcohol (calories) will of course leave with the alcohol.
Any sugars, tannins etc will remain in the cooked dish, though the heat may transform them or combine them with other ingredients.
Watch a chef add spirits to a hot dish and see the burst of flames over the pan, there goes most of the alcohol.

Many thanks, PP and Peter. I am hoping Peter is right!

I don't think there are any calories in alcohol (or cake or chocolate) because no matter how closely I look, I've never seen any...

Pongeroon I think they are called empty calories.

Ah, they must be transparent then, thats why I can't see them. Shame.

On another front, I once wondered whether I was morally right to offer a Beef caserole which contained red wine to a visitor whose religion forbade alcohol. I kept my lips zipped on the basis that as alcohol evaporated, it would be OK, whereas to offer a sherry trifle where the alcohol doesn't evaporate, would not be.

I'm trying to have a No Alcohol January as well as dieting, but I've decided that putting wine into cooking definitely doesn't count Interesting discussion.

We had someone at work who wouldn't drink alcohol for religious reasons and thus refused any casserole which had so much as sniffed alcohol. On one occasion, at a restaurant he wanted the fish in beer batter without the beer. He was politely told he'd have to eat something else.

Hi Andria, could you put an extra portion on for me the next time you cook this?

Wow, you only use one glass? When I cook, I usually use 2 to 2 1/2 glasses of wine (although I tend to cook for more than 3 people )

I have a question, though, should I be using "organic" wine, I've heard it's better and healthier. I just find it hard to believe, hehe

Daphne wrote:I have a question, though, should I be using "organic" wine, I've heard it's better and healthier. I just find it hard to believe, hehe

Not a ha'porth of difference

Not for callories or something but taste does matter. Cooking with wine gives a better taste. I just love cooking with wine. I use it for veg and Non-veg both.

Very important when cooking with wine to ensure the glass stays within easy reach.

However keep the bottle out of sight, or it's possible to lose interest in cooking altogether & just end up dialling up a pizza delivery

Thank you, Colin M, your advice was followed this morning when I cooked lamb in white wine (first English lamb of the season!) and had a SMALL glass whilst slaving over the stove - honestly.