Does alcohol evaporate during cooking or not?

During an alcohol break you sometimes run into things that you never questioned before. You can marinate your steak in beer or make the tastiest risotto with a good splash of white wine. Now that you pause, you may be wondering if that is still possible and allowed. Does the alcohol evaporate or not?

Most alcohol evaporates as the food heats up. More precisely, if a dish with alcohol in it has been simmering for more than 2 hours, more than 90% of the alcohol has disappeared. With shorter heating, for example when making a sauce, more alcohol remains: about 40% after heating for 15 minutes.

Pan lid

Simmering things nicely often improves the taste. But if there is alcohol in the dish, that is not a good idea. Leaving the lid on the pan means that the alcohol condenses and drips back into the pan. It is better to remove the lid from the pan, so that the alcohol actually evaporates.

Butrrr….

Before you think: okay, cover the pan and then there is no longer a trace of alcohol…unfortunately, there is always a residual percentage left. Do you want to be sure that your dish contains no traces of alcohol? Then the steak is fried in butter and the risotto is prepared with extra love instead of white wine.