If a person does not drink alcohol of any kind, What can you use in recipes that call for it...?!

I do not drink alcohol but I do use it in my cooking. If the person can not have or does not want alcohol in even the tinest amount, you are out of luck. If the person is afraid that the mere taste of an alcoholic product, even if there is only a trivial amount of alcohol present, may lead to a drinking bout then you should not use it at all.

Alcohol is used in cooking for different reasons depending on the recipe. It could be the alcohol itself, the other flavors associated with the product, or the acid in the case of wine.

My general rule is that if I can reduce the alcohhol content to 1 tsp. of wine or less per serving, I don't care. That is the amount in taking communion and is permitted.

I have no problem at all with using wine in a poaching liquid. Almost no alcohol will be present in the final product but the flavor of the wine will be. The acid in the wine is also helpful.

In stews such as stewed tomatoes, or chili, a three hour simmer, top off, with occassional stirring will reduce the alcohol content between 80-90%. Alcohol, salt, and sugar are the three items necessary to fully extract the flavor of tomatoes.

Other than these two cases, I do not cook with alcohol. Even a flambé will only reduce the alcohol content about 30%.

If you have specific questions concerning an individual recipe, contact me privately and I can answer the question.

One day at a time.

Food ingredients contain natural flavors which are able to be dissolved in one of three different solvents. Many flavors are soluble in water, but many are soluble only in fats and oils, which is why food with some oil in it is almost always tastier than food which is entirely lean. The third solvent is alcohol. There are certain natural flavors which are soluble only in alcohol. Once these flavors are released, even if the alcohol evaporates, the flavors will still remain free and tasty. If the recipe calls for alcohol, and you leave it out entirely, you will not be able to release the same natural flavorings from the ingredients, and the recipe will just not taste the same. If the recipe calls for the food to be cooked for a long period of time (say at least 30 minutes) and you add the alcohol near the beginning of the cooking process, then the vast majority of the alcohol will have evaporated by then, leaving the alcohol-soluble flavors free to flavor your food.
If you must leave the alcohol out completely for religious reasons, then you may want to add a little more seasoning, such as herbs or spices, but the flavor will never be exactly the same as the original recipe intended.

I might understand where you are coming from. As a Christian, this was something that seriously concerned me until I found out that cooking with alcohol was nothing to worry about. The only problem left to deal with concerned the buying of alcohol to use in my recipes.

When you cook with alcohol, all the alcohol evaporates so that all that is left in the dish is the flavor that comes from whatever type of alcohol is used. So, strictly speaking, you will not be embibing alcohol if you use the real stuff in a recipe that is cooked. In the past, I have seen a Graham Kerr cooking show in which he used and recommended a non-alcoholic substitute for wine that was called for in a recipe. He admitted that he is a recovering alcoholic and, for himself, he will never use any kind of alcohol again. You might want to try one of his cookbooks that have been published in recent years.

Another alternative is to just simply not add the alcohol to the recipe. Many recipes will let you know that the alcohol is optional.
Following are a couple of web addresses for some wine substitutions:


http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledg…

http://whatscookingamerica.net/alcoholsu…

http://gourmetsleuth.com/alcoholsubstitu…

Literally any alcohol will do. When you cook with wines the alcohol substance inside will basically evaporate and have little to none alcohol. Because of this you do not need to buy a $20+ wine a $5-15 will work just fine. Most recipes call for wine because of its good flavor not alcohol. Hope I helped! :)

Used to be a professional chef.

From the cake mix isle in your super market...there are little bottles of flavoring and they contain 0 alcohol. I have rum flavoring, blackberry brandy flavor...why not use grape juice, either white or red as a substitute for wine? There is also non alcoholic beer.

I wonder if Alcoholics Anonymous might publish a flyer, brochure or cookbook that lists all of the substitutes for alcohol in recipes...

Might want to check it out <:O)

It really depends on what you're making. In some recipes you can just leave it out. In some recipes you can use broth or even water instead. In some dishes a splash of vinegar or juice will substitute. In some you can use flavor extracts. You just have to think about the purpose of the liquor in the dish and then select an appropriate alternative.

You can find the wine at sutterhomefre.com Alcohol free beer called Kaliber is available from the Guinness brewery.