Alcohol in food

[Jennyninja]

What is your opinion on alcohol content in food, ranging from coq au vin to liquer chocolates ? I gave up alcohol in April because for me I didn't think it was not worth the risk of hypos. I've read different things on line. ie all alcohol gone vs some still there. With Christmas coming with so many alcohol laced food, I wondered if I dare have a tiny bit. Obviously I accept usual caveats of every one/day/circumstance is different and needing to monitor effects. However still interested to hear about your experiences. Thanks.

 

[Robin]

What is your opinion on alcohol content in food, ranging from coq au vin to liquer chocolates ? I gave up alcohol in April because for me I didn't think it was not worth the risk of hypos. I've read different things on line. ie all alcohol gone vs some still there. With Christmas coming with so many alcohol laced food, I wondered if I dare have a tiny bit. Obviously I accept usual caveats of every one/day/circumstance is different and needing to monitor effects. However still interested to hear about your experiences. Thanks.

I’ve always assumed it burned off in cooked dishes, but maybe I was wrong! This article suggests that something cooked for a long time will not have much left,( so your coq au vin is probably safe), but that there may be quite a lot left in dishes where the alcohol hasn’t been cooked for very long.

No Worries, the Alcohol Burns Off During Cooking—But, Does It Really?

The holiday gathering featured family favorites with a twist. My friend infused each recipe with the unique profiles of booze: beer cornbread, beef with wine sauce, carrots in bourbon sauce, salad greens tossed with a champagne vinaigrette, and amaretto apple crisp. However, this feast worried...

www.isu.edu

 

[Jennyninja]

I’ve always assumed it burned off in cooked dishes, but maybe I was wrong! This article suggests that something cooked for a long time will not have much left,( so your coq au vin is probably safe), but that there may be quite a lot left in dishes where the alcohol hasn’t been cooked for very long.

No Worries, the Alcohol Burns Off During Cooking—But, Does It Really?

The holiday gathering featured family favorites with a twist. My friend infused each recipe with the unique profiles of booze: beer cornbread, beef with wine sauce, carrots in bourbon sauce, salad greens tossed with a champagne vinaigrette, and amaretto apple crisp. However, this feast worried...

www.isu.edu

Thanks Robin !

 

[Inka]

Yes, have some - it will be Christmas! The risk of hypos is true and something you should always keep at the back of your mind but it’s usually when people have over-indulged or not taken it into account. If you don’t want to drink for other reasons, fair enough but Type 1 shouldn’t be a reason. It would be like someone with Type 1 saying they’re not going to exercise because there’s a risk of hypos - true but you just have to keep it in mind not not exercise. Type 1 shouldn’t stop you doing anything.

Stick to a moderate amount of drinks - I usually have two or three max at one time. I prefer to drink with meals but if I drink on an empty stomach I often have crisps or crackers - just a few carbs.

Most alcohol in cooking burns off as above, and the amount in liqueur chocolates is absolutely minuscule.

 

[Jennyninja]

I’ve always assumed it burned off in cooked dishes, but maybe I was wrong! This article suggests that something cooked for a long time will not have much left,( so your coq au vin is probably safe), but that there may be quite a lot left in dishes where the alcohol hasn’t been cooked for very long.

No Worries, the Alcohol Burns Off During Cooking—But, Does It Really?

The holiday gathering featured family favorites with a twist. My friend infused each recipe with the unique profiles of booze: beer cornbread, beef with wine sauce, carrots in bourbon sauce, salad greens tossed with a champagne vinaigrette, and amaretto apple crisp. However, this feast worried...

www.isu.edu

Thanks Robin !

Yes, have some - it will be Christmas! The risk of hypos is true and something you should always keep at the back of your mind but it’s usually when people have over-indulged or not taken it into account. If you don’t want to drink for other reasons, fair enough but Type 1 shouldn’t be a reason. It would be like someone with Type 1 saying they’re not going to exercise because there’s a risk of hypos - true but you just have to keep it in mind not not exercise. Type 1 shouldn’t stop you doing anything.

Stick to a moderate amount of drinks - I usually have two or three max at one time. I prefer to drink with meals but if I drink on an empty stomach I often have crisps or crackers - just a few carbs.

Most alcohol in cooking burns off as above, and the amount in liqueur chocolates is absolutely minuscule.

Thanks @Inka . I've never really been a drinker - suffering ill effects from drinking even before diabetes days so I don't often miss a drink. However I may partake of a cautious bit of brandy butter or coq au vin. Ooh I'm such a party animal ! I like your analogy ref exercise though. Very true and no way would I give up exercise.

 

[Ivostas66]

I have always found my blood glucose levels rise when I have a drink. I was at a Christening in the summer and met a type 1 whose BG crashes when she drinks - she had a few Proseccos and her Mum, Dad and husband were regularly whispering "Have you checked your blood? You know what can happen with Prosecco!", which I found amusing. The two of us were comparing our levels throughout the afternoon and they were heading in opposite directions!

 

[Jennyninja]

I have always found my blood glucose levels rise when I have a drink. I was at a Christening in the summer and met a type 1 whose BG crashes when she drinks - she had a few Proseccos and her Mum, Dad and husband were regularly whispering "Have you checked your blood? You know what can happen with Prosecco!", which I found amusing. The two of us were comparing our levels throughout the afternoon and they were heading in opposite directions!

Thanks. Just goes to show we're all very different !

 

[rebrascora]

Alcohol doesn't seem to have any effect on my levels apart from port sadly increasing them. I certainly would not worry at all about the very small amount in food. If you were going to drink 2 or 3 gin and tonics having not had any alcohol for a long time, then it might be a different matter, but I really can't see alcohol in food making any difference even if there is some that survives the cooking process. The amount in your portion of the total recipe is still going to be minimal.
The chocolate in chocolate liqueurs will offset any lowering effect of the alcohol, so your levels will probably rise a little unless you plan to eat the whole box of them in one go and bolus for it and if you did, then you could always reduce the bolus a little, but I am guessing you are just talking about one or two chocolates at a time, which I would be more concerned about increasing my levels rather than causing a hypo.
No reason why you can't have an alcoholic drink as a Type 1 or a Type 2 if you would like to, but as with anything, experiment in a relatively safe environment at first, test regularly until you know how you respond and take it steady.

 

[Jennyninja]

Alcohol doesn't seem to have any effect on my levels apart from port sadly increasing them. I certainly would not worry at all about the very small amount in food. If you were going to drink 2 or 3 gin and tonics having not had any alcohol for a long time, then it might be a different matter, but I really can't see alcohol in food making any difference even if there is some that survives the cooking process. The amount in your portion of the total recipe is still going to be minimal.
The chocolate in chocolate liqueurs will offset any lowering effect of the alcohol, so your levels will probably rise a little unless you plan to eat the whole box of them in one go and bolus for it and if you did, then you could always reduce the bolus a little, but I am guessing you are just talking about one or two chocolates at a time, which I would be more concerned about increasing my levels rather than causing a hypo.
No reason why you can't have an alcoholic drink as a Type 1 or a Type 2 if you would like to, but as with anything, experiment in a relatively safe environment at first, test regularly until you know how you respond and take it steady.

Thanks ! I think I'll finish conducting my current biology experiment before embarking on the next. I like to think ahead though🙂

 

[rebrascora]

Nothing like planning the next scientific experiment, especially when it is a potentially enjoyable one.

 

[Inka]

Good point re port and similar @rebrascora I can only have a small amount of port for that reason (puts my blood sugar up). I like some of the sweet liqueurs but again, either stick to a small amount or deal with a blood glucose rise.

It’s a balance of alcohol content v. Sugar content. As an example, I have absinthe with a very high alcohol content, and can have it with the traditional sugar cube(s) with no effect on my blood sugar because the high alcohol offsets the sugar.

 

[Docb]

I used to be very good at thermodynamics... emphasise the used to be.... but my addled brain tells me that when you add alcohol to something being cooked, the alcohol is not burned off, it is boiled off and how much boils off will depend on the cooking time and temperature.

I could try and bore you with the theory but in essence, the longer you cook something, the more alcohol will be boiled off, and if you cook it long enough, all the alcohol will go. So if you bung half a bottle of red in your coq au vin just before you serve it, it will have lots of alcohol; but if you do it properly and add the wine at the beginning, most of the alcohol will have gone by the time it is ready to eat. If you cook it badly by putting it on the hob and boiling the hell out of it, then all of the alcohol will have gone by the time you come to eat it and wonder why you bothered.

Alcohol added to things you make rather than cook will still be there when you come to scoff it.

At the end of the day, I can't help but think that the alcohol content will be the least of your worries when trying to evaluate the wisdom of eating a big dish of christmas pud and with a brandy sauce or cream or custard.

 

[EmmaL76]

I only drink wine, usually a glass a night right before my evening meal. It always lowers me by a couple of points. X

 

[trophywench]

I just eat and drink whatever I like eating or drinking - and I have a small capacity for tasteless stodge so if it's Beef Wellington and Dauphinois spuds, there will not be massive portions of either so that amount of flaky pastry or spuds when combined with the other ingredients in either recipe make both worth eating. If it's good Xmas pud that's always worth a small slice of - but if it's all 'background' and not much dried fruit, you can keep it. Then as Doc says, when consuming a good tablespoon or two of dried fruit in the pud, why worry if the custard does have sugar in it! - but anyway I'd rather have cream on mine!

Haven't had anyone offer me a 'Famous Name' for donkeys years - but the Grand Marnier ones are always missing by that time dangnabbit .....

 

[mikeyB]

My alcohol in creating my more exotic ice creams with a touch of Campari, gin or rum that doesn’t get burned off. Not much more than a tablespoon does the trick- any more and it won’t freeze. Cointreau is good, too. As is Baileys.

I’m actually composing what looks like a standard Christmas Chocolate Log, but when sliced to reveals a filling of ice cream with fruit, nuts and standard Christmas spices. And cognac sprinkled on the sponge before rolling it up.

I’ll have to make a normal one for the younger generation, of course. Plus take enough insulin…

 

[Inka]

You know we’re all going to want the recipe for that @mikeyB And a photo in lieu of a taste😛

 

[trophywench]

I used to do a mean Xmas pudding ice cream - which again is only any good if you like all the dried fruit well sodden in Courvoisier and the bath having had cinnamon & nutmeg added prior to the fruit ......

You can't actually eat very much even when not having diabetes!

 

[Inka]

“Well sodden in Courvoisier” has sold it to me @trophywench

 

[trophywench]

I used to wash the candied peel and glace cherries in hot water though - they weren't going to absorb any brandy so no point in chucking them in with the sultanas and raisins. So after a day or 3 I drained the fruit and added those plus flaked almonds and some chocolate chips before adding that melee to 1 litre of good vanilla ice cream, softened, to which I'd already added an exceptionally well beaten pint of extra thick double cream.

Pack that into a 2 or 3 pint plastic basin with a lid (such as bought normal Xmas puds are in) and attach lid then bury in the middle of a chest freezer surrounded by as many packets of frozen peas, beans, sprouts etc as are already in there and leave for at least 2 weeks or longer. Remove from freezer to somewhere still pretty cool just as you clear the first course. Then by the time you've all got past the main course, you'll be able to invert it and turn it out successfully onto a cold plate, sprig of holly on top to garnish and present it with a flourish!

 

[Inka]

I’m literally drooling….. Sounds delicious!