Quote:
Originally Posted by BenG
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As a chemist, I've been amused by chefs on television who seem to think that adding wine or liquor to a heated pot of food some how instantly and completely evaporates the alcohol or that as soon as the flame is out from a flambé there is no alcohol left. I can assure them that that's wrong. When you heat water to 100 C does the pan instantly become empty? No, it can take a very long time to reduce the volume of water in the pan significantly. And it depends on the volume in the pan and the surface area exposed to air. And if it's a sauce, it depends on the viscosity of the liquid, on your stirring or not, and the attraction of the other molecules to water. It's not rocket science but it is a trivial thing to measure alcohol in a liquid mixture. So believe measurements and not the pretty face on television who assures you that the alcohol is gone. I'm pretty sure she's never measured it.