Alcohol Substitution in Cooking - A Mormon Foodie Perspective

One of my readers, Teri, left a comment on my main lens, saying, "I would love to know what your take is on gourmet recipes that call for wine...in sauces and other cooked dishes. There are about 100 recipes I'd love to try, but have such a debate over the wine and whether the alcohol really cooks out of the dish, if it's against the word of wisdom, and if there are any substitutes."

As Teri mentions, it's the Word of Wisdom that stops Mormons from using alcohol. The Word of Wisdom is actually a revelation given through the prophet Joseph Smith to the Saints in 1833. It's now recorded as section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Verses four through seven read:

4 Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation-
5 That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him.
6 And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make.
7 And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies.

It was revealed that "strong drinks" refers to beer and liquor - all drinks that rely on fermentation and contain alcohol. Later on, wine was also removed from the sacrament service. Now we use water.

It's pretty clear we're not supposed to drink this stuff. Having said that, I do think how you use it in cooking. What keeps running through my own mind is the council to "avoid even the appearance of evil."

Currently the only place I use alcohol in cooking is in deglazing a pan. If a sauce calls for alcohol I usually add it first, so that a majority of the alcohol cooks off. In a case like this, you'll be left with about 5 to 10% of the original alcohol content remaining. That'll leave you less alcohol than the same amount of commercial orange juice. If you add it later, to a simmering sauce or stew, you're going to have a lot more alcohol left. For more information on how much alcohol is left, you can check out this alcohol burn-off chart.

Not using alcohol can really put a damper on serving a flambé. It's a pretty cool form of food entertainment, that's for sure. For now, I've learned to live without it. If you must have fire with your food, try the burning sugar cube trick.

For other dishes, you can do one of three things: find a substitute, do without the booze, or just don't make that dish.

The latter solution I reserve for dishes that rely on booze as a major ingredient. Even with substitutions, it's just not going to taste the same.

If the booze is there to add complexity and a touch of flavor, I'll try and find a substitution. For example, I'll add a bit of rum extract and a spot of extra water to dishes that ask for rum. Don't kid yourself, though. It makes a passable alternative, sometimes even a delicious one, but it's not exactly the same.

Most of the substitution charts I've found online seem okay for some things, but don't make sense with others. Some of the substitutions seem downright bizarre, though. I can see adding almond extract in lieu of amaretto, but what's all this about using chicken broth or ginger ale instead of beer? How did they come up with that? The Port substitution doesn't make sense, either. I had always been taught that Port was a very sweet dessert wine. Adding grape juice, and extra sugar, makes more sense to me than grape juice and lime juice.

Substituting in marinades can be problematic. Ginger ale makes a pretty passable substitute for gin, but the lack of alcohol destroys any chance of it softening the meat.

If you are looking for an alcohol substitution list, this one seems pretty good.

Non-alcoholic wines and beers are tempting substitutions. When I was a young twenty-something, I used (and drank) them quite a lot. I've quit doing that, though. A few years ago I learned a very hard lesson about the power of "avoiding the appearance of evil" that I don't care to repeat. I won't give you the details. Just know that my reputation was damaged, along with an opportunity to share the gospel that I will never get back.