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TOM - Many members here cook with wine and say it is ok because the alcohol cooks out. But in my nutrition class I learned it takes 90 minutes of cooking at 400 + degree temperatures before its cooked out; not an ideal time to spend cooking food. Is there any council from the church regarding cooking with wine or beer?

JOEL - You're right. For most cooking circumstance all the alcohol does not completely burn off. I have seen different reports on exactly how much is burned off, which depends on the type of alchol used; cooking time; and temperature. There is an interesting chart at the following website that shows how much is burned off under different circumstances:

http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blalcohol12.htm

What many LDS restaurant customers don't know is that most restaurants use alcohol during the cooking of some dishes to add flavor, which is probably not all burned off. Every time you take a swig of some cough syrups you are drinking alcohol. Vanilla extract, which is used in many non-cooked foods has 35% alcohol. There's lots of that in those chocolate chip cookies you like so much :-o

If people are really worried about it there are non-alcoholic wines or wine vinegar that can be substituted for wine in cooking. As far as I know there has been no official position taken by the church on this subject. I am sure each general authority would have his own opinion on this. Like many other things this probably falls under the category of not being commanded in all things (D&C 58:26).

A poll was taken that showed up in the LDS Living Magazine where about 7000 people (so far) responded to the questions:
1. Do you use alcohol in cooking?
2. How do you feel about cooking with alcohol?

Nearly 1/2 of the LDS population that took the poll said they cook with alcohol and 75% of Mormons felt either neutral or positive about cooking with alcohol. Each member needs to decide for themselves whether they think things like this are against the Word of Wisdom or not.

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