An intensely ignorant question about a recipe: SHRIMP SAUTE WITH A FLAMBE AND A JETE

Hope this formats reasonably well, well enough to read anyway. What it means for you and your children is up to your personal interpretation. I once made some crepes Suzette that were so boozy that they were wrong wrong wrong for my young daughter. But we did not avoid all cooking and flaming, even when she was small.

A study conducted by the US Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Data Laboratory calculated the percentage of alcohol remaining in a dish based on various cooking methods. The results are as follows:

Preparation Method Percent of Alcohol Retained
alcohol added to boiling liquid & removed from heat 85%
alcohol flamed 75%
no heat, stored overnight 70%
baked, 25 minutes, alcohol not stirred into mixture 45%
baked/simmered, alcohol stirred into mixture:
• 15 minutes 40%
• 30 minutes 35%
• 1 hour 25%
• 1.5 hours 20%
• 2 hours 10%
• 2.5 hours 5%

The resulting amount of alcohol after all the cooking methods is small but could be an issue for people who wish to restrict all alcohol.

Hee hee, Waverly, you don't know my 9 year old! I've made the mistake both with coffee and red wine, of, after his intense begging and whining for months on end, just letting him taste a teeny lick, in order to deter him with it's inherent yucky-to-children qualities, then having him proclaim with delight that it's the best thing he's ever tasted.

I think I'll leave it out for the kids. That's more sensible that I could have come up with myself. Obviously. ;)

I agree with drbabs, and, in fact, that is exactly what I did. I am not a scientist, but I do think that most of the alcohol is either burned off by the flames or cooked out (in the case of the vermouth). That said, the cognac and vermouth flavors are prevalent. I don't think many children would like it.

I think I would set aside the kids' portion before adding the Cognac.