Will the sugar content in a sweet wine burn off when cooked?


(Bonnie Low) #1

Chicken madeira is one of my favorite recipes! Madeira is a pretty sweet wine, though. I’m wondering if the sugar burns off when you cook it? I’ve heard people say the alcohol burns off, but what about the sugar? Just wondering if the carb count in the meal should include the sugar in the wine or not.


(Jean Taylor) #2

No sugar won’t cook off. Otherwise adding sugar to anything you cooked wouldn’t influence the nutritional value.


(Steve ricci ) #3

Probably become concentrated after the water evaporated.


(Doug) #4

Sadly, just the alcohol. :cry:


(Banting & Yudkin & Atkins & Eadeses & Cordain & Taubes & Volek & Naiman & Bikman ) #5

Generally not. It caramelizes


(Steve ricci ) #6

The alcohol does but not the sugar


#7

How much of the alcohol will burn off if I deglaze a frying pan with brandy, or other alcohol?

Old Doug has previously explained that the body will metabolise alcohol first, before carbohydrate, protein and fats because it is a poison and the body needs to get rid.

But alcohol contains 7 calories per gram - and I guess this is a carb equivalent not a ketone equivalent.

So if I use a few mls of brandy and the pan is cold and I scrape of the juices stuck to the bottom of the pan then that’s quite a few calories / carbs still in the alcohol. And not so good for someone in the very early stages of adaptation.

But if the pan is hot, and the alcohol gets evaporated off - with all the flavour benefits - are there any carbs left to worry about?

And can I slug in the brandy, as long as it is all (however can one tell, time I suppose) evaporated? And so never count anything.

All towards an art to this keto lark.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #8

If the ethanol all evaporates into the air, then all its calories evaporate with it. Any carbohydrate from other sources remains in the pan, of course.

From an alcoholic’s perspective, the risk of cooking with alcohol is (a) not all of it might evaporate in the cooking and (b) the taste can still trigger drink cravings. From a ketonian point of view, however, the alcohol should be fine as long as (a) it fits in our 20 g/day carb limit and (b) the quantity of ethanol doesn’t overburden our liver.

ETA: On second thought, ethanol is metabolized in the liver, so I’m not sure that it should count towards our carb limit. The point of the limit, after all, is to minimize the stimulation of insulin secretion, but does alchol have any effect on insulin? The effect on the liver is well-known, of course.