Alcohol in kids’ food

[LadyGreyandlemoncurd]

I hadn’t really given it much thought but I sometimes use alcohol in my cooking and then give the food to my children (18 months and 3yo).
It’s obviously not loads; a glass of wine in a pan of ragu, a bottle of cider in a pork/apple/root veg casserole, coq au vin/riesling etc. But a couple of friends have been surprised when I’ve mentioned giving it to the kids, and I’m starting to doubt myself.
It’s not every night but am I being unreasonable to give it to them?

No issue in my eyes

The alcohol will cook off, so all that’s left is the flavour, so it is completely safe for children, @LadyGreyandlemoncurd, and your friends are overreacting.

I think you are a bit unreasonable, unless the alcohol in your dishes makes them taste significantly better. I think I would vary my recipes if I had young kids.

The alcohol doesn't all cook off, though most of it does if it's something you're simmering for a long time, like coq au vin. Also if wine is about 13%, and say at least 50% of that cooks off, if you look at the amount of alcohol in the dish as a whole it's negligible. I put wine into a ragu, the finished product probably has about as much alcohol as a ripe banana.

I suppose unless your children are muslim then can't see any issue with it, the alcohol itself should cook off.

French kids were getting a glass of wine with their meals all the way up to 1981

I wouldn't think a thing about it.

It’s fine, we have always done the same and of course it burns off. But I have a couple of slightly paranoid mum friends who avoid everything and do not believe in ‘everything in moderation’ who’d certainly raise an eyebrow!

I've always cooked with alcohol for my family too. Where does the hand wringing end? I've made them bacon and sausages, but they're a cancer risk. I drive them in a car, but it might crash. Sometimes they eat fruit without me washing it first, what will the pesticides do? We live in a city, what about the air pollution? I can't worry about everything all of the time, so I enjoy a steak and ale pie with them when the weather gets colder

Probably best to look it up. I used to use wine in Bolognese as I was raised being told the alcohol cooks off, but when I looked it up I remember this wasn't really true. Can't remember the details but do check!

Wouldn’t even make me blink.

My dearest wish for you OP, is that this is always the most important thing that you to worry about.

It’s fine in small quantities and in dishes that cook for a long time so the alcohol mostly burns off, which is longer than you might think- after 15 minutes about 40% is still left but after 2.5 hours it’s more like 4-5%.

So if it was a 125ml glass of 12% wine cooked in a ragu that’s simmered for 3 hours and the kids are going to eat only a spoon of the sauce then it’s barely trace amounts and you’d probably get more alcohol in orange juice, which you likely wouldn’t think twice about them having.

The amount of alcohol that cooks off varies depending on cooking time. For something very slow like Bolognese only a trace will be left. For quick things eg deglazing a pan) about half will be left. I'd be fine with the former, less so with the latter (and I think the alcohol taste stays quite strong too so maybe not ideal for tinies).

I was also second guessing myself on this and now often replace red wine with the M&S red wine flavour pots which contain de-alcoholised red wine concentrate. It also works for me as I’m not a drinker so don’t really want to open a bottle of red wine for a splash.

The alcohol doesn't entirely boil off any more than the water all boils off when you cook soup. People think that because the boiling point of alcohol is around 80C, that when you get to 80C all the alcohol vanishes instantly. That's not how boiling works, a lot of energy needs to go into the latent heat.

Unless you cook it dry, if there's any moisture left then some of that will be alcohol.

I'm not saying don't do it. But it's illegal to give alcoholic drinks to under 5s, so that's where I personally draw the line with alcohol in food. I'll put it in once they're both over 5.

You can get de-alcoholised wine stock pots, I use those

Even if most the alcohol doesn't cook off it is still just wine which is lowish % and it's a glass max shared out amount several.portions of which the kids have smaller portions anyway. We cook with wine and feed it to the kids (my parents just gave me the wine to drink from 5!!!).

The alcohol cooks off so the only downside is that your children will have more mature plates and food at these friend's houses will taste bland and dull to them.

Firstly, the alcohol doesn't cook off.

Secondly, it's possible to give your kids refined palates by trying all sorts of things that don't include alcohol.

For example, using interesting herbs and spices, and teaching your kids to recognise them by taste and smell.

My kids have also tried things like capers and samphire and tapenade, (all of which you can just get at sainsburys).

It's not a case of wine ragu versus chicken nuggets

Can't see it is an issue but I'd probably omit the alcohol without really thinking too much into it

The human gut produces about 3 ml of alcohol, or 2 bottles of spirits a year.

I've never worried about this. Nor salt.

My health visitor told me off for this and said she would ‘have to make a report’. 🙄

She had previously suggested cheese strings and custard creams as a snack when my dd was underweight so I had little confidence in her.

I always thought when you cook alcohol, it's removes the intoxicating effect. But just googled and looks like it's only about half that cooks off unless you use a slow cooker/cook it for ages. Either way I think it's fine. 250ml of wine in a dish that serves 4 would be the equivalent of giving them about 15ml of wine if that.

I once fed my DC a few spoonfuls of my rum soaked cake thinking it had been baked with the rum in, before the horrified baker (DGM) came out of the kitchen and told me it was a poke cake. (Rum added via holes after baking). He loved it and there have been adverse affects.

No adverse affects! He's fine!