Just used wine in cooking- please tell me it's going to be okay?

[Focusfocus]

Am starting my 9th week today. I am quite a good cook (cooking de-stresses me after work) and I just made DH and myself a bacon and mushroom risotto.

It's turned out amazing, but - I put in half a cup of white wine in it. It's risotto so cooked for about 45 minutes after the wine went in, partly because instinctively I add alcohol to risotto early on to cook it out.

I've always been and am a teetotaller and am now obsessing with whether this bit of wine may have caused any harm because I never drink in any case. Online searching says a mix of things part of which involves counting how long you cooked it for. I confess I haven't counted but it cooked for a fair while.

I'm being silly aren't i? It's going to be okay?

The alcohol will have burnt off, I'd really not worry

it will.be fine. the alcohol will have cooked off congratulations by the way

Honestly yes you are being silly and it will be absolutely fine

We all worried about silly things in the first trimester, I'm 40+5 weeks and I still worry about everything.

Half a glass of wine won't harm baby.

It's fine,as you say the alcohol will have boiled off.

Have you ever felt the effects of alcohol in a risotto? Were you staggering around and telling the coat stand that you love it?

The alcohol will have cooked off. Neither you or the baby will be affected. My husband tends to stick a dash if alcohol in a lot of his cooking. It is really not a problem.

I laughed my head off at "telling the coat stand that you love it" oh you girls are the very best, you do know that don't you?! Thanks so much. I can now continue to release risotto flavoured burps in the general direction of DH (not impressed) and DPup (very impressed) in peace.

this first trimester anxiety is crap isnt it

The alcohol doesn't all cook off - the boiling point if ethanol is about 78 ish degrees, but people have actually experimented with it and found that even if you simmer for 2.5 hours you get some alcohol left. If you add alcohol to food and simmer, the following amounts are left after the following times.

15 mins - 40% left
1 hour - 25% left

Having said that, the amount you consumed in one portion of risotto is pretty small, so you have no need to be beating yourself up about it :)

If you fancy reading more, there was a fun article in new scientist in the last Christmas edition ( one of their reporters was challenged to eat himself over the drink drive limit.) here's a screen shot from the issue.

Absolutely fine. Don't worry. I've had the odd small glass of wine through both my pregnancies and it's been absolutely fine so a dash in risotto isn't going to cause any problems. X

I also read that New Scientist article. The conclusion was that you couldn't just ignore alcohol used in cooking becaue there will still be some left at the end of the process. However half a cup of wine, cooked for 45 minutes and shared between two people will be an absolutely minimal amount in terms of units, honestly not enough to cause any measurable effects. The fact that you don't ever drink would amplify its effect on you, but not the effect on the baby.