What is the Alcohol Content of Vinegar? What Should I Use Instead?
My guy has been sober for sixteen years and prefers that there is no alcohol in the foods that I make. I do use extracts but never heavily. I have avoided the wine/champagne vinegars, but I wonder about balsamic vinegar and the alcohol content. I would love to know what to use to make up for the lack of wine vinegar. Some recipes I feel I can interchange, but I really wonder about something like gazpacho, where the flavor is really needed.
Dr. Gourmet Says...
There
are traces of alcohol in vinegar but a very small amount. Wine vinegars
such as red or white wine and balsamic vinegar do start with a dilute
wine which is then fermented. Instead of the bacteria fermenting sugars
as happens when the wine is made bacteria from the acetobacter family
use the alcohol in the fermentation process. Most of the alcohol is used
up and much like the extracts you are using there may be traces of ethanol
remaining. It's not likely to be very much -- on the order of 2% or so.
Consequently, using a tablespoon of white wine vinegar might have a drop
of alcohol in it.
If you feel that you don't want to use white wine vinegar, substituting with another acid might be a good choice. Lemon juice or lime juice could be a good choice (the lime juice would be especially good with the gazpacho). If you want a softer citrus choice, using Meyer lemons or even grapefruit can be a good choice.
Thanks for writing.
Timothy S. Harlan, M.D.
Dr. Gourmet