LogFAQs > #903454595

DrizztLink posted...

The alcohol would cook off either way.

That's a common misconception: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/11/alcohol-doesnt-really-cook-out-of-food-in-most-cases/
tl;dr - In terms of preparation methods and times, their results were as follows (all of these assume the temperature is above 173 F, which is the boiling point of alcohol; also, the size of dish and contents of the food mixture affect the results, so this is just a general guideline):

The highest rates of retention were with alcohol added to boiling liquid and then shortly after removed from heat. In this case, the alcohol retention rate was around 85%.
The second highest alcohol retention rate came when using the flaming method of cooking, which resulted in around a 75% retention level.
When using no heat and storing overnight, about 70% of the alcohol was retained.
When baked for 25 minutes with the mixture not being stirred, the retention rate was 45%.
When baked/simmered where the mixture is stirred, produced the following results:
15 minutes 40%
30 minutes 35%
1 hour 25%
1.5 hours 20%
2 hours 10%
2.5 hours 5%