How do you evaporate alcohol when cooking food sous-vide?

We received the following question in the “Ask our chef” section.

Hi, Chef! I have a question. When cooking food sous-vide with alcohol, given that the alcohol is with the food inside the vacuum, how do I evaporate it? Or, do I have to cook it beforehand with the alcohol so that it evaporates and then seal the vacuum and cook it sous-vide?

This was the response from Enrique Fleischmann, our chef.

“Hello!

When sous-vide cooking, the alcohol can’t evaporate. However, during cooking, the structure of the alcohol will undergo changes and, due to the heat, the taste and aroma of said alcohol will be enhanced. In this case, when the mixture has cooled, the alcohol will return to being part of the recipe like at the start. Given that the alcohol can’t evaporate and leave the bag, it will remain there during the whole cycle.

What you could do is cook the alcohol beforehand so that the majority of the alcohol evaporates, and then cool it and add it to the mixture in question.

Thanks for your comment.

Best regards,”

Thank you!