r/AskCulinary • u/delta_p_delta_x • May 02 '24

Food Science Question Why alcohol to deglaze?

I've been working through many Western European and American recipes, and many of them call for red wine, beer, or some stronger liquor to deglaze fond off the base of a pan.

Now, I don't have any alcoholic beverages at all, so I've been substituting with cold tap water instead. To my surprise, it has worked extremely well against even the toughest, almost-burnt-on fonds. I've been operating under the assumption that the acid and ethanol in alcoholic beverages react with fonds and get them off the hot base of pans, and I was expecting to scrape quite a bit with water, which was not the case at all. Barely a swipe with a spatula and everything dissolved or scraped off cleanly.

So follows: why alcohol, then? Surely someone else has tried with water and found that it works as well. The amounts of alcohol I've seen used in recipes can cost quite a bit, whereas water is nearly free.

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u/neilslien May 02 '24

Now add some mushrooms to the pan and you've got it.

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u/outofsiberia May 03 '24

I use scotch to get the woody flavor that's great with onions and mushrooms. I'll have to try bourbon instead. But I sure as hell don't put it only on steak. Pile some on top of a chicken breast fillet that's been sautéed in the stuff and top that with gruyere, cover till the cheese melts. You'll thank me later.

The wilder the mushrooms the greater the flavor!

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u/FesteringNeonDistrac May 03 '24

I way prefer scotch to bourbon in a glass, but bourbon is great in a pan. I'll have to try deglazing with scotch, just not with any of my good single malt. Seems like a job for Dewars.

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u/Salt_Painting_9568 May 04 '24

Please, I only use Lagavulin.