Some of our recipe recommendations include a slow cooker option, and we wanted to provide a really clear guide as to how using wine or other alcohol works in a slow cooker.
Raw alcohol will evaporate at 78 C, importantly even with conventional cooking techniques, not all the alcohol will burn off.
When using a slow cooker the internal temperature may only just get to this important temperature, and because of the lid any alcohol that does evaporate will return back into the cooker.
This will result in an overly powerful flavour of the original wine or other alcohol and bitterness. Definitely, not the result you want.
It is however possible to still use wine etc the flavour is critical to the dish (for example our Sherry Braised Pork Shoulder), just brown off the vegetables etc in a frying pan and add the wine at that stage, then cook it down before adding to the slow cooker. This does add another step to the process but will give you the flavour without the bitterness.
Bon Appetit.
