On Aug 2, 8:34 am, Goomba > wrote:
> When using alcohol to deglaze a pan or into a sauce, I'm wondering what
> the difference in taste is if you do or don't set it ablaze? I mean, how
> does burning it change the flavor?
> Anyone know?

My first thought is that flaming it concentrates the flavor faster.
When you put brandy into coq au vin you flame it, mainly, I think, so
you can move on to the next step more quickly without having to wait
for several minutes of boiling. When you later add a lot of red wine
you certainly don't try to flame that because it's going to simmer
quite a while and you know much of the alcohol will dissipate.

For the pan sauce you're talking about it's a pretty small quantity of
alcohol, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 cup, right? Sometimes I fire it up,
sometimes I just let it bubble. The longer it bubbles/boils, the more
alcohol evaporates even without flaming. Under normal circumstances I
wouldn't expect there to be a noticeable taste difference.

It's possible to create a difference in taste by using flaming to
create a hint of charring. when you leave some ingredient in the pan.
Say you brown chicken pieces in your stainless or cast iron pan, then
squeeze some lime juice over them, followed by some tequila. Now you
can just let the liquid bubble while you scrape the browned bits off
the bottom of the pan, or you can flame it first. If you get enough
flame there will be a small effect on the chicken skin, I think. (A
little dried orange peel goes well in this, by the way.)

As opposed to that, say you cook fish fillets in butter, remove them
to a warm plate, add some shallots and capers to the pan with some
white wine, let it bubble for a couple of minutes, stir in a bit of
cold butter and pour it over the fish. I don't see anything to be
gained by flaming this. -aem