beer ok as marinade for steak?

[jesennia]

we have NOTHING in this new house ..I'm wanting to shock the heck out of my husband and cook dinner..i have some really nice steaks here but nothing to marinade them with except a bottle of jamaican beer. oh i think we have a bottle of wine too but i hate to open the whole thing for two steaks.

do you think it's safe to use beer as a marinade as i'm seven months pregnant? does the alcohol get cooked out?

or can anyone suggest a super easy marinade..i don't have a thing in the house yet..a few spices but nothing like vinegar, oil, etc yet...

bahhhhhhhhh!! but i can make a mean brownie!!

[ashadanzatrice]

it's more than safe enough in my book. said the other pg chick. ;^}

[salomestar]

Mmmmmmm!! We always use beer and wine as merinade for any kind of meat. I'm portuguese: pork and cheez -Okkk bad joke!

Back in the old country, they say that beer is excellent for pregnant women and espacially while you're breast feeding!

I'm not sure if this is 100% true so you might want to talk to your doctor first!

I'm hungry now!

[stardancer]

The alcohol cooks out of it. We marinate chicken in beer all the time and I have yet to hear of someone getting drunk off it....lol. Even the kids eat it.

[tattood1]

game hens in beer,yum. tina

[lizajuk]

Irish stew with Guiness..yup and I told young students when I was at uni to tender up cheap beef with good brown ale.

[ChristinaRizkallah]

Alcohol is generally not recommended during pregnancy because the alcohol can pass through the plancenta. Most likely the amount of beer you will use to marinade your steak is negligable and it will get cooked and absorbed into the steak, but having said that, I am still paranoid (even if its totally unfounded) and would not recommend it. Its true that in Europe, doctors actually recommend European women to drink a glass of wine a day when they are pregnant and obviously, billions of women have given birth to billions of baby and have consumed alcohol for most of human history and the babies still came out fine. I think the reason why they tell American women not to comsume alcohol while pregnant (and this is my personal theory as I don't think any American book will ever admit this) but Americans generally and culturally don't know how to handle their alcohol so in order to tell an American to limit their alcohol intake you have to tell them to abstain completely! But obviously I digress and this has nothing to do with your question. Having said all this, I would still skip the beer. A good an easy marinade would be to use salt, pepper, prepared streak seasong, A-1 steak sauce and Worchestershire sauce. I have done this and I think it tastes delicious. You can also use the packet of Lawry's steak seasoning.

Originally Posted by jesennia

we have NOTHING in this new house ..I'm wanting to shock the heck out of my husband and cook dinner..i have some really nice steaks here but nothing to marinade them with except a bottle of jamaican beer. oh i think we have a bottle of wine too but i hate to open the whole thing for two steaks.

do you think it's safe to use beer as a marinade as i'm seven months pregnant? does the alcohol get cooked out?

or can anyone suggest a super easy marinade..i don't have a thing in the house yet..a few spices but nothing like vinegar, oil, etc yet...

bahhhhhhhhh!! but i can make a mean brownie!!

[ChristinaRizkallah]

Doctor's today say you can drink beer while breast feeding, its true!

Originally Posted by salomestar

Mmmmmmm!! We always use beer and wine as merinade for any kind of meat. I'm portuguese: pork and cheez -Okkk bad joke!

Back in the old country, they say that beer is excellent for pregnant women and espacially while you're breast feeding!

I'm not sure if this is 100% true so you might want to talk to your doctor first!

I'm hungry now!

[beafarhana]

Yes the alcohol burns off - I can't remember exactly but the boiling point of alcohol is way low, 75 degrees celcius or something, and the cooking process is much hotter than that.

You're safe, you're baby's safe- is TY safe from your experimental cooking?!?

[jesennia]

lol i confess it was a horribly simple meal, but TY is fine with anything warmed up. i love to bake things but cooking..well...

went ahead and used a jamaican beer and it was great:)

so drinking a beer during breastfeeding is ok now? years ago my midwife told me go ahead, then express the milk out afterwards, then resume. well i don't even like beer so no biggie. it DID smell kinda good in the saucepan..

that's really interesting about the women in EU drinking a glass of wine every day..i bet for the same reason they say a glass of wine a day for non-pregnant. i admit i'd be paranoid too. i won't even let people breathe on me.

and true i think docs have to err on the side of caution..to avoid lawsuits. the things we are advised against doing seems to get bigger and bigger. heck i feel bad when i eat french fries. i still have half a cup of coffee every day (hence the long post)

my first midwife said no baths because we could slip getting out of the tub..but my doc now says use the pool for exercise. and of course i'm still out in the pacific ocean almost daily, swimming with god knows what.

in fact don't tell doc but i'm still body surfing (not on the long fiber boards but a little spongey thing:) baby loves water..

back to subject...thank you! TY survived the cooking

[steffib]

I read that the recommendation to avoid alcohol is mostly for the first two trimesters; in the third trimester, the systems of mother and child are (from what I read - this is not medical advice) separate enough that one can have an occasional small sip of wine without worries. (And, a small sip of wine doesn't mean 3 strong cocktails ...)

As for Christina's comment on recommendations for a glass of wine in Europe - I am surprised, as that is not in line with what I heard and read. In Europe, we're usually a bit more common-sense about alcohol, that's true. But, as far as I know, women are advised to abstain from alcohol, or at least lower their intake to very small quantities, well below the daily glass of wine, when pregnant.

[stardancer]

Guys, she wasn't drinking the beer... she was cooking the alcohol right out of it.

[rachelw]

that's really interesting about the women in EU drinking a glass of wine every day..i bet for the same reason they say a glass of wine a day for non-pregnant.

I have heard people talk about the more accepting nature of Europeans and the issue of alcohol and pregnancy, but my sister is a resident of Spain and when she was pregnant a few years ago, I believe she was advised to abstain completely. I'll have to ask her to make sure.

I have noticed people becoming more lax about this, but since I've never been pregnant (and probably never will be), I'm not entirely sure.

A few years ago, I interviewed a neonatologist (I was a news reporter) about this issue and what he told me was this--They're pretty sure a minimal amount of alcohol, such as the occasional sip of wine won't be harmful, but they don't know what the "safe" level is. So most doctors advocate total abstinence, because if they can't give their patients a set limit it would be unethical for them to do otherwise.

[aasiyah]

the best marinade EVER for red meat : kiwi.

it makes the meat really really REALLY tender and yummy... just mash up some kiwi, cover the meat in it and let it sit 30 mins. its DELICIOUS.

[jesennia]

ohhhhh kiwi!! wonder if mango would work as well? we have them literally dropping from the trees here..

well..i took a little swig of the beer

my first boy i followed all the rules and poor kid still came out with a heart defect..but i can blame his father for that one..Zack doesn't appear to have any problems.

[jesennia]

i should follow that comment with his heart defect came from his father's father who has the same exact condition (and is still fine, didn't need surgery until his 80s)

[tamrahennatx]

Mango would be great you should do it!

I would combine mango and worcestershire sauce but I like tangy.

[SummerSahar]

Jes...you and I should talk. I'm a toxicologist and this kind of stuff is my bag! Seriously, they give out college degrees to people like me (!) regarding how much of what can kill/hurt/etc someone.
So, based on what I have studied about developmental toxicology, the parts of a fetus' system that can be harmed by the consumption of alcohol have already developed at 7 months, so even if there were a residual amount of alcohol remaining in your meat (which there isn't....alcohol burns off at 172 deg F and we cook meat at well above 200 deg F) it shouldn't affect the fetus, especially if you're nearing the end of your 7th month (the beginning of the 7th month is the development of the cerebral cortex, which fetal alcohol syndrome affects, and that cortex develops quite rapidly).
Bottom line: with the combo of your advanced fetal development and the ittybittytiny amt of residual alcohol (in a worst case scenario where not all the alcohol burned off), you're fine.

[SummerSahar]

Originally Posted by trakgrl99

Jes...you and I should talk. I'm a toxicologist and this kind of stuff is my bag! Seriously, they give out college degrees to people like me (!) regarding how much of what can kill/hurt/etc someone.
So, based on what I have studied about developmental toxicology, the parts of a fetus' system that can be harmed by the consumption of alcohol have already developed at 7 months, so even if there were a residual amount of alcohol remaining in your meat (which there isn't....alcohol burns off at 172 deg F and we cook meat at well above 200 deg F) it shouldn't affect the fetus, especially if you're nearing the end of your 7th month (the beginning of the 7th month is the development of the cerebral cortex, which fetal alcohol syndrome affects, and that cortex develops quite rapidly).
Bottom line: with the combo of your advanced fetal development and the ittybittytiny amt of residual alcohol (in a worst case scenario where not all the alcohol burned off), you're fine.

LOL! I'm reading this again and I hope that all makes sense. I'm stuck in Albany NY right now from a slew of flight cancellations and I've had QUITE a few drinks in the airport bar to pass the time. Let me know if I should clarify any of that ramble I made above...

[lizajuk]

Originally Posted by steffib

I read that the recommendation to avoid alcohol is mostly for the first two trimesters; in the third trimester, the systems of mother and child are (from what I read - this is not medical advice) separate enough that one can have an occasional small sip of wine without worries. (And, a small sip of wine doesn't mean 3 strong cocktails ...)

As for Christina's comment on recommendations for a glass of wine in Europe - I am surprised, as that is not in line with what I heard and read. In Europe, we're usually a bit more common-sense about alcohol, that's true. But, as far as I know, women are advised to abstain from alcohol, or at least lower their intake to very small quantities, well below the daily glass of wine, when pregnant.

Agreed yes we Euros are told to abstain when pregnant. We all are also told to drink sensibly anyway.
Contrast to the 1970s when I developed a craving for Guiness in pregnancy and had the odd bottle now and then.
I had to go into to Liverpool Women's hospital as there was a slight chance of miscarry. The husband brought in the Guiness and there was me saying "oh no they won't let me..." when doc says "get it down you!"
All went along very nicely after that!
But Euro attitudes (some Brits don't even think of themselves as Euro)alcohol vary.
In Portugal I was put on anti-biotics for bad sand-fly bites and said to the French doctor prescribing quite strong tablets "Ho hum no more good red wine on this holiday". He looked at me, puzzled and said "Porquoi?"

But marinading food..I don't think one ends up consuming much alcohol. Mind you my brown Ale stew for students was a dead cert for great gravy even if the meat tasted like .......

[waldim10]

Originally Posted by ChristinaRizkallah

Doctor's today say you can drink beer while breast feeding, its true!

Which is mad cos the booze goes straight into the baby. I'm not sure that alcohol passes the placental barrier (tho's it's almost a sugar so it probably does).