Beer in the kitchen

A few posts back, my guest blogger, Melissa from James North Mommy, wrote a post Cooking with beer and came up with some great recipes using beer.

So it got me thinking, what other ways can you cook with beer.  I did some research and there are plenty of ways to cook with beer.  Here are some examples:

Beer Batter

Beer batter is most commonly used for fish but you can use the batter on other ingredients as well, like vegetables, chicken or other seafood. 

The batter is made up of mostly beer and flour, along with other ingredients.  The carbon dioxide bubbles in the beer make the batter expand giving it a light and crispy texture. The amount of beer in the batter varies from recipe to recipe.

If you decide to make yourself a beer batter, I would recommend you stay away from IPA’s, it will leave you with a bitter taste.  Lagers or stouts are preferred.

Steaming

Beer-steaming dates back to the 10th or 11th century when beer was a safer alternative to the local water supply. Today, it’s become popular due to our overwhelming desire for all things craft-brewed. From the cider-like Belgian beers to the lightly bitter pale ales, each unique beer gives its own particular flavor to whatever dish you like.

Deglazing and pan sauces

When it comes to deglazing and pan sauces, typically wine is required.  But that’s not the case anymore. Deglazing just involves adding liquid to a pan that has just been used for cooking. It’s purpose is to use the existing flavours to make a sauce and instead of using wine, try using your favourite type of brew.

Barbecue Sauces

There are so many ways to make bbq sauces and one of the easiest. All you have to do is just add half to a full cup of any beer of your choice to your your favourite recipes and voila!

There are plenty of recipes and techniques out there using beer. If you find one that you love, feel free to share it with me!

Cheers!