Many home and professional chefs cook with beer these days. Rather, beer has so much in common with the things we eat than that other known cooking beverages. Herbs (hops), grain (barley), yeast and water are all present. Using beer in a recipe transforms the flavour of a dish. It can be used to enhance unique ingredients, help balance the flavours of a dish or simply add a little more extra flavour to your meal. Here are some aspects to keep in mind when cooking with beer.
Tame the Bitterness
If you're using beer in brines, marinades, lightly cooked dips or vinaigrettes, make sure the bite of the beer doesn't overpower the dish. Have an acidic ingredient, such as vinegar, lemon juice or mustard, some sweet ingredient, such as caramelised onions or honey, or a fat, such as cheese, butter or oil, to offset any bitterness.
Keep Colour in Mind, When Using Beer with Foods
Allow the foods you're dealing with to direct you when you're not sure what type of beer to choose for a recipe. Dark beers, such as porters and stouts, go well with hearty and dark foods like beef, bacon, chocolate, game meat and chilli. And, when you cook chicken, pork, fish or vegetables, go for lighter beer options like wheat.
Reduce Carefully
Beer's taste concentrates as it cooks and reduces, getting more intense and stronger with time. This is particularly true of hoppy, bitter beers, such as IPA. If you cook it too much, it will become bitter and unpalatable.
So, there are two options to resolve the issue: Choose a beer with a milder taste and fewer hops or separately minimise the beer and substitute it at the end of a simmering stew, soup or chilli.
