Talk:Cooking with alcohol

"Alcohol as cooking fuel" - misstated hazards?

I had doubts about several of the assertions in this section regarding the hazards of alcohol as a cooking fuel, but in a quick Internet search I did not find an authoritative source either to support or refute them.

What I did find was a non-authoritative consensus (from posts on boating forums) on the advantages and disadvantages of alcohol vis-a-vis propane and kerosene, arriving at conclusions notably different than those presented in the section.

Here are a few of the contrasts presented on the boating forums, in no particular order:

• Alcohol vapors are lighter than air and will dissipate, whereas propane and kerosene vapors are heavier than air and can settle in the hold of a ship;
• Alcohol has a lower energy content per unit of weight than propane or kerosene, resulting in slower heating and longer cooking times;
• An alcohol flame is difficult to see, presenting a burn or fire risk to those unaware of the flame, unlike the bright, easily visible flame of propane or kerosene;
• No mention was found of odorants added to kerosene (although odorants are generally added to propane).

This section needs authoritative sourcing, with corrections as needed. Wilsonchas (talk) 18:10, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

Quite right. "Scented propane" was a hilarious phrase, made me wonder if I could get it in "pine". Anyway, sources found, changes applied. Richigi (talk) 02:26, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

How Did It Start?

Why is this article missing the most important section?68.53.153.55 (talk) 21:07, 5 September 2019 (UTC)

Strange combination

Why does this article cover both using alcohol as an ingredient and using alcohol as a fuel? Those seem like completely different topics. --Macrakis (talk) 19:18, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

@Macrakis: Nice to meet you ~ just thinking off the top of my head 'we use alcohol both for cooking and as a fuel to heat/keep warm entree's, sides etc..' ~ the article's title is "Cooking with alcohol" I think that would cover both uses ~ I can see where someone might think that cooking in the term as a chef preparing dishes ~ but a boy scout might use that same term as heating on a camp sight ~ It's a small article and I am sure over time and more edits the article will remain neutral to both uses of alcohol in 'cooking' ~ ~mitch~ (talk) 20:01, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

Yes, I agree that the title could be interpreted to mean either one of these things. But Wikipedia articles are supposed to be about a well-defined topic, not a name. For example, we have separate articles for Library (of books) and Library (computing) (of programs), even though they indubitably have the same core meaning of an organized collection. I suggest that we divide this into two articles, Alcohol (cooking ingredient) and Alcohol (cooking fuel) -- the current Alcohol fuel article, strangely, is only about alcohol as a fuel for internal combustion engines --Macrakis (talk) 20:17, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

I agree we should split the article one for "Alcohol (cooking ingredient)" and one for "Alcohol (cooking fuel)" ~ EEng what do you think? ~ or better yet let me ask Bambi ~mitch~ (talk) 20:28, 26 December 2019 (UTC)

So now I'm the go-to guy, huh? I suggest this article be renamed Alcohol (cooking ingredient); the bit on fuel for cooking should become a section of Alcohol fuel ('cause I don't think there's enough to justify a separate article) and Alcohol (cooking fuel) could redirect there. EEng 22:05, 26 December 2019 (UTC)