Flambe help

[Chef at Heart]

I'm making beef bourguignon tonight for the first time.

One of the steps of the recipe is to add cognac and flambe it. Other than not burning off my eyebrows, any tips on this?

Should I make a point of not doing it in a non-stick piece of cookware - would it hurt it?

[Suzanne]

Do it off the heat. That is, take the pan off the flame before you hit it with a match. Less chance then for the whole thing to flare up.

Let the Cognac warm a bit -- easier for it to light that way.

Use the longest matches you have, so that you can stand back (eyebrows, yeah.)

Probably wouldn't hurt a nonstick, but if you use nonstick, you won't get the yummy fond (brown bits that cling to the pan) when you brown stuff before.

[Chef at Heart]

Thanks Suzanne! I'm looking forward to this - the whole dish.

[adamm]

definitly do it off the flame, i dont know if i would do it in a non stick pan, i would think the heat from the flame would burn off the teflon or somthing like that. If you have a gas stove it will probaly ignite when you put it back on the flame, if you dont i would get a long lighter, like the kind you can use to light candles.

[adamm]

oh yeah defnitly dont lean over the pan, good luck, its pretty easy youll see once you do it.

[Chef at Heart]

Talk about an anti-climax - it wouldn't light!

This is the recipe I was using: Beef Bourguignon Recipe: Recipes: Food Network

I guess there was still too much liquid in there from the sauteeing.

[Anneke]

That's not uncommon. Unless everything is very hot and the alcohol is lit right away, the alcohol often gets drowned and no ignition can occur.

Flambe-ing doesn't really affect the end result; it's just a nice show. The point is to burn off alcohol; if you cooked your stew long enough, it should be ok. So enjoy!

[DoryD]

Originally Posted by Chef at Heart

I'm making beef bourguignon tonight for the first time.

One of the steps of the recipe is to add cognac and flambe it. Other than not burning off my eyebrows, any tips on this?

Should I make a point of not doing it in a non-stick piece of cookware - would it hurt it?

The few times I've flambe'd, I've poured the liquor into a metal measuring cup (glass would be fine, too), lit the match to it, then poured it over the dish...that's how my gram taught me, and it works everytime (and I still have my eyebrows, LOL).