Adding beer to cooking adds deep and complex flavors, like malty, bitter and sweet flavors to savory dishes like marinades and stews and the beer also helps to tenderize meat due to the beers enzymes.
Adding beer to cooking also creates light and airy batters for fried foods, due to the beers carbonation.
Beer also replaces wine or stock and adds richness to baked goods and also boosts aromatics, and most of the alcohol evaporates during the cooking process, which makes the food cooked with beer safe for all ages including kids to eat.
The beer adds earthy, nutty and caramel notes do foods and makes them taste like they've simmered longer.
The bitterness from the beer hops also balances rich, sweet or creamy ingredients, while the malt adds sweetness and the alcohol in the beer bonds with fats and moisture to amplify aromas and enhances the taste experience.
Beer also helps to keep meats moist when used as a braising liquid or marinade.
Common uses for beer in cooling include braising and stews, battering for fried chicken, seafood, vegetables etc, deglazing to lift browned bits from a pan and build sauces, marinades to tenderize and flavor meats like pork or beef and in baking adds flavor and moisture to breads, cakes and even pancakes.
Dark beers like stouts or porters are great for rich gravies, beef and chocolate desserts and lagers and wheat beers are great for lighter fare like chicken, seafood or as a fizzy substitute in batters and IPAs can add bitterness and citrus notes.
Adding beer to meat helps to tenderize the meat and also keeps the meat juicier and adds moisture to prevent the meat from drying out.
The beer added to the meat also helps enhance the flavor of the meat when added to the meat.
Beer is commonly added to beef in some dishes to tenderize it and enhance the flavor.
Adding beer to beef including ground beef increases the moisture in the ground beef and results in juicier and more tender beef patties and the beer when added to ground beef also introduces complex and savory, malty flavor notes to other dishes including chili, soups and stews, tacos etc.
The beer in the ground beef acts as a good natural meat tenderizer by breaking down the muscle fibers in the ground beef, and enhances the ground beefs flavor and can also reduce any harmful compounds also known as PAHS when grilling the ground beef at high heat.
The liquid and carbonation of the beer help to break down the tough fibers in the ground beef, which ensures that your ground beef remains juicy during cooking.
And depending on the type and style of beer used, like amber, brown ale, etc the beer adds deep, earthy and bitter or sweet notes to the burgers, chili and stews or soups.
And when beer is used in marinades, the beer helps to lock in moisture and can reduce carcinogens which form on charred meat.
The recommended beers for ground beef are amber or nut brown ales, for a balanced flavor instead of the overly light or bitter beer options.
Adding the beer to the mixture of ground beef or brushing the beer onto the ground beef when grilling or cooking the ground beef also improves the texture and flavor.
And simmering chili and stews in beer adds depth and richness to the broth.
And ground beef can also be marinated in beer, garlic and spices for at least an hour to add a deeper flavor infusion with the beer.