What’s the Difference between Butcher Paper and Aluminum Foil?

It is a common practice amongst many people, even maybe you, to wrap your food, whether when cooking a piece of meat, roasting vegetables or baking fish, with Aluminum foil. Others like some barbecue enthusiastic normally utilize butcher papers when wrapping the food.  So, what is the difference? Some may argue out that both are utilized to wrap food, and it doesn’t matter much on what material is used. But, shockingly it matter what material the food is handled with especially when it comes to using two diverse materials like an aluminum foil or pink butcher paper. Now, let us take a look at the difference between these two materials used in the food industry.

What they are made of

Aluminum slabs are rolled from molten aluminum using a rolling mill to the thicknesses that it can be utilized easily. Technicians in the factory will usually adjust the pressure that rollers apply to molten aluminum. They later apply a cold rolling mill to avoid breakage since it is thin but make it to the desired thickness.

Butcher papers are made using wood pulp like any other paper. Unless it is dyed or bleached white, butcher papers are usually in their natural brownish pink color due to the high wood content in it. Although butcher papers are usually coated with sizing, a chemical free material, to provide some resistance to wetness, they are usually not as porous as foils.

Food preparation and storage

Aluminum foil is made of a compact material that can act as a barrier to prevent oxygen, light, bacteria, and moisture from penetrating. Such a property makes it suitable for extensive storage of food and other pharmaceutical items.

It can also store perishable food for long without the need for refrigeration. Some people popularly use it to cover certain sections of meat and poultry so that they are not overcooked. But, USDA has provided some recommendations on limited aluminum use on foods.

Butcher papers that are usually treated are used in wrapping meat since they can hold liquids in the meat and flavor of the food contamination from the surrounding. They usually also come in smaller width rolls that are convenient for wrapping fish and meats. For barbecue lovers, the papers are more applicable in the process as it retains the flavor of the food.

Health

Aluminum foil is inherent to certain risk that can be detrimental to the health of individual using it on food. When scrubbing your hot aluminum pot after cooking, it makes some aluminum to leach into the food. This tends to be hazardous. On its part, aluminum foil should not be used for cooking. Some liquid solutions and acidic foods like tomato juices and lemon tend to leach out higher levels of aluminum than other substances like salt or alcohol. Some such as spices make the levels even climb more when cooking using aluminum foil. But, it is safe to wrap cold food with aluminum foil but not for long for spicy foods.

On their part, butcher papers are usually safe for cooking and storage of food. Most of them are FDA approved, implying that you will not need to worry when preparing your barbecue. Overall, butcher papers are safer to cook with and wrap foods compared to aluminum foils.

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