Thursday dilemma: can you use aluminum foil instead of baking paper?
Going out or staying in, taking the train or the car, making up or breaking up, chips or fries: life is full of dilemmas. Such as the question of whether you can use aluminum foil when you’ve run out of baking paper, and vice versa. Fortunately, this question has been thoroughly researched; you really have to figure out the rest for yourself.
The differences between aluminum foil and baking paper are significant: aluminum foil retains heat well, while baking paper keeps cookies and cake from sticking. Baking paper can go in the microwave, while aluminum foil can withstand higher temperatures in the oven than baking paper. Don’t feel like scrubbing the bottom of your oven clean? Then put a layer of aluminum foil there.
Empty drawer
But now: you slide the drawer open, and to your great shock there is no aluminum foil. Oh no, an empty cardboard roll. What do you do then? If you’re making something en papillotte, you can use baking paper for that. Perhaps even better than aluminum foil, actually. Do use two layers, because when baking paper gets wet, it tears more easily than aluminum foil. Do you want to cover something with foil, for example to prevent the top from getting too brown in the oven? No, baking paper won’t do anything for you there. If your oven is set very high, baking paper can even catch fire at the top of the oven – the consequences are almost impossible to contemplate.
Brownies: YES
And vice versa: you’re out of baking paper, but the roll of aluminum foil is still at full strength? You can use it perfectly well for baking cookies, especially if you brush the foil with a little butter first to prevent the cookies from sticking. Covering the base of a pie with aluminum foil is a less solid plan; rely on butter and a little flour instead to prevent the pie from never coming out of the tin. Brownies and aluminum foil do go very well together, so that’s something. Roasting vegetables? You can do that with either one.
Dull side
And if you’re wondering: which side of the aluminum foil goes on top? It’s not difficult: the shiny side faces out, while the dull side is the side the food touches.
