Paper with a thin wax coating on single or both sides is referred to as wax paper. This wax coating doesn’t allow food to stick. Besides, it also makes the paper water-resistant. However, you can use it for a variety of purposes. It is one of the essentials in the cooking and baking process. Gustave Le Gray introduced waxed paper in arts and crafts, and film photography is also incomplete without wax paper. In this discussion, I am discussing can you put wax paper in the oven and other multiple uses in the kitchen
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What happens if you use wax paper in the oven?
The best advantage of wax paper is due to its nonstick property. You can use it for lining around and the bottom of the cake pans. And there is no need to grease the sides and bottom of pans. But, on the other hand, wax paper is not resistant to heat. That’s why it’s not suitable to be used in the oven or where there is direct exposure to heat. The wax coating cannot stand high temperatures and melts away—the high-temperature results in smoky cookies and muffins.
Can Reynolds wax paper go in the oven?
Although we mentioned earlier, the wax paper could not stand at high temperatures. Still, the Reynolds wax paper is unique in its own way. If your baking recipe includes a batter that intends to cover the pan’s entire surface. Then you can use Reynolds wax paper for lining it. So, yes! This particular wax paper can survive the oven temperature if thoroughly covered.
Can you use wax paper in the oven instead of foil?
Using foil in the oven is a good option. The first and foremost reason behind the fact is its good insulation properties. Besides, it doesn’t take a lot of time to cool down once it’s taken out. However, it’s a bit sticky compared to wax paper, but greasing it before using cuts down the drawback.
The foil is thin aluminum. According to research, aluminum traces may enter food while being cooked. So, if you are going to address high temperatures, parchment paper is always a win.
Wax paper is never a suggestion to be used in the oven due to its delicacy at high temperatures. So, there is no comparison between both. Replacing foil with wax paper is an unwise idea that can end in a disaster.
What’s the Difference Between Parchment Paper and Wax Paper?
Parchment Paper Vs Wax Paper
Parchment paper and wax paper vary from each other in several aspects. Let’s learn what these factors are?
1-Coatings:
Both the papers hold a drastic difference in terms of their coating. Wax paper comes layered with paraffin wax. On the one hand, paraffin wax turns the paper into water-resistant and nonstick utility. However, this particular layer tends to melt away on direct exposure to heat.
Whereas parchment paper features a silicone coating. This coating adds nonstick properties to the surface of the paper. Besides, the silicone coating makes the parchment paper resistant to heat.
So, parchment paper is good to go if you are going to cook with heat. However, the microwave is an exemption, and wax paper can easily stand its heating mechanism.
2-Processing:
The processing of both papers requires a different strategy. Before a company applies silicon coating, it presses parchment into a sheet. Then, the sheet undergoes an episode of acid bath and washing. Furthermore, hot rotating drums play an essential role in realigning and strengthening the paper.
On the contrary, super calendaring is the process that compresses the wax paper before applying the wax layer. The process means to give transparency.
3-Environmental-friendly option:
You can neither recycle wax paper nor compost it. But if the parchment paper gets stained after undergoing baking or cooking, it can be composted.
4-Affordability:
Typically, household cooks are more familiar with wax paper because of its easy availability. Moreover, wax paper is an economical option.
What is wax paper used for?
Wax paper offers several uses stated below
- It helps you roll any kind of dough very smoothly.
- Wax paper lets you pound chicken breasts into cutlets.
- Dealing with melted chocolate becomes super easy with wax paper.
- It promotes thorough mixing of dry ingredients.
- Sifting flour, baking powder, and icing sugar over wax paper leads to a smoother experience.
- You can line your baking sheets while following a no-bake recipe.
- Wax paper acts as a perfect wrapper for sandwiches, butter sticks, and cheese wedges.
- Freezing food is also easy with wax paper.
- Spread wax paper on your working counter and experience a mess with less operation.
- You can also layer wax paper to kitchen cabinets and refrigerator shelves. This ends up in an easy cleaning episode.
- Rubbing wax paper on the faucets in the kitchen makes them shine as never before.
- Also, rubbing wax paper on wooden bowls and spoons heal cracks if there are any. This will prevent them from getting stained by certain foods.
- Wax paper is a firm sheet. This firmness allows you to use it in a funnel shape for refilling spice containers.
Is wax paper toxic in an oven?
As you know that wax paper comes coated with wax. But still, a question arises in mind about the type of wax. There are two kinds of wax coatings used for layering paper. One is a soft wax, known as paraffin. It can be white in color or colorless. Whereas, the other is organic and food-grade wax called beeswax. Usually, any kind of wax doesn’t turn toxic in the oven.
But to remain on the safe side, we don’t recommend using wax paper in the oven. Wax paper has a very low melting point. It starts melting immediately when exposed to direct heat and may stick to your food.
To sum up, wax paper will not turn toxic in the oven and will not kill you.
If Wax paper smokes in the oven?
As you know that wax paper has a very low melting point. It means that it has a very low smoking point also. When the wax paper is exposed to direct heat, the wax melts away. The continuous exposure results in smoke, and may catch fire.
What temp does wax paper melt?
Wax paper starts melting if the temperature exceeds the room temperature. The highest melting point of wax ranges between 145° F to 200° F
Conclusion
Wax paper is a fantastic kitchen staple. It means simplifying your cold applications in the kitchen. Wax paper acts as a perfect platform for kneading bread and rolling pie crusts. Separating different items in the freezer with a wax paper layer is also a practical idea as it doesn’t let them stick together. In short, wax paper is not suitable for any application that requires heat. So, using it in a perfect situation ends in superb results.