primitives discuss waxed paper

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=442x333

Oh my.

raccoon  (1000+ posts)      Thu Sep-08-11 11:59 AM
Original message
 
How come people don't use wax paper any more? My mother used it a lot, mostly when baking.

I haven't used it in ages.

silverweb  (1000+ posts)        Thu Sep-08-11 05:09 PM
Response to Original message

1. Several reasons.

Waxed paper isn't transparent like plastic wrap; it doesn't cling for sealing like plastic wrap; and it's not airtight like plastic wrap.

I've been doing my best to get away from plastic, though, and have started using waxed paper again, mainly for wrapping partially used foods that will be used up on 24 hours or less.

When waxed paper is not the best option, I generally use a food storage container with an airtight lid, like these by Pyrex.

trud  (1000+ posts)      Thu Sep-08-11 05:19 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. I hate plastic and use as little as possible.

I have a box of waxed paper in my pantry, but have no real use for it. My Mom used it to line cake pans, but it seems unnecessary.

Hmmm.  So does franksolich, a box of waxed paper in the pantry here.

It still has its original price-sticker, twenty-nine cents for 50 feet.

It's probably been here since God was a boy.

kestrel91316  (1000+ posts)        Thu Sep-08-11 11:07 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. Waxed paper isn't waxed anymore, IIRC. It's plastic coated.

Spoilsport.

Curmudgeoness  (1000+ posts)      Fri Sep-09-11 12:11 PM
Response to Reply #3
 
4. No way! Tell me this isn't true!!!!!!!!!!

I use waxed paper all the time in the microwave when heating things so that I don't have to worry about plastic melting onto the food.

Now what will I do!!!!!!!!!!

Lars39  (1000+ posts)      Fri Sep-09-11 12:27 PM
Response to Reply #4
 
5. I use old glass lids for reheating plates of food in the microwave.

I use wax paper for making pie crusts, though.

Curmudgeoness  (1000+ posts)      Fri Sep-09-11 12:41 PM
Response to Reply #5
 
6. Oh man, I can't think of any round glass lids that I have that would fit over a dinner plate. Sounds like a great idea though. Maybe I will have to use a paper towel instead of plastic waxed paper.

I wouldn't worry about the waxed paper for pie crusts (pie crusts???? Does this mean pie????? Yummy!). It is the heating of plastic that is really a problem.

Lars39  (1000+ posts)      Fri Sep-09-11 01:21 PM
Response to Reply #6
 
7. I found mine second-hand.

I think the larger one used to fit a big crock pot. I don't do fruit pies anymore, but I make a kick-ass chicken pot pie.

kestrel91316  (1000+ posts)        Fri Sep-09-11 01:24 PM
Response to Reply #4
 
8. Actually, I think I was wrong, though it uses a petroleum based wax:

From Wikipedia:

"....There are multiple environmental issues concerned with wax paper. It is biodegradable, although synthetic additives such as petroleum mean that it is unadvisable to do so. Wax paper also can not be recycled...."

I guess it's slightly better than plastic. Even if it's just paraffin wax, I wouldn't microwave it in contact with food.

silverweb  (1000+ posts)        Fri Sep-09-11 03:07 PM
Response to Reply #8
 
9. *sigh*

I guess it's time to invest in more Pyrex.

franksolich has a roll of it, box unopened, he'll sell you for twenty-nine cents.

It's kind of, uh, dusty, though.

[JohnnyReb]

Wax Paper had multiple uses....but as a kid I found there were only 2 real important uses. One was to wrap sandwiches. The other was sort of green, you know, recycling....eat the sandwich and run to the metal sliding board. Sit your butt down on the wax paper and you got a faster slide....a few trips down the sliding board with wax paper and soon you were going fast enough to over shoot the sand trap...

[Skul]

kestrel91316  (1000+ posts)        Thu Sep-08-11 11:07 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. Waxed paper isn't waxed anymore, IIRC. It's plastic coated.

Wax, I have some in the pantry.
Use it quite a bit.
When done with it, I do what JohnnyReb does.

[JohnnyReb]

Wax, I have some in the pantry.
Use it quite a bit.
When done with it, I do what JohnnyReb does.

Change that to "DID". JohnnyReb can no longer stand those one or two intermediate trips down the sliding board that comes after the initial slides and just before those  attaining "escape velocity".

[BlueStateSaint]

I use wax paper, but only in the spring.  Wrapping tomato and pepper plants with collars made of wax paper keeps cutworms from getting them.  My cousin who lives five miles east of me found out the hard way this spring why our grandmother used to do this, when he lost three tomato plants and two pepper plants in one night.

[BEG]

I use it to line my cake pans. Just the bottom, after I grease and flour them. It makes a difference.

Also, use a paper towel to cover your food when you reheat in the microwave DUmmies. If you use the glass lid you have to wash it, which means using actual water. Wasting a paper towel vs wasting water is a wash.

[Duke Nukum]

My mom used to wrap my sandwiches in waxed paper when I was a kid.

Is there a difference between waxed paper and parchment paper?