Have Fun With Parchment Paper, One of the Healthiest Things in Your Kitchen
Beige, dull and two-dimensional parchment paper doesn’t seem like the most exciting kitchen utensils. But these cellulose-based sheets have so many uses that it’s hard not to inspire them. I can’t imagine French pasta without this material, but parchment paper has many uses beyond baking, so my kitchen never stops working without paper.
For those of you who don’t know, parchment paper is grease and water resistant paper that has been coated with some kind of non-stick coating (usually silicone). Contrary to what you may have heard, parchment paper is not waxed paper. Waxed paper is coated with wax (yes), and while it is a good parchment substitute for tasks such as letting chocolate-covered strawberries harden or covering a workspace for easy cleaning, it is not as good in the oven as the wax can melt or even catch on fire (which is usually causes disapproval).
Most parchment papers have a temperature limit, it is better to check with the manufacturer. King Arthur Flour’s have a recommended temperature of 500 ℉ for one-time use , but Paper Chef only guarantees their temperature is up to 425 ℉ , so check the box to be safe.
Skip rolls, get pre-cut sheets
When you buy a roll of parchment paper, it probably rolls up on its own as soon as you unfold it. This makes cutting difficult and tiring. Turning it over (so it pops out rather than curls) is a little easier to find, but getting it to lie flat straight out of the roll is nearly impossible. You can keep it from twisting with clothespins or magnets , or you can buy pre-cut sheets, which I do because I’m lazy and prefer to use my magnets while holding a series of drunk photo booth tapes.
If you bake a lot, pre-cut sheets and circles will make life a lot easier for you. The goddess of baking, Alisa Medrich, is a big fan of ready-made meals and gives some useful storage tips:
Place the stack of sheets on a rimmed baking sheet. If you don’t have a drawer or shelf space for a baking sheet, attach the parchment sheets to an old-fashioned clipboard and hang them inside your closet, pantry, or cabinet door. There is no excuse not to keep parchment sheets instead of scrolls!
Have you heard Alice: no excuse. (But live your life. If you are some kind of parchment Jedi who can handle naughty scrolls with grace and dexterity, go ahead and just know that I am in awe of you.)
The versatility of parchment paper
Parchment uses the hottest and the sweetest, the hottest and the coldest, and everything in between.
Use it in your baked goods
If you use it for nothing else, use it for lining things. From bakeware and cookie trays to work surfaces, anything lined with parchment is much easier to clean. For the cake molds, you can buy the pre-cut mugs I mentioned above, or use this tricky trick with my favorite ginger shown above.
Lining a brownie pan with parchment is never a bad idea, as it allows you to remove the entire batch directly from the pan, preventing valuable chocolate from being wasted from the pan sticking ( and reducing the amount of rubbing you have to do). In the case of cookies, parchment paper not only makes them easier to remove, but also helps prevent bottom burns . The more reflective the surface, the faster the cookie will cook; Placing a sheet of light-colored parchment on the baking sheet makes it less reflective and slows down the process.
Fold your food
You probably knew about how parchment is used for baking, but it’s a little smarter: parchment is great for making small cooking pouches. Not only can you make MacGyver its own pouch for grilled sandwiches , but also buy all the fancy dishes in French and prepare food en papillote (in French it means “parchment”). The above video from Bon Appetit shows how to fold versatile small pouches. This is where you might be better off having a roll on hand, as the pre-cut sheets may not give you enough to get the job done.
Once you’ve mastered folding, you can fill parchment bags with any steamed food. En papillote is cooked using the steam generated inside the bag and is great for delicate foods that cook quickly, such as flaky fish (like sesame and ginger salmon ) and vegetables with a high moisture content (try saffron-fried zucchini and garlic ) … Since this cooking method is based on steam, make sure there is some moisture in the package, be it juicy vegetables or a little liquid.
Finally, add some flavor here! Herbs and spices are obvious choices, but citrus chunks, broth, or some wine can make your meal even more delicious. No fat is needed for the cooking process, but a little herbal oil or sesame oil can go a long way.
Replace other kitchen tools
The folding does not end there. With a little origami fu, you can use parchment paper instead of two different baking standards: cupcake liners and pastry bags. Making cupcake liners is as easy as pressing a small square of parchment into a tin, but if you need a visual guide, watch the video above. I probably wouldn’t use this for an entire batch of cupcakes – so many squares! – but it would be a real salvation if only a couple of earbuds were not enough for me.
Making a piping bag is a little tricky, so I’ll let this lovely lady break it for you:
As someone who hates the flexibility and mess of plastic pastry bags, I really appreciate the rigid disposable designs of these paper cones. That sounds wasteful, given the fact that I freeze cookies exactly twice a year, I don’t mind burning a few sheets of parchment every twelve months as long as that means I don’t have to fight these flexible plastic abominations.
Store items separately in the freezer
Finally, parchment paper can be useful even in the coldest part of your kitchen. Just like parchment prevents food from sticking to the pan, it can keep food from sticking to itself . When storing food in the freezer, be it chicken breasts, bacon, or tortillas , place a sheet or parchment between them to prevent the food from forming into solid blocks.
Similarly, you can use it to prevent ice crystals from forming on the ice cream . Simply press a small piece into the container so that it touches the surface of the partially eaten dessert. This will help keep it fresh until the next spoonful. (So, an hour.)
So while parchment is dull, beige, and two-dimensional, it is the healthiest dull, beige, two-dimensional product I’ve ever come across. We’ve covered a lot of use cases today, but I’m sure you know more because you are all very resourceful, so feel free to share them in the comments.