Saran Wrap as a cooking tool

Ourpalwill wrote:Instead, its securely wrapped in saran and/or foil before poaching.

This is a carry over from the rib roast discussion.

The use of Saran wrap in wrapping and poaching in professional kitchens is an excellent technique. What constantly surprises me is how often it is used in pro kitchens. Yet the information floating at the consumer level this same plastic transfers toxins to your food. They suggest this plastic touching your food while heating in the microwave will have negative health affects. If indeed this were true, then it would never be used in the pro-kitchen especially how it is used.

Is there a difference in plastic wrap used at pro or home or is it (as I presume) an urban legend these issues with plastic food wrap?

Cathy2 wrote:

Ourpalwill wrote:Instead, its securely wrapped in saran and/or foil before poaching.

This is a carry over from the rib roast discussion.

The use of Saran wrap in wrapping and poaching in professional kitchens is an excellent technique. What constantly surprises me is how often it is used in pro kitchens. Yet the information floating at the consumer level this same plastic transfers toxins to your food. They suggest this plastic touching your food while heating in the microwave will have negative health affects. If indeed this were true, then it would never be used in the pro-kitchen especially how it is used.

Is there a difference in plastic wrap used at pro or home or is it (as I presume) an urban legend these issues with plastic food wrap?

That really sounds a lot like sous vide cooking, which is perhaps a safer and more effective method (since it's completely air and watertight).

here is a debunking of microwaving-plastic-containers-causes-cancer. not quite the same, but similar..

Awhile ago, I received one of those alarmist emails forwarded by an internet newbie regarding the use of Saran wrap in microwave cooking.
I checked it out at www.snopes.com and found they had already investigated it: http://www.snopes.com/toxins/plastic.htm (the same link is in the post above) Out of frugalness more than anything, I rarely use plastic wrap in the microwave. I use, instead, plates to cover the top.

Apple wrote:Awhile ago, I received one of those alarmist emails forwarded by an internet newbie regarding the use of Saran wrap in microwave cooking.
I checked it out at www.snopes.com and found they had already investigated it: http://www.snopes.com/toxins/plastic.htm
Out of frugalness more than anything, I rarely use plastic wrap in the microwave. I use, instead, plates to cover the top.

jinx.

and I just realized cathy was splitting this off from the sous vide discussion on the rib roast thread, so my talk of sous vide is redundant.

-ed

Two things -

Since much of my family are farmers or gardeners, we use the plastic film. Generally we get the 500 ft roll that you get at Gordon's (GFS) as it is much easier to deal with than the Seran wrap which is worthless to me.

I don't use film too much in the actual preparation except to seal bowls in the microwave and to seal the pan in the no-cook noodles preparation of lasagna.

Cathy2 wrote:The use of Saran wrap in wrapping and poaching in professional kitchens is an excellent technique. What constantly surprises me is how often it is used in pro kitchens. Yet the information floating at the consumer level this same plastic transfers toxins to your food. They suggest this plastic touching your food while heating in the microwave will have negative health affects. If indeed this were true, then it would never be used in the pro-kitchen especially how it is used.

Is there a difference in plastic wrap used at pro or home or is it (as I presume) an urban legend these issues with plastic food wrap?

I've read in one of Harold McGee's books (and please don't ask which, although I'm sure the same info is available elsewhere) that you can't really refer to "Saran Wrap" in the singular. There are two very different (at least for the product category) products that go out under the Saran label. I'm straining my brain here, so don't be too harsh if I'm wrong, but I believe the Saran Wrap marked "original" is actually polyvinylidene chloride; Saran "Cling" Wrap is basic polyvinyl chloride - the same stuff as most other plastic wraps. The former provides a much better barrier to prevent gas exchanges, the latter (especially depending on the plasticizers the manufacturer uses) clings better to more stuff. I don't know about toxin exchange, but I suspect there's a difference between the two materials.

borrowed from Steven Wright: Why, when I put my 2 cents in, do I only get a penny for my thoughts?