topic Re: Plastic wrap in the oven in Kitchen

Plastic wrap in the oven

In-x-s — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 02:57:52 GMT

I always see on the Food Network where they cover the roasters with Saran wrap and put in the oven to cook roasts, etc. I have never tried it and would never have even thought to try it. What I'm wondering, can I cover my crockpot with Saran Wrap and let it cook? My cover does not fit nearly tight enough so it ends up evaporating half my liquid. I usually just weight the cover down but I'm wondering why I couldn't use the Saran Wrap???

Re: Plastic wrap in the oven

Mothertrucker — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 00:40:10 GMT

When I worked in restaurants, we often did it..Relatively low heat , like not over 350, I feel like our plastic wrap was more heavy duty, than Saran or glad wrap..I Have done it with StretchTite at home...when braising at lower temps..

Re: Plastic wrap in the oven

scotnovel — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 23:49:52 GMT

There are special plastic bags for cooking food in crock pots. Their main goal is to improve clean up because at the end you just take the bag out and throw it away and the crock pot is clean. However, you can also seal it at the top and the liquid won't evaporate. The bags are shelved near the plastic wrap and foil.

I would never use plastic wrap on food in the oven. Are you sure they aren't using special cooking bags or material like that made especially for the oven?

Re: Plastic wrap in the oven

Mominohio — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 00:22:27 GMT

Just a personal preference here but I never heat with any kind of plastic container, or wrap on things, no matter what the appliance.

I would never buy those plastic liner things for crockpots or roasters either. I don't even like to buy food that is supposed to be heated in the plastic, like the chicken and dumplings Q sells.

I just don't trust the chemicals leeching from the plastic, and I think it affects the taste, too.

Re: Plastic wrap in the oven

Mothertrucker — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 00:44:50 GMT

@Mominohio, @scotnovel.. I certainly understand erring on the side of caution, but no, they aren't special cooking bags..Many, Many restaurants cover big sheet pans with plastic wrap and put in the oven...sometimes with foil on top of that...( I sometimes wonder if the aluminum in foil isn't worse than plastic, what with the Alzheimer connections and all)

....

debic — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 13:26:31 GMT

My original babyback ribs called for wrapping in saran wrap at 300º for 3 hours. I've never been parnoid about it myself.

Re: Plastic wrap in the oven

Nataliesgramma — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 16:29:02 GMT

Well...I can tell you one thing NOT to do. I put a small 12 LB turkey in one of those roasting bags and put it in my portable roaster. It stuck to the side right away!

I was trying to free up my oven for the side dishes......lesson learned!

Re: Plastic wrap in the oven

ValuSkr — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 16:35:33 GMT

@scotnovel wrote:
There are special plastic bags for cooking food in crock pots. Their main goal is to improve clean up because at the end you just take the bag out and throw it away and the crock pot is clean. However, you can also seal it at the top and the liquid won't evaporate. The bags are shelved near the plastic wrap and foil.

I would never use plastic wrap on food in the oven. Are you sure they aren't using special cooking bags or material like that made especially for the oven?

I guess you mean Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners. I've wondered about them - why they're needed, it's not hard to clean a slow cooker.

Re: Plastic wrap in the oven

ChiliPepper — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 16:38:18 GMT

I have never heard of plastic wrap in the oven. I wouldn't do it but I am curious what you find out.

I do not reheat anything in plastic containers in the microwave either.

Re: Plastic wrap in the oven

novamc1 — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 17:04:00 GMT

I've never heard of using plastic wrap in the oven, either. If you've ever had some melt after accidently touching a stove burner and gluing itself to a frying pan, you wouldn't want to get plastic anywhere close to a heat source.

I have used specially -made plastic oven bags to roast turkey on occasion (although I don't do it that way all the time), but those bags are designed to handle heat.

Re: Plastic wrap in the oven

Mothertrucker — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 17:18:31 GMT

You are right @novamc1, but the way we did it in the restaurant, it really wasn't near a direct heat source, and it held up fine..

imagine a a steamer type reataurant pan, covered with plastic wrap in a 325 oven, covering a stew, or lasagna for example...I certainly don't know if it is "chemically safe" but I DO know, it never melted onto the pan or The oven, unless it somehow, as you say, it came in contact with the heating element, which under normal circumstances, it didn't...

Re: Plastic wrap in the oven

sunshine45 — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 17:27:00 GMT

@ValuSkr wrote:
@scotnovel wrote:
There are special plastic bags for cooking food in crock pots. Their main goal is to improve clean up because at the end you just take the bag out and throw it away and the crock pot is clean. However, you can also seal it at the top and the liquid won't evaporate. The bags are shelved near the plastic wrap and foil.

I would never use plastic wrap on food in the oven. Are you sure they aren't using special cooking bags or material like that made especially for the oven?
I guess you mean Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners. I've wondered about them - why they're needed, it's not hard to clean a slow cooker.

i always wondered about those myself. i know some on these boards swear by them, but i never have any problems cleaning up the crock in my slow cooker. everything and i do mean everything releases easily.

i dont care for those roasting bags either.

i would not use plastic wrap in the oven......not sure if i would ever really need to use it. sometimes i do use aluminum foil if needed.

Re: Plastic wrap in the oven

HonnyBrown — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 15:59:30 GMT

Plastics chemically degrade under the right conditions. Call the manufacturer of your saran wrap, and find out if it is safe to use and how to use it.