Kitchen

[In-x-s]

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???

[Mothertrucker]

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..

[scotnovel]

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?

[Mominohio]

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.

[Mothertrucker]

@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]

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

[Nataliesgramma]

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!

[ValuSkr]

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@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?

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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.

[ChiliPepper]

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.

[novamc1]

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.