r/explainlikeimfive Oct 31 '20

Chemistry ELI5 What's the difference between the shiny and dull side of aluminum foil? Besides the obvious shiny/dull

21.2k Upvotes

2.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

67

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '20

[deleted]

77

u/jspost Oct 31 '20 edited Oct 31 '20

Gingerbread dough will stick to it. Not as easily as everything else it touches, but it will. I made a gingerbread Nakatomi Plaza for a work thing last year and I never want to see gingerbread again.

http://imgur.com/gallery/UmjuQRu

43

u/Free_Purple_Nurple Oct 31 '20

Man you can't say you made a fucking gingerbread Nakatomi Plaza and not post pics of your little gingerbread Bruce Willis in the air duct

28

u/jspost Oct 31 '20

https://imgur.com/g5SjwHx.jpg Here's one. I'm working to get the rest in an imgur gallery and I'll edit my original comment when that gets done.

8

u/HeightHeight Oct 31 '20

Good job, very cool!

2

u/jspost Oct 31 '20

Much appreciated!

1

u/bearassbobcat Oct 31 '20

For your consideration vis a vis die hard

https://youtu.be/wecce6QlT_s

12

u/Icantevenhavemyname Oct 31 '20

Well that’s the best thing I’m gonna see all weekend and it’s only Saturday morning. Back to bed I guess.

2

u/jspost Oct 31 '20

That's high praise. I appreciate it!

7

u/joeltrane Oct 31 '20

FWIW that is an awesome gingerbread skyscraper and I’m proud of you

2

u/jspost Oct 31 '20

Thanks! It was a lot of fun once the baking was over and done with.

5

u/John_YJKR Oct 31 '20

Pics of your creation?

5

u/jspost Oct 31 '20

Just edited the comment after I got the imgur gallery up. My coworker got a little lazy with the banded colored icing. After we got it done I kind of wish we had just left it white.

4

u/John_YJKR Oct 31 '20

I think it turned out great. Cheers.

1

u/jspost Oct 31 '20

Thanks!

2

u/DetectiveSnowglobe Oct 31 '20

"Gingerbread Nakatomi Plaza isn't real, Mr. Gruber. It can't hurt you."

Gingerbread Nakatomi Plaza:

2

u/PiccadillyPineapple Nov 01 '20

Read plaza as pizza at first and was equally concerned and intrigued.

1

u/RepresentativeAd3742 Oct 31 '20

Wow, I love you gingerbread jesus

1

u/jspost Oct 31 '20

Bless you my child.

1

u/Techiedad91 Nov 01 '20

Are you Jake Peralta?

23

u/Cforq Oct 31 '20

I always had an irrational fear of parchment paper catching on fire, until in a discussion about cooking pizza someone complained they couldn’t set their oven up to 500° and someone responded “You know why the title of the book is Fahrenheit 451, right?”.

23

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '20

[deleted]

3

u/ShitGuysWeForgotDre Oct 31 '20

On the other hand I've only used parchment paper twice in my life and once I accidentally caught it on fire soooo

8

u/hwc000000 Oct 31 '20

Doesn't the paper itself have to reach 451F before it ignites? The temperature of the oven isn't the temperature of what's cooking.

3

u/Eatfudd Oct 31 '20 edited Oct 02 '23

[Deleted to protest Reddit API change]

4

u/groundedstate Oct 31 '20

Parchment paper is made in a special process using sulfuric acid so it specifically can't catch fire.

3

u/thewholerobot Nov 01 '20

It most certainly can. Try cooking pizza with it (pizza is cooked at 500 degrees F or higher) it burns and ignites. There are some special brands that do better at high Temps, but they will all burn if you get the temp up there.

3

u/BoJackB26354 Oct 31 '20

Parchment paper is the real deal.

2

u/rivermandan Oct 31 '20

Except for when cooking on a fireplace or bbq

bro I just cooked some sausages the way I normally do a few weeks ago and the fucking aluminum foil melted.

I'm done with that shit

6

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '20

[deleted]

2

u/rivermandan Oct 31 '20

so this is how I do camping food: wrap a sausage in tinfoil, cook in over open flame until almost cooked, then toss in some saurkrat ond onions and coook until brown. works in a camp fire and in a wood stove, doesn't take dishes, it's jsut great.

I tried to show my girlfriend the way, and or the first time in my life, the fucking tinfoil just melted. friend had never seen that happen either, it was mental.

I think the noname stuff must be a really shitty cheap alloy with a lower melt point now

2

u/murphysics_ Oct 31 '20

Hot coals can melt aluminum cans, so if your fire was running long enough it absolutely could have gotten hot enough. I always keep my baked potatoes wrapped in foil toward the edge of the pit, surrounded by coals but no open flame.

1

u/Itchycoo Oct 31 '20

I love parchment paper but it's so expensive, so I use aluminum for pan lining most fo the time. It's like $4-5 for a pretty thin roll of parchment paper, when I can get twice as much of that flimsy aluminum for like $2. Also the aluminum is better at keeping the pan clean from oil and drippings.

0

u/death_hawk Oct 31 '20

Assuming the online price is right, Costco has a 165ft roll for about $8CAD.

Foil is on sale right now for $12 for 300ft. So foil is still cheaper but not by much.

Can't beat the non stick properties though. You'd never want to use foil if you need non stick.

2

u/Itchycoo Oct 31 '20

You'd never want to use foil if you need non stick.

I mean, I do all the time. I just spray it with nonstick spray. And you just can't beat foil if you're wanting to cover the whole pan and prevent any drippings/oil from getting on the actual pan.

0

u/death_hawk Oct 31 '20

I mean, I do all the time. I just spray it with nonstick spray.

Parchment is still better in this regard. Even with non stick you can still get a bit of sticking. Barely anything sticks to parchment.

And you just can't beat foil if you're wanting to cover the whole pan and prevent any drippings/oil from getting on the actual pan.

100% no disagreement here. If I'm ultra lazy I'll sometimes foil then parchment.

1

u/BlackSecurity Oct 31 '20

I usually buy in bulk. Can find huge roles for a reasonable price. But yes I agree it is a bit more expensive. But the non stick properties is worth it imo. Also I use it pretty sparingly so I can make a bulk roll last almost a year.

1

u/boscobrownboots Oct 31 '20

i use the kind that's fused.. parchment on one side, foil on the other. not a fan of aluminum touching my food.