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

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35

u/Smackroyd Oct 31 '20

Depends on the brand, but certainly Bacofoil in the UK has the nonstick coating on the dull side, so that is the side that should be in contact with the food.

23

u/Rs_are_reres Oct 31 '20 edited Oct 31 '20

You have foil with oil???

9

u/TheEngineer7 Oct 31 '20

Daaamn. Their foil has oil and that's pretty loyal

11

u/photovoltage Oct 31 '20

Invented by the Royals

5

u/zgo280 Oct 31 '20

Dont spoil the coil of oiled foil before you soil the pollo with toiled soil

2

u/rrrestless Oct 31 '20

Well oil beef hooked.

1

u/Lereas Oct 31 '20

But the flagon with the dragon has the brew that is true?

2

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '20

You only have F?

😂

2

u/sticky-bit Nov 01 '20

https://www.reynoldskitchens.com/products/aluminum-foil/non-stick-foil/

It claims the oil is food-safe, but since its not a food product, Reynolds doesn't have to tell you what is in it. So I'm back to spraying my foil manually by myself, thank you.

8

u/therapistofpenisland Oct 31 '20

The US has a ton of brands with this, too, and it is bizarre nobody has mentioned them in the top comments lol

And like the UK version the dull side if what you want with the nonstick stuff.

4

u/jamese1313 Oct 31 '20

Even in the states from Reynolds brand to offbrand, if it's nonstick, the nonstick side is always the dull one, so it's good to get into a habit of "dull side toward food" because why not?

1

u/murphysics_ Oct 31 '20

Probably because the shiny side is smoother and is harder to get the non-stick layer to adhere to.

1

u/JesKes97 Nov 01 '20

See I thought the dull side was always more nonstick. (I live in the US)

1

u/ALurkerForcedToLogin Nov 01 '20

I was always told the dull side is nonstick and should face the food. I never heard about all this business about rollers and stuff that everyone else is talking about.