You will have noticed that the foil you normally use in the kitchen is shiny on one side and matt on the other. But have you ever wondered if there’s a reason for that? And it’s certainly not about aesthetics. But if you want to use foil correctly, you need to know why that is.

Aluminium foil is really indispensable in the kitchen. It is particularly useful when roasting meat, when it is advisable to wrap it in foil to retain not only heat, but above all moisture and juiciness. However, to make sure that everything turns out the way it should and your food is really perfect when wrapped in foil, you need to wrap it with the right side of the foil. Have you ever thought that you might actually be doing it wrong all the time?

How foil is made

Aluminium, the third most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, is extracted from an ore called bauxite. It is then used to make foil. Aluminum foil is made by rolling molten aluminum. To obtain the thinnest foils, two layers are rolled simultaneously. The double rolling then results in a difference between two surfaces – matt and polished. The matt side is the inner side in double rolling.

━━ ( Source: Storiès /  Unsplash+ )

Matte side of foil

The matt side of the foil transmits heat. It can come in handy when you want to speed up the defrosting of food. In this case, it is a good ideato place the frozen food on the matt side. This will help spread the heat around it. The matt side of the foil can also be used as a wire. Just crumple the foil and make it into a ball. The ideal cleaner for a dirty grill. Do you want the food in the foil to stay hot longer? Then it’s a good idea to wrap it, even in a box, in foil with the opaque side in.

The shiny side of the foil

The shiny side logically has the opposite function. If you are baking meat or other dishes, you can wrap the food in this side so that it does not burn. For example, you will cover a loaf of bread with the shiny side up when baking, or even meat if you don’t have a lid on the baking dish. This side of the foil is also useful if you want to keep food warm. In this case, you need to wrap the food with the shiny side in.

Release of aluminium into the food

Unfortunately, aluminium can be released from the foil into the food. The release of aluminium during baking has been the subject of research involving 11 types of food. The researchers investigated the release of aluminium into salmon, mackerel, duck breast, ermine, tomatoes, peppers, Carlsbad dumplings, pork roast and pork neck, as well as chicken breasts and thighs.

The largest increase in aluminium was observed in marinated salmon and mackerel, as well as in duck breast. The study thus clearly showed that aluminium is released from the foil, but it cannot be said that aluminium leakage occurs in every type of food. According to the experts, the presence of aluminium in the samples is certainly not alarming. You can continue to use aluminium foil in the kitchen.