White Butcher Paper???

If you don't know where it came from or what might be in it, it seems unwise to wrap food in it.

agreed. I would not touch it

butcher paper is cheap. Just think of all the money we have in meat and all our equipment

doesn't make any sense to try to cut corners on this

For something as simple as paper, it can get confusing. Some rolls of paper are called Kraft paper, because one of the processes to go from pulp to paper is the Kraft process. It can also be called "craft paper" because rolled paper can have multi-uses, everything from wrapping paper, to arts and crafts, to disposable table coverings.

Butcher paper is described as white, pink or red.... although it's hard to tell the difference between red and pink, so I think some manufacturers call it red because it's more manly than calling it pink. The red color is supposed to make raw meats look better (than they look on white paper), and the red paper is popular in some BBQ joints that wrap meats in the smoker or warmer, and who like to serve cooked meats wrapped in paper.... however some other BBQ joints use white paper.

Many of the butcher paper rolls are not treated, but some are treated with sizing, a starch product that helps resist absorption of oils and water which could lead to tearing. Butcher paper can also be described as "steak wrap" or "deli wrap, or "sandwich wrap" to steer the commercial consumer to a specific use, and these may or may not have a protective layer on them. If you look around or ask, you can find untreated paper. Some folks mention the fact that white butcher paper has been bleached, and I guess something like that does happen in the process, but I would expect the red paper goes through a cleaning process too. Most all butcher paper carries an FDA approved statement on the label.... how you keep it that way if you have 500' rolls on a table dispenser I'll never know.

I have seen the white butcher paper at Sam's for $17 for an 18" X 500' roll. The 24" is more handy because that is the width of most counter tops, (I use it more for that than anything else) and when you do wrap meats the extra 6" comes in handy because you have fewer seams to leak.. It's also very handy for soaking up grease when resting fried chicken & fish, or french fires or wrapping fatties while they rest, etc.

I use the red..... just because is seems more traditional, I like the looks, and food photographs bettter on the red than on the white.....

Freezer paper looks like butcher but always has a protective plastic coating on one side.

I got some seafood wrapping paper from my butcher. It seemed to really soak up the grease so I am not sure if it is the thickness or type. I also use it for tabletops etc., so it is not going to waste.


"You don't win friends with salad!" - Homer Simpson

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I will need to check this out!

Here is a link to the paper from sam's. for the little difference in price, I would buy the sure thing.
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/gordon...cher-paper/200713.ip?searchTerm=butcher paper
I'm sure that quality butcher paper is available lots of other places too. If you need just a little bit, ask your butcher... i'm sure that he would give you a piece or two (if you are buying your meat there)

"Bone to Bark" BBQ said:

Stay with the brown.... no white! White paper was bleached at some point. Kraft style paper is not necessarily "butcher" paper, but can be used.

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Re: stay away from white paper because it is bleached.

This is ludicrous on two levels. One is... so is flour and worse yet the "cake flour" I insist on using to make my dumplins and you actually EAT it. There is a cleaning process but ALL colors go through it. Chems are used for all the papers WHICH ARE all dyed (cept white)

The second is, and a nutritionist would find this the funny part...while if you were going to make a butcher paper smoothie and drink it then the bleach removal by the liver would be of some concern because it is isolated, for GODS sake, the liver is going to be overworked anyway removing all the nasty crap and fats out of our system from the farking bbq anyway. Have you ever seen the amount of chemicals the liver has to remove from just our normal food? Its alarming what the liver had to remove from smoked food.

Essentially, being concerned about bleached paper adding chemical traces to BBQ is like a cigarette smoker worried about the risk he gets from second hand smoke.



As far as taste... I guess people can keep saying "I can taste the difference between brown and white wrapped BBQ" (which is COMPLETE AND UTTER NOVICE BULL****) because it will never be actually tested on the net. Come to my house and I will give you 36 samples of bbq and you try to tell me what they were wrapped in. If we do - I promise to wrap a slice of brisket in my wife's used panty shield and see if you can taste which on that was out of the 36. What the **** is wrong with people!

The color on Butcher paper is strictly for choice depending on what you are going to wrap in it and give to the customer. Except lined paper which is functional.

To the OP the only thing I would be concerned about is what that paper could have absorbed after all those years that COULD impact flavor and safety.

What the ****!

Parchment paper is available most everywhere...

thirdeye said:

I have seen the white butcher paper at Sam's for $17 for an 18" X 500' roll. The 24" is more handy because that is the width of most counter tops, (I use it more for that than anything else) and when you do wrap meats the extra 6" comes in handy because you have fewer seams to leak.. It's also very handy for soaking up grease when resting fried chicken & fish, or french fires or wrapping fatties while they rest, etc.

Click to expand...

I agree on the width and regret my purchase of the 18 inch dispenser. Sort of. But I can't find 24 inch as easy. When wrapping Q, even though I have gotten around the issue, on briskets I would use less paper if it were 24 inch. However, there are a MILLION uses for this stuff. My wife hardly ever uses a dish for the kids when we have this at the house. Its like a plate and a placemat, microwave dish cover, wrap hotdogs in the microwave, firew starter...etc. drawing paper too. LOL My peeps at work think its like real "rustic" when I bring a chuck of meat in wrapped in the stuff, which is good to place in the fridge, to the microwave, to eat on and throw away all on one paper.

I forgot to mention, I used that white "Kraft Paper" from school to wrap maybe 80 briskets for a function before. I think it was 38 inches wide... the big roll, right? No discernible difference in quality. Most who are going to object to it will be organics anyway. Would I go out and purposely buy Kraft paper... no... it sort of was given to me with a dispenser before I figured out what it was anyway - so I used it. I especially liked it when I did "paper Mache" briskets. Thats were if your pit can only hold 40 briskets and you need to do 60, you cook the as fast as you can first but up to the stall... you pile the first 40 in your cold spot fat down on water soaked butcher paper on the grate with fat down, followed by a middle layer fat down and a top layer fat up... THEN another water soaked wadded then spread out three layers of butcher paper on top to seal with the edges folded under the bottom layer. Then plop your other 20 briskets for a hot and fast ride to the the stall while the other 40 steam and get their gel on bathed in their spices, fats and collagen. Thinking of that puts me in a better mood.

I wraped a brisket in white drawing paper. It was a 36" wide roll. Turned out fine. I didn't want to use foil.