Saran Wrap?

[ModelMaker]

I have been wraping extra meat after cooking in Saran wrap then alum foil then freezing. I warmed up some butt in a low oven (250*300*) and after awhile got worried the Sarn wrap would melt.
I checked their website yesterday and they said not to put Saran wrap in the oven. I thought I read that some of you did this.
What's the verdict.
Oven or not?
ModelMaker

[FatDad]

Originally Posted by ModelMaker

I have been wraping extra meat after cooking in Saran wrap then alum foil then freezing. I warmed up some butt in a low oven (250*300*) and after awhile got worried the Sarn wrap would melt.
I checked their website yesterday and they said not to put Saran wrap in the oven. I thought I read that some of you did this.
What's the verdict.
Oven or not?
ModelMaker

Haven't had a problem with LOW heat.

[HoDeDo]

I think it depends on what you use. I would not put actual Saran branded wrap in the oven...it is fairly thin like most of the consumer products.

We use the heavier duty "Food Service Film" that you get at Sam's/Costco/local restaraunt supply stores. That stuff is rated to 260 I believe. You dont want to put it anywhere near an oven element that will get much hotter than that - but it can take PIT temps up to 260.

[SP]

I agree with Andy I dont the the grocery strore brand are made for heat.

[RichardF]

Originally Posted by HoDeDo

I think it depends on what you use. I would not put actual Saran branded wrap in the oven...it is fairly thin like most of the consumer products.

We use the heavier duty "Food Service Film" that you get at Sam's/Costco/local restaraunt supply stores. That stuff is rated to 260 I believe. You dont want to put it anywhere near an oven element that will get much hotter than that - but it can take PIT temps up to 260.

I also wrap in "Food Service Film" and keep product wrapped when reheating at 250*. It's not that it melts at higher temps, but that it turns brittle and crumbles.

[G$]

This is what I have said in an earlier thread:

Regards to the plastic wrap, I would not do it - there is no need in addition to Alluminum Foil. However, it would not burn up at those tempertaures, or even MUCH higher temperatures. For example, I just watched Charlie Trotter cook a desert in the oven at 325 in plastic wrap - no ill effects. Stuff is surprisingly stout if the temp is not severe or fire/heat is not directly placed on it.

I should point out, as others did, that this applies to the bulk food film. (Sort of like the difference between HD foil and the thin stuff.) And again, I personally do not typically wrap finished food in plastic wrap. It is either foil for short term, or foodsaver for longer storage.

[River City Smokehouse]

I use the oven turkey bags. They can stand up to 400* F.

[Sawdustguy]

How many Brothers remember the Fugs song "Saran Wrap"?

[Kirk]

I'm pretty sure the name brand Saran wrap can go to 350. I work with a woman who puts it in the toaster oven in the lunchroom all the time. I know the cheaper store brands are not good for temps that high.

[ModelMaker]

Looks like a trip to Sams is in order till Santy Claus shows up with a vacu-suck machine.
Thanks all.
ModelMaker

[smokincracker]

I use reynolds oven bags in Comp.

[Westexbbq]

Originally Posted by Sawdustguy

How many Brothers remember the Fugs song "Saran Wrap"?

Definitely remember the FUGS but don't remember the song but hey, %50 isn't bad almost 40 years later!

[BBQ_MAFIA]

I would go with the heavy duty food films from Costco or Rest Depot.
Like the other guys have written, the other stuff may be too thin.
But then again, what the heck do I know.

[JamesB]

I often do just the opposite of the others. I wrap in HD foil and then the heavy duty Sam's/Costco plastic wrap when holding meat. No problems re-heating these 'packages' on a low temp smoker...

James.

[Qczar]

http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnew...n_dioxins.html



Johns Hopkins Public Health Magazine



Researcher Dispels Myth of Dioxins and Plastic Water Bottles


Rolf Halden, PhD, PE
The Internet has been flooded with email warnings to avoid freezing water in plastic bottles so as not to get exposed to carcinogenic dioxins. One hoax email has been erroneously attributed to Johns Hopkins University since the spring of 2004. The Office of Communications and Public Affairs discussed the issue with Rolf Halden, PhD, PE, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences and the Center for Water and Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Halden received his masters and doctoral degrees researching dioxin contamination in the environment. We sat down with him to set the record straight on dioxins in the food supply and the risks associated with drinking water from plastic bottles and cooking with plastics.

Office of Communications and Public Affairs: What are dioxins?

Rolf Halden: Dioxins are organic environmental pollutants sometimes referred to as the most toxic compounds made by mankind. They are a group of chemicals, which include 75 different chlorinated molecules of dibenzo-p-dioxin and 135 chlorinated dibenzofurans. Some polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) also are referred to as dioxin-like compounds. Exposure to dioxins can cause chloracne, a severe form of skin disease, as well as reproductive and developmental effects, and more importantly, liver damage and cancer.

OC&PA: Where do dioxins come from?

RH: We always thought dioxins were man-made compounds produced inadvertently during the bleaching of pulp and manufacturing of pesticides like Agent Orange and other chlorinated aromatics. But dioxins in sediments from lakes and oceans predate these human activities. It is now generally accepted that a principal source of dioxins are various combustion processes, including natural events such as wild fires and even volcanic eruptions.

Today, the critical issue is the incineration of waste, particularly the incineration of hospital waste, which contains a great deal of polyvinyl chloride plastics and aromatic compounds that can serve as dioxin precursors. One study examined the burning of household trash in drums in the backyard. It turns out that these small burnings of debris can put out as much or more dioxins as a full-sized incinerator burning hundreds of tons of refuse per day. The incinerators are equipped with state-of-the-art emission controls that limit dioxin formation and their release into the environment, but the backyard trash burning does not. You set it ablaze and chemistry takes over. What happens next is that the dioxins are sent into the atmosphere where they become attached to particles and fall back to earth. Then they bind to, or are taken up, by fish and other animals, where they get concentrated and stored in fat before eventually ending up on our lunch and dinner plates. People are exposed to them mostly from eating meat and fish rich in fat.

OC&PA: What do you make of this recent email warning that claims dioxins can be released by freezing water in plastic bottles?

RH: No. This is an urban legend. There are no dioxins in plastics. In addition, freezing actually works against the release of chemicals. Chemicals do not diffuse as readily in cold temperatures, which would limit chemical release if there were dioxins in plastic, and we don’t think there are.

OC&PA: So it’s okay for people to drink out of plastic water bottles?

RH: First, people should be more concerned about the quality of the water they are drinking rather than the container it’s coming from. Many people do not feel comfortable drinking tap water, so they buy bottled water instead. The truth is that city water is much more highly regulated and monitored for quality. Bottled water is not. It can legally contain many things we would not tolerate in municipal drinking water.

Having said this, there is another group of chemicals, called phthalates that are sometimes added to plastics to make them flexible and less brittle. Phthalates are environmental contaminants that can exhibit hormone-like behavior by acting as endocrine disruptors in humans and animals. If you heat up plastics, you could increase the leaching of phthalates from the containers into water and food.

OC&PA: What about cooking with plastics?

RH: In general, whenever you heat something you increase the likelihood of pulling chemicals out. Chemicals can be released from plastic packaging materials like the kinds used in some microwave meals. Some drinking straws say on the label “not for hot beverages.” Most people think the warning is because someone might be burned. If you put that straw into a boiling cup of hot coffee, you basically have a hot water extraction going on, where the chemicals in the straw are being extracted into your nice cup of coffee. We use the same process in the lab to extract chemicals from materials we want to analyze.

If you are cooking with plastics or using plastic utensils, the best thing to do is to follow the directions and only use plastics that are specifically meant for cooking. Inert containers are best, for example heat-resistant glass, ceramics and good old stainless steel.

OC&PA: Is there anything else you want to add?

RH: Don’t be afraid of drinking water. It is very important to drink adequate amounts of water and, by the way that’s in addition to all the coffee, beer and other diuretics we love to consume. Unless you are drinking really bad water, you are more likely to suffer from the adverse effects of dehydration than from the minuscule amounts of chemical contaminants present in your water supply. Relatively speaking, the risk from exposure to microbial contaminants is much greater than that from chemicals.

And here’s one more uncomfortable fact. Each of us already carries a certain body burden of dioxins regardless of how and what we eat. If you look hard enough, you’ll find traces of dioxins in pretty much every place on earth. Paracelsus the famous medieval alchemist, used to put it straight and simple: it’s the dose that makes the poison.--Tim Parsons

Public Affairs media contacts for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Tim Parsons or Kenna Lowe at 410-955-6878 or paffairs@jhsph.edu.