Household Foil and Domestic Uses

Alufoil for Household Foil and Domestic Uses

Throughout Europe most households are used to having alufoil in the home. It has become an essential part of modern household convenience – for cooking, reducing cleaning chores in the kitchen and for its many uses around the home, garden or workshop. In commercial kitchens too – restaurants, canteens, schools and hospitals – foil is a tool with many functions.

Alufoil’s total barrier to light, steam, aromas and liquids is a major reason for its use in the kitchen.The same properties can be used to stop evaporation and drying of paint, adhesives and fillers used in home decoration. Also it can deal with the highest temperatures encountered in cooking, whether in a convection oven or under the hottest grill. Another great advantage when used in the kitchen is the ‘deadfold’ characteristic of aluminium foil. Once folded around a joint of meat, or crimped onto the top of a casserole or storage pot, the alufoil stays folded and does not spring back.

More detailed information about the LCA can be found here.

In the kitchen the main domestic uses are:

  • to reduce burn and shrinkage when roasting poultry and meat
  • cooking delicate fish and vegetables ‘en papillote’
  • lidding storage pots (not steel cans)
  • protecting parts of poultry from microwave* ‘burn’
  • making small storage containers for the refrigerator
  • wrapping for the freezer
  • covering sauce pans to retain steam
  • baking ‘jacket’ potatoes
  • lining cake tins, ‘lift-out’ strips
  • wrapping sandwiches and snacks
  • keeping food and ‘left-overs’ in the refrigerator – cakes, meat, fruit
  • saving cleaning –lining a grill or the oven floor

Foil formats

Household foil is available in a variety of formats. In addition to a range of widths and lengths there are textured versions and ready-cut sheets, making it easy to use without unreeling and tearing. ‘Non-stick’ foil can solve many problems, such as baked-on food. Another special foil is black on one side, which transfers radiant heat more efficiently from the black side, making it ideal for roasting.

Around the home

  • used to prevent paintbrushes and other decorating materials from drying out
  • making temporary trays for roller painting
  • drip trays to catch oil from garden machinery, cars, etc.
  • making reflector boards for amateur photography
  • temporary reflectors for lamps and candles
  • lining bases of flower pots
  • protecting shelves and adding reflected light in the greenhouse
  • lining cupboards where foodstuffs are stored
  • making decorations
  • lining barbeques

*Microwave oven uses: As microwave energy cannot pass through metal, alufoil is very useful for protecting some parts of food from being dried orover-cooked in a microwave oven. To avoid the possibility of arcing, any foil used in this way should not touch metal shelves or the inner metal lining of the oven during cooking.