Products Reviewed:
PaperChef Culinary Parchment Multipurpose Non-Stick Paper and PaperChef Culinary Parchment Cooking Bags
The multi-purpose parchment paper used in PaperChef products is non-stick and biodegradable, making it an easy and environmentally friendly solution for lining baking sheets or cooking French-style “en papillote” dishes. I tested two PaperChef products: Culinary Parchment Multipurpose Non-Stick Paper and Culinary Parchment Cooking Bags. I prepared chocolate chip cookies, cod with lemon “en papillote” (which literally means “in parchment”), and rainbow trout with basil and mint “en papilotte.” Finally, I froze some berries, using parchment to line the baking sheet.
Starting with the culinary parchment, I easily lined two baking sheets for baking chocolate chip cookies. The sharp cutting edge on the box helped me cut perfectly sized pieces to fit on standard baking trays. My cookies baked evenly and did not stick to the paper, which made for easy cleanup. After baking two batches on the same piece of parchment, I was able to dispose of the paper with my food scraps, since it is 100-percent biodegradable. (PaperChef’s parchment is also recyclable, if your region does not collect compostable waste.) I also found that, because the parchment paper is non-stick, I did not need to use any butter to grease the pan before baking.
I also used the culinary parchment to freeze berries. I laid the berries down on a baking sheet and placed them in the freezer. This allowed the berries to freeze separately — if you just put a bunch of berries in a zip-top bag in the freezer, they become a huge frozen ball. Typically, when I freeze berries, I use aluminum foil and am left picking hard chucks off the foil. But, when using culinary parchment to freeze berries, they came right off the paper.
Finally, I tested the culinary parchment’s handling of the traditional French technique known as “en papillote” by making cod. The results were delicious, the method was easy and the presentation was very professional-looking. It would be perfect for a fool-proof dinner party recipe that’s sure to impress
I also prepared fish using the PaperChef Cooking Bags, which are pre-folded for leak-proof sealing of your “en papillote” recipes. The bags were so easy to use! You simply slide a piece of fish and other ingredients into the bag, then fold the opening so it seals shut. The fish cooked quickly and was so flavorful and tender! Plus, cleanup was easy (no baking dishes to clean): I simply disposed of the environmentally-friendly parchment. Using my convection at 400°F, all of my recipes cooked evenly with no scorching.
Cara Rosenbloom, RD, is the president of Words to Eat By, a Toronto-based nutrition communications company specializing in public relations, writing and nutrition education. Read her blog and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.
