Amazing uses of Aluminum Foil

1. Separating brown sugar lumps 

Brown sugar is a great product, but hard to work with as it tends to harden into lumps. If that happens, wrap a lump of brown sugar in metal foil and put it in the oven on 150 degrees celsius for about 5 minutes. The sugar will soften and separate.

 

2. Protect pie dough 

Sometimes, when we bake a pie in the oven, the filling hasn't finished cooking, but the dough at the edges is getting burnt. Fold a piece of metal foil over the edges of the pie dough to prevent them from burning up.

 

3. Make cakes in different shapes easily

 To bake cakes in many special shapes, simply make the shape in a regular baking pan and use 2-3 layers of aluminium foil to strengthen and fix the internal pattern. It will hold and bake in that shape. 

 

4. Keep the oven clean 

 The worst kind of dirt to clean in the oven is the fat that drops from meat and onto the base. Cover your oven's base with aluminum foil to protect it from hard-to-remove stains. Try to make it thick so it doesn't melt and stick to the oven base. 

 

5. Protect your solid soap

 

 Cover the bottom of a soap bar with aluminum foil so it doesn't melt and become a lump. 

 

6. Keep birds away 

 Many birds get frightened by shiny objects. Hang pieces of aluminum foil on your fruit tree, and most birds will pass it by, looking for an easier meal. You can also draw eyes on the foil to make it even more effective.

Note: This won't work with crows and magpies, as they love shiny things and may actually steal the foil. 

 

7. Get rid of stains on your silverware

Use this method to get rid of stains on your silverware. Lay some foil in a shallow pan and pour some hot water on it. Add a little salt and baking soda to the water. Now, put the silverware in the pan and make sure that they are touching each other and are all touching the foil. After soaking the silverware for a few hours, wash in cold water and dry with a cloth. 

 

8. Easily scrub pots 

It's fun to use a pot, not so much fun cleaning it afterwards. Make a ball (not dense) from aluminum foil, and use it to scrub the pan. You can use this method for all kitchen tools that need a serious scrubbing. 

 

Sharpen your scissors 

Return the sharpness to your old pair of scissors with this method: Fold a piece of foil into 8 layers, and then cut it using the old scissors. The more you cut, the sharper they will become, as the foil will remove a layer of the old metal and make it sharp again. 

 

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Easy Foil BBQ Potatoes

   

Ingredients:

4 Large potatoes

1  onion

6 tbsp butter

6 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

aluminum foil

sour cream with chives

 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Scrub the potatoes well and make 4 slits in it to the bottom.

Slice the onions in 4 slices and insert them into the slits.

Sprinkle salt and freshly ground pepper and drizzle olive oil over the potatoes.

Wrap tightly in the aluminum foil.

Place the foil potatoes in the oven and bake for 60 minutes.

Open the packages and adjust the seasonings as required

Drizzle with sour cream and chives and serve hot in the foil. 

 

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How to clean a burnt pan ?

Unfortunately, at least once in our life, we've faced with a burnt pan. The first thought comes just discard the pan. Absolutely, no need, all you need is a little patience.

Scrub- cleaning liquid, water

Slowly scrape of the burnt part, whatever maximum you can, either with a scrubber or the ladle.

Then fill the pan with water, add roughly 2-3 tbsp of cleaning powder/ concentrated liquid means 1 tbsp, mix it well, before the pan starts boiling switch off the flame, cover the pan, let it rest for minimum 30 minutes, You'll see most of the burnt part has come off floating around. Whatever little burnt part around will easily come out with little scrubbing with your cleaning scrubber.

 Using Aluminum foil

 Cover the burnt area with 2-3 tablespoons of baking soda and add a bit of water to make a paste. Crumple up some aluminum foil and begin scrubbing it around until all food bits and stained areas are clean. Rinse pan with warm, soapy water. 

How it went: Plain and simple, this method worked in hardly any time with the tiniest amount of effort. Yes, you’re going to “scrub” the pan, but you don’t have to use the same amount of effort you might use with a scouring pad. Just work the foil ball around in circles or back and forth — whatever works for you. You may need to repeat the process because the baking soda gets really dirty and makes it difficult to see  the areas that still need attention, but this is, by far, the best and easiest method.

 

Boiled Lemons
   
The method: Quarter two or three lemons, place them in the pan, fill with a few inches of water, and bring to a boil. Boil for 5-10 minutes or until you start to see food particles float to the surface. Discard water and lemons, rinse, and use a scouring pad to remove any leftover bits.

How it went: Almost immediately after the water came to a boil, I began seeing food particles float to the top. I let it continue to boil for about 5 minutes, then removed the lemons and poured the water down the drain. I was shocked to find a few tiny bits of leftover burnt pieces that came off easily with some dish soap, my scrub brush, and a quick rinse. I don’t know why, but I didn’t have a lot of faith that this method was going to work (it just seemed too simple!) and yet, it did.

Dishwasher Tablet

The method: Cover the bottom of the pan with a tiny bit of water and warm it up on low heat. Remove from heat, and scrape the tablet across the burnt on bits. Rinse and wash with warm soapy water. 

How it went: After my success using a dishwasher tablet to clean my oven, I was pretty confident in its power to clean a pan. I removed the wrapper from the tablet, and with a gloved hand, began scraping it over the scorched area. The burnt-on food came up immediately, and after a few short minutes, it was completely clean! I found there was no need to use a sponge because the tablet worked as both the detergent and scouring pad.

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Aluminum Foil

Aluminum foil is a kitchen staple that causes much confusion. This common kitchen tool is made of aluminum rolled out by machinery into thin sheets. During the final rolling, the side that comes in contact with the polished steel rollers of the machine turns shiny, but the other side remains matter. This is why it doesn’t really matter which side of the foil you’re using - another common myth busted!

However, there’s also nonstick foil with a nonstick matte side. If you’re using that right now, it’s better to place foods on the matte side. 

When to Use It: 

1. Cooking at high temperatures.  

Aluminum foil is perfect for grilling and broiling. Whenever you need to cook something on high heat, it’s safer to use foil rather than parchment paper. 

 

2. Prevents burning. 

“Aluminum foil helps with even cooking or baking in the oven, mitigating the burning of food before it has finished cooking,” says chef Laura Ritterman. So when you don’t want the pie crust to burn on the edge, for example, covering the edges of the pie with a ring of aluminum foil comes super handy. The same trick also works for casseroles and roast turkey.

3. Keep delicate foods tender.  

Wrapping a potato in aluminum foil and throwing it into a coal fire is an eternal camping tradition. This example goes to show that wrapping food in foil helps retain its juices while cooking. Hence, you can also wrap other delicate vegetables or even fish in foil to prevent them from drying out in the oven or on the grill. 

 

When to Avoid Using It: 

We know that you know, but it has to be said - you should never put aluminum foil in the microwave. Or else, sparks and possibly a fire are unavoidable. It’s also not the best idea to use aluminum foil for freezing or packaging foods. It can be punctured easily, and you’ll have a mess on your hands. 

 

Substitutions: 

It all depends on the use. Parchment paper can work for oven cooking, but it won’t work for high-heat cooking. For the latter, only something like grilling paper or barbecue bags will do

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10 Incredible Uses of Aluminum Foil

Most of us restrict the use of aluminum foil to the kitchen, but as we have learned, there are numerous uses for foil that most of us never knew to be possible. But, the list has not as yet been exhausted, here are 10 other uses for aluminum foil.

1. Replace a funnel

Need to pour some liquid into a bottle. Make a foil funnel to help you do so. 

 

2. Iron clothes from both sides at once

 

Did you know that if you put some aluminum foil under the clothes before ironing, it will save you the hassle of having to iron from both sides. Foil becomes hot very quickly, enabling both sides of your clothes to be ironed from at the same time. 

 

3. Sharpen your scissors
Are your scissors in need of a sharpen? Fold a piece of foil into six layers then smoothly cut through the foil ensuring that the blade touches each layer of foil with each cut. Repeat for several times then check the sharpness of the scissors and repeat if need be.

4. Extend battery life

Have your batteries run down? you don't need to buy new ones, put foil on the positive tips of the battery to hold them in place instead. This will work like a charm and is a great late night solution when the last thing you'd want to do is go shopping.  

 

5. Remove static electricity from your clothes

To prevent static electricity from forming on your clothes you can put a couple of foil balls with your laundry. After washing, your clothes won't accumulate electricity and attract dust and hair.

6. Clean the iron

For this to work, the bottom of the iron should be made of stainless steel. Simply cut a sheet of aluminum foil, about 2 feet long and roll up into a ball. This will be used as a scrubbing pad. Begin to scrub the grime off of the bottom which should be enough to clean the iron. 

 

7. Move furniture easily

A bit of aluminum foil should help you move bulky furniture easily. Simply put pieces of foil under its legs, creating additional sliding. 

 

8. Removing rust from chrome-plated surfaces

Make a ball out of foil then soak it and rub it onto a rusty chrome-plated surface. If your rust appears to be pretty serious you may be tempted to use steel wool. But because rust is oxidized metal, or metal that has extra oxygen atoms, aluminum foil is a better alternative. This will take away those oxygen atoms, breaking the rust down and leaving you with a nice, shiny chrome surface. 

 

9. Seal plastic bags

Why waste a plastic bag when you can reuse it over and over again? First, put food inside the bag, then fold a piece of aluminum foil over the opening of the bag. Make sure the foil covers all the plastic you intend on ironing - the iron should not come into contact with the actual plastic. Run the hot iron over the foil for a minute or two, allowing the plastic to melt and seal.

10. Use foil for a touchscreen

Touchscreens surprisingly react to foil. In fact, if you don't have sensor gloves, try wrapping your finger with foil and use your smartphone without having to wear special gloves.

 

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Putting Aluminum Foil in the Dishwasher - What Is It Good For?

The convenience of the dishwasher is unquestionable, but this essential household appliance isn’t always as thorough as one would wish. Silverware is a particularly touchy subject. It can have a dull, scratched, and tarnished appearance or develop tiny rust spots, no matter how high you crank up the water temperature and what dishwasher detergent you use. 

This is when this viral cleaning hack comes in handy. This life-changing trick eliminates all the issues you may experience when cleaning silverware in the dishwasher. It takes only a minute of your time, and all you need is a balled-up piece of aluminum foil, shiny side outside, rolled into a ball 3-4 cm.

 

How do I use aluminum foil in the dishwasher?

The next time you want to clean silverware in the dishwasher, take a small piece of aluminum foil, crumple it up, enough to make a 1-1½-inch ball. Place the ball into the silverware basket or cutlery shelf, and run the dishwasher as usual. Even the most persistent grime and tarnish will be removed, and you’ll be left with shiny and clean silverware. 

 

You can reuse the same ball of aluminum foil several times. Toss it when it becomes very grimy or smelly. You can also repurpose the aluminum foil you've used to cover dishes for this hack.

Why does this trick work? 

If you already tried this trick, or on the contrary, you’re not yet convinced that you should, you may be wondering - how does it help scrub the silverware clean without making direct contact with the cutlery? Interestingly, the balled-up foil undergoes a chemical reaction when it comes in contact with the chemicals in the dishwasher detergent and hot water. 

 

Dishwasher tablets or powdered dishwasher detergent are somewhat similar to baking soda. When combined with aluminum particles, the detergent cleans away silver sulfide particles (better known as tarnish). This leaves your cutlery sparkling clean and tarnish-free. This trick is also helpful for preventing rust stains on your silverware and buffing out minor scratches. Who knew a simple ball of aluminum could do all that?!

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Once and For All, Is there a Right Side to Aluminum Foil?

One question many home cooks have pondered at least once is ‘should I use the shiny or the dull side of the aluminum foil? Have I been doing it wrong this whole time?’ Some think the shiny side reflects more heat, resulting in a crispier finish, while others assume the dull side is a better conductor, creating a more even cooking surface.

We’re here to solve this longstanding mystery and to also reassure you that you haven’t been making any grave aluminum foil-related mistakes all these years. According to cooking experts, there is no “correct” side of aluminum foil to use, they’re both equally effective at heating your food, so you're free to choose whatever side you prefer. 

 

But if there’s no trick to it, then why does aluminum foil have a shiny side and a dull side, to begin with? Huffington Post checked with experts a Reynold's Kitchen, and the answer is - it has to do with the manufacturing process. Tinfoil is made in a process called milling, during which heat and tension are applied to stretch and shape the foil.

Reynold’s kitchen provided a detailed explanation on their website: 

 

The foil is ‘milled’ in layers during production. Milling is a process whereby heat and tension are applied to stretch the foil to the desired thickness. We mill two layers in contact with each other at the same time, because if we didn’t, the foil would break during the milling process. Where the foil is in contact with another layer, that’s the ‘dull’ side. The ‘shiny’ side is the side milled without being in contact with another sheet of metal. The performance of the foil is the same, whichever side you use. 

 

If you use non-stick foil, however, there actually is a difference between the two sides, as the non-stick coating is only applied to one side. If that is the product you’re using, then you must make sure that the food only makes contact with the dull side. In most cases, it is imprinted with a “non-stick side” so it’s easy to avoid confusion. And that’s all you need to know. Now you’re prepared for an easy-breezy holiday cooking session.

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