Several weeks ago, I experimented with competitive brand saran wrap. There was no doubt that the alternative brand was inferior. Since I don’t learn from past experience, I acquired a roll of brand-X aluminum foil. Fortunately, I also had a roll of Reynold’s wrap aluminum foil, which served as the gold standard in my head-to-head trial of foils.

As usual, the name-brand product was about 2.5x as expensive as the competitive equivalent. At first glance, it was clear that the cardboard packaging on the Reynold’s wrap was sturdier. The perforated sides of the box was cut with precision, allowing smooth unraveling of the roll while creating sufficient tension to keep the roll inside the box. The serrated edge of the Reynold’s box also appeared more substantial. However, I was able to cleanly tear a specified length of foil from both boxes, unlike with the saran wraps. Mostly likely, it’s due to aluminum’s tensile strength. The Reynold’s foil was at least 50% thicker than brand-x, which helps minimize risk of perforation by heavier foods in the oven.

For food preparation purposes, I feel comfortable in using a cheaper brand,  as long as the aluminum doesn’t melt in the oven (that should NEVER happen anyway unless there are impurities in the roll). My baked chicken tasted no different with either brand.

Of course as a techie, I also use my aluminum foil as a reflector material for increasing gain on satellite discs.  More on that subject in another post…

misc food, hobbies