Our Favorite Aluminum Foil Is a Classic for a Reason
The week my husband and I moved into our new apartment, I managed to convince him to have a pizza night because I hadn’t been able to grocery shop just yet. (My least favorite thing about him is that he doesn’t want to have pizza nearly as often as I do!) I was pumped! Until I remembered that we didn’t have any aluminum foil. We also didn’t have any plastic bags. And I was still waiting for our new food storage containers to arrive in the mail. We basically had no way to deal with the leftovers. He had to run out to pick up the pizza, anyway, so I asked him to get a roll of foil on his way back.
He did what I asked — he also somehow managed to find the worst brand of aluminum foil in the entire world. For starters, I couldn’t even, um, start the roll! The box ripped in all sorts of places when I was trying to open it. Once it was opened, I found the seam right away but it just would not separate. I pulled off a million little bits of foil before I could even get a full sheet. And the foil was so thick. Yes, I realize this could sound like a good thing, but it basically wasn’t even malleable enough to wrap around the food! It was bad. How bad was it? I later accidentally dropped the roll between our fridge and this weird dead space that used to be a pantry, and I haven’t been willing to pull out the fridge to retrieve it. It comes with the apartment now, and whoever lives here next is welcome to have it, should they find it.
All of that is to say that not all aluminum foil is created equally.
What do I wish he had bought? Reynolds Wrap, of course! (The brand is a household name for good reason: Because they put aluminum foil on the map, and their products are good. Like, really good.) Ideally the heavy-duty kind. Although, honestly, I would have taken anything by Reynolds Wrap.
Buy: Reynolds Wrap Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil, $10 for 130-square-foot roll
Yes, I know I complained about the other stuff being too thick, but this is the Goldilocks of aluminum foil. It’s not too thick, not too thin. It tears easily when you need it to and not when you don’t. It doesn’t puncture as easily as other brands and it rolls out of the box easily. An unofficial poll of our food team found a unanimous consensus.
It’s so great, you can use it twice, says Sheela Prakash, assistant food editor. She’ll use it to wrap up bread and reheat it, and then flatten the foil to use it again. If the foil gets messy, she’ll just fold it in half and use the clean sides in the toaster oven. “I use it for wrapping leftovers, lining the oven, and storing meat in the freezer,” says Meghan Splawn, associate food editor. “I also use it when making spaceships with my kids.”
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Sure, Reynolds Wrap can be more expensive than store-brand options, but we’re willing to splurge if it means we know we’re getting quality. (The roll my husband bought was, like, two bucks!) And again, you can often use the same piece (at least) twice, so you’re actually getting way more for your money.
Do you agree with us? What’s your favorite aluminum foil?