While it’s very common to use a butcher paper in place of a parchment paper and vice versa, a real quick lookup at intended use cases for both of these popular kitchen papers might make your life a little bit easier in the kitchen.
Both of these papers are widely used for cooking at high temperatures like roasting, baking, etc. A parchment paper is quite ahead of the butcher paper in this regard as it can withstand upto 450F compared to the maximum allowed cooking temperature for butchers’ paper 420F.
While I will recommend you to keep both of these papers at hand if you pass busy time in your kitchen most of the time, you can also choose one according to your requirements.
While both of these papers, like all the other papers, are made from paper pulp. It is the chemicals that are used to produce these papers that give them different textures and properties that make one more suitable than the other for a particular task.
Parchment paper is produced using silicone which makes it non-sticky and high heat resistant. It also doesn’t get wet easily and thus is more suitable for cooking at high temperatures. Because of its non-sticky properties, you won’t find difficulty unfolding the food from it.
Although butcher paper can also be used to cook and bake at high temperatures it is sticky by nature and thus you shouldn’t use butcher paper to prepare or package foods that are wet or moist by nature.
Although you might think parchment paper is +1 and butcher paper is 0, wait for the rest of the story. Butcher paper lasts longer than parchment paper and can be reused because of its durability. It is widely used in the packaging industry.
Below some common use cases for both of these papers are provided. See if you can find a match for your use cases. Otherwise, by taking the different properties described above you can innovate your own way and find a use case that you can share with the rest of the world. So don’t be shy and leave a comment for others.
Butcher Paper Uses
Wrapping and packing, cooking dry foods like fish and meat. It has also found its way to the world of arts and crafts.
Parchment Paper Uses
It is used in almost all kinds of baking activities. You can use it to give your bakery items desired shape by preventing spreading while it’s in liquid or semi-liquid form and by allowing even heating. It also keeps away the bottom of your cake or cookie sticking to the pan and thus reduces waste and your effort washing the baking panes.
To conclude, butcher paper is more economical compared to parchment paper as they are durable, reusable and comparatively cheaper but for baking it seems that parchment paper seals the deal.
In short, if you are a passionate or professional chef or baker I would suggest you keep both in your kitchen. Otherwise, you can choose one depending on your need considering the above mentioned properties of both of these popular kitchen papers.