Pretty much everyone these days is trying to maintain a healthy diet and, as much as possible, get rid of unhealthy habits and become more conscious about how they prepare food. Since the aluminum foil, which is so popular for cooking, has come under criticism for being harmful (if it touches the food during the cooking process), many are looking for alternatives with the same effect and often come across the parchment paper. But is baking in parchment paper really an option? We list the advantages and explain how the whole thing works.
First of all: Yes, baking in parchment paper is possible. As well asin the steameror a sealed cover is created in the aluminum foil. And these are the benefits you get from it:
Particularly tasty dishes
- The dish cooks in its own juice and becomes particularly aromatic.
- The food becomes soft and juicy (especially beneficial for meat). Seafood and fish become tender.
- All nutrients are retained. You get all the vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals contained in the food.
- Oil and other fats are unnecessary because of their own juice. This makes the dishes much more tolerable.
Variety of dishes: You can prepare all of this in the parchment bag
- Meat
- Fisch
- seafood
- Vegetables
- Fruit
- potatoes
- Reis
- Cheese
Cook in batches
- Instead of preparing tons of food that will eventually end up in the trash, you can cook portions straight away.
- Large quantities are also possible.
- Cook individual ingredients separately as desired (e.g. side dishes) or put together a complete dish in a bag (e.g. meat with side dishes such as potatoes and vegetables).
- You can prepare the food in the packages when you visit and put it directly in the oven when the guests arrive.
Short cooking time
- Thanks to the cover, the temperature inside remains constant and, due to the small amount of free space, also more concentrated. This and the smaller amount of food shortens the cooking time - depending on the products used, baking in parchment paper only takes 10 to 20 minutes.
Baking in parchment paper: This is how it works
To cook with parchment paper in a gentle way, you just need to pack the “package” correctly. How to proceed:
- Use special baking parchment paper (not the kind you would use for crafts).
- Get oven-safe twine.
- Only put enough food on the parchment so that you can still seal it completely.
- Be sure about the spices because once the package is sealed, you can't add more seasoning.
- Fold two opposite sides of the paper over the food so that they overlap.
- The paper should still stick out enough on the sides so that you can tie it up.
- or:Take the paper up on all sides and tie it together at the top (like an onion, so to speak).
- Check the finished parchment packet: there should be no holes or openings, otherwise the vapors may escape and the benefits will be lost.
- Always preheat the oven. 200 degrees is optimal.
- Depending on the ingredients, you should allow 10 to 20 minutes for cooking in parchment paper.
The heart variant:
Some people also choose this variant, in which the paper is folded in half and then cut out on the open side like half a heart. When you open it, the whole heart appears. The food is distributed on one side, then the heart is folded over again and crumpled up on the open sides and closed. It is important that you really make sure that everything is completely locked. With this method there is a risk that an opening will remain somewhere.
Recipe for fish in parchment paper with mushrooms, asparagus and cherry tomatoes
Try this baking method with a delicious salmon. This recipe will convince you!
For 2 people:
- 2 Lachsfilet (225 g)
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dill, chopped
- 14 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 10 medium mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 8-10 thick asparagus spears
- 1 lemon
- pepper and salt
- optional: 2 tsp capers
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- Season the fillets with pepper and salt and set aside.
- Pre-cut the parchment paper.
- Distribute the garlic and asparagus in the middle and place the fillets on top.
- Distribute the tomatoes and mushrooms around the fillet. Season with pepper and salt.
- Sprinkle dill over all ingredients and drizzle with olive oil.
- Squeeze some lemon juice over the ingredients.
- Seal the package.
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes (or 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees).
In additionQuinoa tastes good, rice or noodles.
Baking in parchment paper – What other alternatives to aluminum foil are there?
Baking paper can also be used instead of parchment paper. But are there other tools on the market that you can use to cook in a package?
Yes, namely:
- Roasting tube– It is a tube made of foil that you can cut into the desired size and then fill. Then tie both sides closed with twine.
- Real plant leaves- Yes, really! But it's a bit more complicated if you don't have any experience with it. It will probably ring when we do it nowthe cabbage leavesand also mention the grape leaves? In addition to them, banana leaves and fig leaves also work. This variant has the special advantage that they look simply stunning on the plate and will impress all guests.
