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Main Section » Kitchen Tips » Kitchen Tip: Is There a Right or Wrong Side On Aluminum Foil?

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Kitchen Tip: Is There a Right or Wrong Side On Aluminum Foil?

Aug 25, 2010

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Have you ever looked at aluminum foil and wondered why one side is shiny and one side is not?

Have you looked at it and asked yourself if you should put the shiny side up or down?

Well it does not matter. There is no right or wrong side to aluminium foil.

The variation is due to how aluminium foil is manufactured. The side that has contact with the rollers is shiny. The side that does not have contact with the rollers is dull. So, it does not matter. They are both essentially the same.

Now I am curious, am I the only one that has looked at aluminium foil and wondered if there is a right or wrong side?

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marin D

    August 25, 2010 at 2:32 pm

    I have always wondered about it. I always just use the shiny side. LOL. It’s so much prettier. Right?

    Reply
  2. Lisa

    August 25, 2010 at 3:20 pm

    I’ve always heard to put the shiny side down to keep the heat in, for cooking casseroles and other things. Other than that, I don’t think dull or shiny matters.

    Reply
    • Lynn

      August 25, 2010 at 3:25 pm

      @Lisa, According to Reynolds there is no difference. I was never sure if there was or wasn’t. https://www.reynoldspkg.com/reynoldskitchens/en/faq_detail.asp?info_page_id=743&prod_id=1789&cat_id=1337

      Reply
  3. Mikki

    August 25, 2010 at 3:28 pm

    Isn’t if funny how we go through life doing things and never actually think about it.. like this.. I never thought about a right or wrong side..

    LOL. Glad I wasn’t doing anything wrong.

    Reply
  4. AllieZirkle

    August 25, 2010 at 5:28 pm

    I was always curious too!!

    Reply
  5. Siri

    August 25, 2010 at 7:17 pm

    I always put the shiny side up. Like Marin said, it’s prettier!

    Reply
  6. Leigh Ann

    August 25, 2010 at 7:41 pm

    I was always curious as well.

    Now I’m curious – am I the only one that still calls it “tin foil?”

    Reply
    • Lynn

      August 25, 2010 at 8:40 pm

      @Leigh Ann, My mom always called it tin foil. So, no I don’t think you are the only one. 🙂

      Reply
    • Suzy

      October 3, 2012 at 8:36 pm

      Nope! I call it tin foil!

      Reply
  7. Elizabeth

    August 25, 2010 at 8:54 pm

    The ONLY thing to remember about the foil is that the shiny side reflects light, and therefore heat, so your food won’t cook as fast if you’re using it in the oven. Aside from that, I, too, use the shiny-side-up method!

    Reply
  8. Nate @ House of Annie

    August 25, 2010 at 11:42 pm

    I know that there is no difference in the way foods are cooked, but I always put the shiny side up anyway.

    Reply
  9. Barbie

    August 26, 2010 at 12:43 am

    This is something I wondered about too. Someone once told me the shiny side should always go up, so that’s what I’ve always done. Nice to know that it really doesn’t matter.

    Reply
  10. Peggy

    August 26, 2010 at 5:25 am

    How funny! I have thought this same exact question too. In fact, I will put whatever I’m wrapping in the middle of the dull side and always wrap it with the shiny side out! Anyone else?

    Reply
  11. Peggy

    August 26, 2010 at 5:27 am

    Leigh Ann, we call it “tin foil” around here too. 🙂

    Reply
  12. Lucy

    August 26, 2010 at 6:46 am

    It’s funny, my mother drilled into me that the shiny side reflected heat and the dull side absorbed heat. Many years later I met my hubby, and his mom told him the same thing, in a different decade and on the other side of the country!

    Reply
  13. Jenn

    August 26, 2010 at 9:24 am

    Shiny side up around here!

    Reply
  14. Ashley

    August 26, 2010 at 9:26 am

    I’m so glad you posted this. My boyfriend is always telling me I put food on the foil the wrong way, I didn’t think it mattered and now I have proof! 🙂

    Reply
  15. Sharon

    August 26, 2010 at 9:28 am

    That’s funny. I always thought that the shiny side was the right side and should face out. I guess for no other reason than that it was shiny.

    Reply
  16. Lynn

    August 26, 2010 at 12:38 pm

    @Catherine, I have never tried the release type foil. I guess maybe I should.

    Reply
    • Catherine

      August 26, 2010 at 1:54 pm

      @Lynn,

      It is pretty amazing! It’s not cheap, but a sale paired with a coupon (they tend to come out around the holidays), it is worth it. I use it for my Crunchy Granola Bars and my Peppermint Bark specifically. I can usually get a few uses out of one piece if I manage not to get any holes in it.

      Reply
  17. sarah k. @ the pajama chef

    August 27, 2010 at 11:33 am

    i always was curious about this too!

    Reply
  18. Maggie

    September 6, 2012 at 2:48 pm

    Interestingly enough, I had to see for myself whether it mattered or not, so I decided to bake french fries. The first batch (using the dull side) was a little limp and not very appetizing, while the second batch (shiny side) was nice and crispy with that golden color we love so much. My kids (the critics) snubbed their noses at the first batch and devoured the second. So in my house, when it comes to french fries, shiny side definitely matters!

    Reply
  19. Vikki

    September 7, 2012 at 12:03 am

    I’d always heard shiny side out. Didn’t know why but thought it had something to do with sticking (ok so I started cooking young and some of my “ideas” are a little lame). But since being grown, I’ve heard, read and seen several things that said it didn’t matter it was the results of processing not because it was designed that way. But I still normally put the shiny side out, some habits are hard to break…lol

    Reply
  20. Lou-Ellen

    September 7, 2012 at 9:34 am

    l too was always curious as well!

    Reply
  21. Anna

    September 7, 2012 at 2:46 pm

    My mom taught me dull side out if you want it to cook faster/more heat, shiny side out it you want it to cook slower/less heat. And otherwise, I usually use the dull side out because I don’t like shiny.

    Reply
    • Linda

      March 13, 2014 at 10:31 pm

      Shiny surfaces reflect light. Unless you are using light to cook your food there is no difference.

      Reply
  22. Paula Ransdell

    July 25, 2014 at 12:33 pm

    I’ve wondered my entire adult life.. LOL
    Thank You

    Reply
  23. PreacherHelper

    November 18, 2014 at 12:38 pm

    I’m O.C.D., so I used to think that one side
    was more SANITARY than the other, in
    relation to the position (inside outside) of
    the Roll.

    Oh was for the name, in Louisiana we use
    to call it “Silver Foil Paper.”

    Reply
  24. Gina

    October 18, 2015 at 8:20 pm

    No your not the only one. i have also wonderer was there a difference. Evenif the shiny side held the heat. meaning dull on outside meaning meat on inside will get cooked cause its touching the shiny side. thanks for the answer doesn’t make a difference.

    Reply
  25. Kenneth Bakke

    July 14, 2016 at 6:50 pm

    No, yoou’re not the only one. There is a correct side(chemically) for the foil whether it touches the food or not.

    Reply
  26. K Coe

    September 22, 2016 at 2:13 pm

    You are not alone. Thank You I didn’t think there was difference

    Reply
  27. Karen Allen

    January 21, 2020 at 11:09 am

    Always shiny on top , i have never seen it done any other way.

    Reply
  28. Jason

    July 2, 2020 at 2:25 pm

    I agree, it doesn’t matter. To be a little more specific, a series of rollers squeeze the aluminum to make it thinner. At the last stage of rolling the rollers can not get close enough to press aluminum to the finished thinness so the aluminum is doubled over itself and run through two sheets thick. The shiny side is the one that contacted the roller and the dull side contacted the other aluminum sheet.

    Reply

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Lynn's Kitchen AdventuresI love to cook and bake, and my family loves to eat. Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures is all about sharing my love of cooking, recipes, tips, and ideas of how I combine this cooking passion with a busy life. [Read More]

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