Butchers twine, also called cooking twine or kitchen string, is a type of string made of 100% cotton that can be used in many ways in the kitchen, especially when roasting poultry and meats. Most of the time, butcher twine is used to tie a roast into a tight shape to keep it from burning or help it cook evenly. Butcher twine is unsafe to eat, so take it off before serving your food.
Kitchen twine is useful to have on hand when you need to truss a chicken or turkey, secure a stuffed loin, or tie off a packet of herbs, but it’s not an essential piece of kitchen equipment. If you don’t have any kitchen twine on hand, you can use a few other things that work almost as well.
If you’re looking for a useful cooking accessory, try using a twine string. Butcher’s or jute twine is a great option, but if you don’t have any, dental floss or even Aluminum foil can be used as a substitute. And if you’re on a budget, dental floss is a good alternative, though it should be clear that it should not be flavored or waxed.
How to Use Butchers Twine in the Kitchen?
- When roasting a whole chicken, turkey, or game hen, you can keep the tips of the legs and wings from getting burned by tying them back. This is called “trussing the bird.” Some ways of trussing also help keep the stuffing in a bird’s body in place.
- Also, roasts with odd shapes, like a boneless leg of lamb, pork shoulders, or beef tenderloin roasts (especially those from the butt end of the tenderloin), are tied together to make a compact shape that will cook evenly.
- Other dishes involve cutting something solid open (like a chicken breast, pork chop, or whole pork loin), putting something inside, and then cooking it. In these cases, tying the halves together helps the item cook evenly and keeps the stuffing in.
- Similar dishes start with a flat item like a steak, then spread a filling, roll it up, and tie it with butcher’s twine, so it stays together while cooking. Classic Italian barcarole is a dish made with this method and a rolled-up flank steak.
Some Additional Factors
- Lastly, the high heat of roasting makes the muscle fibers in meat contract. Tying the roast before cooking makes it less likely to curl up while it’s cooking, so it doesn’t turn out the wrong shape. This is also true for the membranes around some cuts of meat, like oxtail, which is often tied when making osso buco.
- There are other ways to use butcher twine, but they all have in common: the twine touches the food and is heated. So, it must be made of natural fibers and not melt or catch fire when heated. It also can’t give the food any flavors or colors.
- Butcher’s twine is made of 100% biodegradable cotton. You can use it to tie red meat securely, which can be twisted without tearing or burning. You can also use it in the oven or grill without fearing tearing or burning it. You can buy butcher’s twine from your local butcher’s shop. To avoid burning, soak it in vinegar or broth for two to three minutes before using it.
How can I Tell if Something is Butchers Twine?
You are looking through your drawers and cabinets and find a roll of a white string with no label or other way to tell what it is. The burn test is easy to see if it’s safe to use.
Just use tweezers to hold a piece of the string and move a small flame toward the end of the string. When cotton twine is close to a flame, it will catch fire and burn out, leaving fine ash. Synthetic fibers, however, will curl away from a flame or melt and turn into little balls. Almost all butcher’s twine is white, but some types, called baker’s twine, are striped and safe to use in the oven.
What can you Use Instead of Butchers Twine?
In some situations, you can use something other than butcher’s twine. For example, you could use toothpicks to hold a stuffed chicken breast together. Some cooks have tied the legs of a chicken back with skewers, a rope made of green onions, or even strips of the chicken’s skin. In a pinch, you can use foil to cover the tips of the drumsticks and wings.
There are also reusable roasting bands and ties made of heat-resistant silicone that can be used instead of twine. If you’re trying to decide whether to buy a set of these or a roll of kitchen twine, remember that the reusable ones need to be washed after each use. Also, they might not be long enough to hold a big roast (or it may be expensive to buy enough of them to do so). Plain, unflavored, and unwaxed dental floss is another choice. This works and is also useful for cutting cakes and soft cheeses cleanly.
Note that you can replace cotton twine with linen twine, not jute twine. Jute twine is a brown, fibrous twine used for crafts and other things. It is made from plant fibers but burns easily and sheds fibers, so it can’t be used for cooking.
Where can I Buy Butchers Twine?
It’s easy to tell if a piece of twine can be used for cooking: go to the cooking section of your grocery store or home goods store and look for a label that says “cooking twine” or “butcher’s twine.” It’s also on all normal online shopping sites. Also, most hardware stores sell 100% cotton twine but buying something that says it’s safe for use in food is better. Butcher’s twine should be sold in most grocery stores and often sold in cookware stores. Be careful with the twine you buy at a hardware store. Most of it is made of a cotton-polyester blend that can’t be used in the kitchen. If you can’t find twine in your area, you can look for it online.
What are the Substitutes for Twine?
Dental Floss
Dental floss can work as a replacement if you have no butcher’s twine handy. While you can use flavored floss to impart flavor to your cooking, you should avoid wax-coated ones as they can ignite in the oven and pose a fire hazard. Instead, use plain, unflavored floss, and this versatile ingredient is safe and convenient. Here are a few tips for using dental floss in cooking.
If you’re cooking, a good dental floss string is useful when cutting soft foods like cheese, cake, bread dough, and cheese. You can use it instead of a knife, and the floss will give you a more even cut. It’s easier to cut food using dental floss than a knife, which will keep your cut straight. Besides, it’s easy to use! You can cut soft foods using dental floss without worrying about cutting them too hard.
Use dental floss to tie up your bird or bundle. It will work just as well as twine to hold things together. Stick to plain, unwaxed floss so your food doesn’t taste like mint, and you don’t risk the wax melting in the oven and starting a fire. Put a roll of floss in one of your kitchen drawers. It works better than a knife for cutting soft cheeses like goat cheese.
Jute Twine
If you’re preparing to cook with jute twine, you’ll want to ensure you understand a few things first. First, it’s important to understand that it’s not the same as butcher’s twine, which tends to flake when exposed to heat and moisture. While jute twine can be used for cooking, it’s not recommended for straining or cooking with heat or moisture. Instead, use a sturdy skewer or rosemary twig. These are also excellent for trussing and attaching herbs. Secondly, it’s important to understand that jute twine is flammable, and its fibers are likely to shed if used for extended periods.
Using jute in cooking doesn’t mean you can use it anywhere. You’d use burlap or plastic; jute won’t be as durable as other materials, and you’re much more likely to burn it. This means that you should not use jute for baking, and you should use normal butcher’s string to tie roasts. But you can braid spring onions, chives, or even leeks and skew them with bamboo skewers. Alternatively, you can fold aluminum foil into leg ties and use the wire cage from an opened champagne bottle as a skewer.
Dental Floss
Dental floss can work as a replacement if you have no butcher’s twine handy. While you can use flavored floss to impart flavor to your cooking, you should avoid wax-coated ones as they can ignite in the oven and pose a fire hazard. Instead, use plain, unflavored floss, and this versatile ingredient is safe and convenient. Here are a few tips for using dental floss in cooking.
If you’re cooking, a good dental floss string is useful when cutting soft foods like cheese, cake, bread dough, and cheese. You can use it instead of a knife, and the floss will give you a more even cut. It’s easier to cut food using dental floss than a knife, which will keep your cut straight. Besides, it’s easy to use! You can cut soft foods using dental floss without worrying about cutting them too hard.
Aluminum Foil
Instead of using cooking twine to secure chicken breasts, wrap them in aluminum foil. Roll up the strips like a rope and secure them around the meat. Another alternative is dental floss. You can also use aluminum foil as a band to hold rolled meat. To make it easier to secure, you can use a wooden skewer. You can use as many strips as you need. Just make sure the strips are the same size.
Another alternative to cooking twine is sewing thread or rubber bands. Using rubber bands may work, but they can burn up in the oven and ruin the flavor of your food. The same is true for sewing thread. If you are not careful, you could burn your entire house! The best solution is to purchase a special type of twine for the kitchen. However, you can get by with regular twine if you don’t have any. Make tight ropes out of aluminum foil and tie them around your food-like bands. It works best for stuffed meats that you want to keep from unrolling. Aluminum foil probably won’t be strong enough to truss a turkey or chicken.
Toothpicks or Wooden Skewers
Stick toothpicks or wooden skewers into the seam of your rolled meat to keep it from coming apart. Soak them in water, just like when you grill, so they don’t catch fire in the oven. If you use toothpicks, it’s a good idea to track how many you used so you know how many to take out after cooking. You don’t want anyone to bite down on a piece of wood by accident.
Nothing: If you don’t have any of these, you might as well do without them. Leave your turkey untied and tuck the tips of the wings under the bird or wrap them in aluminum foil to keep them from getting burned. Place the seam side down on the baking sheet so the weight of the meat will hold it together. And if you want to keep a bunch of herbs together, put them in a piece of cheesecloth and tie a knot in one of the corners.
A Warning About Other Substitutes
Some say you can replace kitchen twine with rubber bands, embroidery floss, crochet thread, or sewing thread. The rubber bands are terrible because you shouldn’t put hot rubber near your food and be careful with other ideas. Thread and embroidery floss can catch fire so that they can start a fire in your oven. But you could also say this about kitchen twine.
To prevent fires, soak thread or floss before using any of these. Also, ensure your oven rack isn’t too close to the heating element, so your twine substitute doesn’t get too hot. Keep in mind that colored thread may change the color of your food in a fun way. You should be careful if you want to use something different than twine. Keep an extinguisher close by, and never leave your oven unattended.
Conclusion
Butcher’s twine is a 100% cotton string that can be used in the oven. It is also called cooking string or kitchen twine. Most of the time, it’s used to cook meat. When you tie a roast or truss a chicken, you give the meat a uniform shape that helps it cook evenly. Butcher’s twine can also roll up stuffed meats like flank steak with mushrooms, hang salami to cure, and tie up herbs to freeze or use to make stock.
To avoid melting when cooking, use twine produced from natural fibres. Cotton is the best choice because it doesn’t change the food’s taste, smell, or color while cooking. Linen twine is also fine, and some people find it easier to tie, but it’s harder to find.
