Today, there are endless barbecue tools and accessories designed to improve quality, taste, efficiency, presentation, and more. Of the popular gadgets out there, few are more simple, affordable, or useful than peach paper. Not just a fleeting trend, peach paper has been used for years as an aid in the meat smoking process as well as a recognizable product to display and wrap foods.
While there is plenty of food grade paper available, peach paper has become synonymous with barbecue. So, don’t be fooled by the substitutes. Here are three ways to distinguish true peach paper from other options.
What is peach paper?
To start, if you’re going to be able to determine what peach paper isn’t, it’s important to know what true peach paper is.
Peach paper, also known as pink butcher paper, is a sturdy style of butcher paper that is engineered to offer excellent moisture holdout and strength. True peach paper is also FDA-approved for use with food.
It is not just peach-colored paper
One of the most obvious peach paper substitutes is standard weight printing paper that has been colored peach, but in no other way resembles true peach paper.
While this style of paper may be attractive and comes in many appealing shades, its size, weight and makeup certainly don’t allow it stand up to the task of effectively wrapping a brisket or offering any substantial moisture holdout with fresh meat. As a cooking tool, this style of paper is essentially worthless.
It is not white butcher paper
This form of substitute peach paper is far less alarming, but is still worthy of mention, especially in relation to authentic Texas BBQ. White butcher paper serves as an excellent wrap for fresh meat, poultry, and seafood.
However, if you’re trying to make authentic Texas BBQ, you will be hard pressed to achieve the look using anything other than true peach paper. Learn more about the most popular uses for butcher paper.
It is not freezer paper
While most freezer paper is traditionally white, other colors like brown and pink or peach-shaded varieties are also sold. If you’re using it strictly for wrapping and storing meat, especially for freezing, then using freezer paper is perfectly fine. Often, if comes in similar sizes and thicknesses as butcher paper and can be used interchangeably for many applications.
However, once again, if your intention is to take advantage of peach paper’s benefits for cooking and smoking, freezer paper is not a suggested alternative. This is because freezer paper includes a thin poly coating on one side that provides a moisture barrier designed to eliminate freezer burn. This same barrier will melt inside a smoker and could end up assimilated into the bark of your brisket or coating your ribs - a pit masters’ worst nightmare.
Don’t be fooled by the substitutes! There’s only one peach paper for barbecue. Learn more about ways to use peach paper and discover tips for 4 barbecue experts. Ready to purchase your roll of pink butcher paper? See what one of our customers had to say about their recent order:
"Very good product! The people at Oren International were fantastic. The paper was mailed out the same day I placed the order. I used the paper to wrap and finish cooking 120lbs of brisket for a school function. The paper held the juice and temp nicely while we were waiting to slice. For me, when cooking brisket, paper is in foil is out!" - Mark D.
