Cooking bags are made of plastic or culinary parchment and are used for roasting meat. This bag traps moisture inside and prevents its escape into the oven. It serves a similar purpose like basting. Special grade plastic is used for cooking bags as it should not melt at cooking temperature and spoil the food inside it. Care should be taken while placing the oven bags so that it does not touch any hot surfaces like oven racks.
Are cooking bags safe?
Most of us believe that plastic should not be brought anywhere near an oven. This makes one suspicious about the safety of oven bags. Oven bags are used to cook food inside an oven. It is well assured that the oven bags will not melt, or catch fire or do any harm to your food. So, forget those fears and start using oven bags confidently.
What are the safety aspects?
All oven bags are made of nylons or plastics that do not melt at the average heating temperature in ovens. Most of the cooking bags available in the stores are FDA approved. So it is assured that they do not contain any dangerous chemicals or they do not release any toxins when heated. But, it is better to follow the guidelines prescribed by the manufacturer or the FDA while using oven bags. Instructions, warnings as well as specifications change from brand to brand. Read, understand and follow them meticulously when you are using an oven bag.
Where are they used?
Though oven bags are designed for using in full-size ovens, some of them are used inside microwave ovens, toasters, crock pots etc. From the instructions given by the manufacturer one will be able to understand the type of cooking appliances suitable for a particular cooking bag. Oven bags expand during cooking. If it comes into contact with oven surface on expanding there are possibilities of melting or bursting. So make sure that there is sufficient room for the oven bag to expand when placed inside a cooking appliance.
Advantages of oven bags
Oven bags allow the meat to get roasted in their own juices. This makes the dish very moist, tasty and flavorful. Vegetables derive great advantage from cooking in oven bags. They become more crisp and bright when cooked in oven bags. Cleaning up becomes easier after eating the food if it was cooked in oven bag. Your pan will be clean and can be cleaned easily and used again. Similarly your oven will also be clean without any spillage or splashes.