There have been times where I really wanted or needed a wider piece of wax paper than the standard size and the markets just don't sell anything other than standard. I started thinking about when I was a kid and we made Autumn leaf place mats, where the leaves are placed between two pieces of wax paper and ironed together. Voila, you can easily make wider paper with the same concept. ;-)
By Deeli from Richland, WA
I agree with "caraing" I totally had forgotten about making fall leave placemats as a child for a school project - thank you for the warm and wonderful memories of my childhood back in the 50 & 60's flowing back into my memory; perhaps now I can share those memories with my grandchildren when they come over to do crafts and a visit with their mother.
Use wax paper to line your kitchen shelves instead of buying expensive shelf liner paper. It's easy and cheap!
Wipe your curtain rod with a piece of wax paper. Your hangers will slide more easily.
I have a question for our cake decorators. I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics, ETC and looked at what they charged for a roll of parchment paper. OUCH! Can I use waxed paper instead of paying the big price for parchment paper? Thank you for your answers!
I am not a cake decorator so I will leave that part up to someone else to answer.
But have I have seen parchment paper at the dollar stores. Joann's prob has a higher price than even a grocery store...unless you use one of their coupons. Ask if they have an extra ad for you to use until you can sign up to their mailing list for the coupons.
Or if you live in a city with a restaurant supply store you might check there but it would probably a huge roll.
You can purchase parchment paper at Wal-Mart for around $2.00 a roll. It is not the same as wax paper. Wax paper will melt in your oven.
NOT IN THE OVEN! It depends on what you want to do with the paper if it can be substituted. The beauty of parchment is that you can line cookie sheets or cake pans with it for baking. You can't put waxed paper in the oven.
Actually, waxed paper can be cut to fit the inside bottoms of cake pans. When I was growing up we didn't grease and flour the pans, we used wax paper in the bottom of the pans. Place the pan on the wax paper, mark around the bottom and cut with scissors. Place in the bottom of the pan and fill with cake batter. Just peel the paper off when the cake is taken out of the oven and turned upside down.
Interesting about people thinking it would burn, in all the years we used it, never burned once!
Also, if you are using it somehow to decorate a cake by rolling it as a funnel and adding a tip inside, it won't hold up. Wax paper will get soft and it just isn't as stiff as parchment paper. I too have seen parchment paper at the Dollar Tree. Even the grocery store is less than JoAnn's. Sorry, but sometimes you just can't substitute when we would like to.
No, I'm afraid you can't. Wax paper will burn in the oven. Try a grocery store instead of Joann's for parchment paper. Most any big grocery store should have it, and it will likely be cheaper there too. Or you can order it online in bulk at: www.thebakerscatalogue.com, or www.KingArthurFlour.com.
If you are using the wax paper to practice "cake decorating" techniques, then it'll work fine, but would need to be replaced more frequently. If you are using it to go under the bottom of your cake to keep frosting or icing off the cake plate, then it will work perfectly.
If you are using wax paper to line cake pans, just grease and flour the cake pan first, lay in the exact size wax paper cut to fit, then grease and flour it as well and it works just as well as parchment paper does...but so does the brown paper from large paper grocery bags...just be sure to use only the parts of the bag which are print-free, and do grease and flour the pan first, then lay in the exact size of brown paper, cut to fit the pan, and grease and flour it as well.
The brown paper was traditionally used 50-60 years ago to line pans when the wonderful old-fashioned fruitcakes were made at home, then stored for long periods of time with frequent "doses" of an alcoholic spirit added to preserve the cake and make it even better. The brown paper would hold up perfectly for at least a year...from one Thanksgiving to the next. This is the way I still make my fruitcakes. I make them the week before Thanksgiving...and begin cutting them the following Thanksgiving. They are nothing like the commercial fruitcakes at all.
When baking cookies, Parchment paper is so handy to use. You just load a sheet of paper cut to fit your cookie sheet, load the parchment lined cookie sheet, and set the pan in the oven to bake. While they're baking, fill up another sheet of parchment paper ready to go on the pan after pulling off the sheet with the baked cookies onto wire racks to cool. It speeds up cookie baking a lot, and can be used more than once during your cookie-baking day.
I hope this helps. Julia in Orlando, FL
This brought back so many memories. My mother also used wax paper to line her cake pans. She did it for sheet cakes and any tube pan cake she baked. I remember cutting the circles for her. She always baked from scratch and called them her "puddins". So you can use it in the oven but it would make an ineffective pastry bag. The Dollar Tree usually has Reynold's parchment paper.
I went to Dollar Tree Store and a large chain grocery store. Dollar Tree or the grocery store didn't have parchment paper in stock.
I don't need parchment paper right now, but will keep my eyes open for it.
Thank you everyone for all of your helpful feeback to my inquiry.
Marge from NY
You can use wax paper to line cake pans. Just lay the waxed paper out and set the cake pan on top of it, mark around the pan and cut the paper out. Then put it inside the pan, grease the waxed paper and sides of pan. When cake is done, just remove from pan and peel back the waxed paper and toss.
To keep your sink faucets shiny, rub them with a piece of wax paper after cleaning them. This will keep them shiny for about a week.
When you use the microwave a lot, use wax paper to put on top of the food in your microwave, it helps with the splatter and mess. You can also use it when you want to roll out your dough and make sandwiches too.
To remove surface fats from soup and other liquids, I float pieces of wax paper on top and lift out. The fats adhere to the paper. Repeat until all fat is removed. You can do this when hot but it is best done when warm or at room temperature.
When trying to keep the Western sun window cooler in the summer, how does one use the wax paper method? The shiny-side in?
Thanks,
MP
At any Lowe's or hardware store, you can purchase tinted window film to help prevent sun from entering into your house and running the air conditioner constantly OR you can do as we have and save money.
If you are a card maker, you can save money on envelopes. You will need an envelope template or just cut it out free-handed. Grab a roll of wax paper and make your own envelopes.
Lubricate craft punches before using them by punching wax paper first.
When your paper punches don't seem to spring back as quick as when new, use wax paper to punch designs and lubricate the paper punch. By Syd
