When choosing kitchen twine, you should choose a food-safe product. Many people believe that hardware twine is fine for cooking, but it is not food-safe. Other factors, such as cost, ease of use, and cooking habits, are important considerations.
Most cooking twine is made of cotton or linen. Each has its advantages; therefore, you should narrow the selection by using your preferences. Cotton twine is generally less expensive and the most common. Most cooks find that linen twine holds knots better and pulls away from the cooked meat easily.
In the United States, kitchen twine should be FDA-approved. The FDA is the Federal Drug Administration and overlooks food safety and food products. Other countries have similar agencies that can certify food preparation products.
Buyers should beware of products that do not list the string content or other important information on the label. This is especially true when buying the product online. For example, a product may be labeled as baker's twine and state that it is good for tying food packages as well as using for food preparation and crafts. The label may neglect, however, to claim that the twine is food-safe or list the contents, such as cotton.
Sometimes online sites do not sell kitchen twine, but offer bad information about it. Some people claim that a cook can substitute hardware string for cooking twine. Online buyers may read customer reviews to learn more about the twine before purchasing it. Some advertisements for kitchen twine are deceptive, for instance stating that there is more twine in a product than in actuality.
Kitchen twine often has other names. Often sellers list it as string, such as butchers string. Other popular names are cooking twine, butchers twine, and baking string. All of these names refer to the same product.
When choosing the best kitchen twine, most experienced cooks avoid colored string. The color may leach into the food. The best twine is not made of man-made materials, such as polyester or nylon, because they may melt or leach toxins into the food. Some people suggest substituting unwaxed dental floss because it is food-safe, but most cooks find it to be inferior to the string.
Another factor in choosing kitchen twine are your cooking habits. If you use a lot of twine, you may want to consider purchasing a large cone and a dispenser. If you rarely use twine, you may want to buy a small ball or cone of string that is easy to tuck away into a drawer. Numerous dispensers are cheap, but others are expensive stainless steel models.