A question about a recipe: Herbed Chicken Thighs Roasted in a Paper Bag.

Paper grocery bags are not food safe and should not be used in cooking.

Here is some information on the subject from the University of MN Extension Service. (It is regarding cooking a turkey, but applies here too.)

Brown Paper Bag Method: This method involves placing the turkey in a large brown paper grocery bag and cooking the bird at a very low temperature. First, brown paper bags were never intended for use as cooking utensils. The glue, ink, chemicals and other materials used in recycling the grocery bags are very unsanitary and some bags may even contain tiny metal shavings. To make this method safe, replace the brown bag with a turkey-size oven-cooking bag (available in your grocery store).

http://www.extension.umn...

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Kukla added almost 2 years ago

I put the whole baking dish with the marinated chicken thighs in a clean brown paper bag that is a litle biger than the baking dish. There is no need to close, seal or fold it over.

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SKK added almost 2 years ago

I agree with Kukla about the clean brown paper bag, with no ink or writings. Mrs. Keller makes a point about turkeys, but we are talking here about chicken thighs. There are many recipes using brown paper bags from pies to potatoes to small pieces of meat from reputable chefs. Even Alton Brown has one!

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The reference to turkey just happened to be handy. It applies to all foods.

This may have been a safe practice when every grocery bag was made from new paper, but they aren't anymore. Just because your bag doesn't have printing on it doesn't mean there isn't ink in the paper as the material that went into the bag very likely had printing.

So if you enjoy glue, ink, metal shavings and other unsafe for consumption chemicals added to your food, enjoy!

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made these legs today. they came out totally blonde. not brown at all. and they were no more tender than had i baked them in a pan without the bag. dont waste your time on the novelty. just put the thighs in the oven as you normally do for better results.

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Cynthia is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.

added over 1 year ago

I don't think I would trust the plain brown bag, either. I have a recipe for a bread that's supposed to be baked in a grocery bag, and I use a turkey bag instead.

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