Difference Between Wax Paper and Baking Paper

Wax Paper vs Baking Paper

Wax paper and baking paper are different in several ways. They have different characteristics in terms of the coating material used, purpose, manufacturing technique, and cost.

Foremost, baking paper (also known as parchment paper) has a silicone coating. This coat gives it a non-sticky characteristic, not to mention being resistant to heat as well. By contrast, wax paper has a paraffin or soybean coating that is not that resistant to heat.

In this connection, wax paper is not ideally used in baking or in the oven since the wax easily melts when exposed to a great amount of heat. As such, wax paper is best used for wrapping food, open containers, and sandwiches for proper storage. On the contrary, baking paper is the best paper for cooking items that can withstand the scorching heat of 420 ˚F or more. You can check the packaging of your baking paper and look for its heat threshold as different brands tend to have different heat strengths. Although baking paper is also used as a wrapping or container covering, it can also serve as a cookie lining on cooking (baking) sheets so you no longer have to apply grease on them. There are also some recipes that don’t require any other container but the paper wrapper itself like how you bake or cook certain variations of roasted fish.

These two types of paper are manufactured in different ways. Baking paper has a stronger fiber strength most likely attributed to how it is made. This kind of paper is pressed firmly and then undergoes an acid bath dip prior to cleansing. It still passes through certain rotating drums that further strengthen or improve its fiber quality just before the coating (silicone) is added. Wax paper, by contrast, undergoes supercalendaring (a process of paper compression that makes it more transparent). After this, soybean or paraffin wax is added as a coating. With all of the advantages of baking paper, it comes as no surprise that it is more expensive than wax paper.

Summary:

1.Baking paper has a silicone coating while wax paper has either a paraffin coat or soybean coating.
2.Baking paper is used in baking as it is heat resistant as opposed to wax paper which is used for wrapping or storage as it can’t withstand tremendous heat.
3.Bakers also prefer baking paper because of its non-stick characteristic.
4.Baking paper has stronger paper fibers compared to wax paper that is made using the method called supercalendaring.
5.Baking paper is generally more expensive than wax paper.

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