When should I use baking paper, greaseproof or foil?

These four products sit next to each other on the same shelf and are not interchangeable. Using the wrong one is behind a lot of stuck cakes and metallic-tasting roasted tomatoes.

Step by step

1. Use baking parchment as the default.Coated with silicone, genuinely non-stick, oven-safe to around 220°C. Lining tins, baking trays, biscuits, meringues, rolling pastry, wrapping fish in a parcel.
2. Do not confuse it with greaseproof.Greaseproof is calendered paper that resists fat soaking through, but it is not non-stick. It needs greasing, and cakes baked on it can still stick.
3. Use foil where you want heat conducted or reflected.Tenting a roast, covering a dish to trap steam, shielding a browning cake top, wrapping potatoes for a barbecue.
4. Keep foil away from acid and salt.Tomatoes, citrus, vinegar and heavily salted food react with aluminium, which pits the foil and can leave a metallic taste. Use parchment as a barrier if you need to cover them.
5. Do not put foil in a microwave.It sparks and can damage the appliance. Some ovens with a grill element also warn against foil touching the element.
6. Use cling film only where it says it is safe.Most film is not oven-safe at all. Some is microwave-safe if not touching the food. Read the box — the differences are real.
7. Use reusable silicone mats for repeated baking.They outperform parchment for biscuits and pastry, last for years and pay for themselves. They are not suitable above about 230°C.
8. Reuse parchment where sensible.A sheet used for biscuits can do several batches. It darkens and stiffens with each use and should be replaced once brittle.
9. Grease the tin as well when lining.A smear of butter under the parchment holds it in place while you pour the batter, which stops it sliding and creasing.
10. Do not line a tin with foil for cakes.It creases sharply, sticks to the batter, and gives a rough uneven surface. Parchment moulds far better.

Tips

• If you only buy one, buy baking parchment. It does almost everything.
• Foil and tomatoes do not mix — use parchment between them.
• A silicone mat pays for itself within a year if you bake weekly.

Common mistakes

• Using greaseproof paper as if it were non-stick — It only resists fat soaking through the paper; the surface itself is not coated. Cakes and biscuits stick to it, particularly anything sugary, and it tears when you try to peel it off.
• Covering acidic food with foil — Acid reacts with aluminium, corroding the foil into small holes and leaving a metallic taste in the food. It is most obvious with tomato sauces, citrus and vinegar-based marinades.

If it doesn't work

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