You’ve been cooking for hours and you finally have a dish ready to serve. You’re about to take the chicken out of the oven when you realize that your twine is missing! Suddenly, your day doesn’t feel so great.
What are you going to do now? Well, there are plenty of substitutes that will work just as well if not better than cooking twine when it comes to holding food in place during cooking.
Keep reading below for 10 easy substitutes for cooking twine that can be found around your kitchen today!
Substitutes for Cooking Twine
- Toothpick/Skewer
- Aluminum Foil
- Dental Floss
- Ust Go Without
- Cooking bag
- Wood sticks
- Baking paper
- String/Yarn
- Butcher’s String
- Rope
1. Toothpick/Skewer
If you have toothpicks or skewers on hand, then they can make for a great substitute for cooking twine.
All you need to do is put the food that you want to hold in place onto the skewer or toothpick and then put it where the cooking twine would go.
This is definitely a good option if you’re in a pinch and don’t have any cooking twine on hand.
Just make sure that the skewer or toothpick is long enough to go through the food that you want to hold.
It can be a good idea to keep skewers and toothpicks around your kitchen because they come in handy for a variety of occasions.
A lot of people use them for cooking, but they can be used to hold things in place as well.
If you don’t have any toothpicks or skewers on hand and need something quick, then aluminum foil will do the trick too!
It works just as good as these other options so it’s definitely a good substitute to have.
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2. Aluminum Foil
If you don’t have any toothpicks or skewers on hand, then aluminum foil can be a great substitute for cooking twine.
It’s definitely something that you will want to keep in your kitchen as it has many uses.
You just need to fold the foil into a long and thin strip so that it resembles cooking twine. Then, you just need to put it where the cooking twine would go and you should be good to go.
One thing that people forget about is how aluminum foil can act as an insulator if you wrap something in it before putting it into your oven or grill.
If things are looking like they’re getting too hot, then you can wrap them in foil to help protect them.
It’s a good idea for everyone to keep aluminum foil around the kitchen because it has so many uses and cooking twine is just one of those things that people need from time to time. It’s definitely worth investing in some if your don’t already have any at home.
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3. Dental Floss
Dental floss is another household item that can be used as a substitute for cooking twine. It’s long and thin which means it will work well when you need to hold things in place while they cook.
You’re going to want to wrap the dental floss around whatever food you are trying to secure, then use one end to tie a knot and the other end to cut off.
To make it even easier, you can fold dental floss into multiple layers that are all tied together at one single point so that you only need one strip of floss for your task!
Using this method will help ensure everything stays in place while cooking. If there is enough floss, you can even use it to truss a bird.
Just like with toothpicks, you need to make sure that you remove the dental floss before serving your dish. Nobody wants to find a piece of string in their food!
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4. Ust Go Without
If you’re in a bind and you can’t find any toothpicks, skewers, or foil around your house, then there is always the option to go without.
It might not be as ideal as using something specific for the job, but it will work in a pinch.
You just need to make sure that you make sure to monitor your food closely while you are cooking it.
If things start to look like they might be getting out of place, then you’ll want to get them back into the right position as soon as possible.
If none of these substitutes work for you or if there is just no time for any of that when you need to cook, then you can always try to make do without any cooking twine at all. It’s not going to be as ideal as if you had the real thing, but it will work in a pinch.
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5. Cooking Bag
If you don’t have cooking twine and one of these substitutes, then there is always the option to try out a cooking bag that can be found in most supermarkets.
They come in different sizes, but the general idea is that you put your food inside of it and then tie off the top. This will help keep everything together while it cooks.
You can usually find these bags in the poultry section of a supermarket, and they are definitely worth having around just in case you need them.
While this might not be an ideal substitute if you’re looking to do something specific like truss a bird, it will work well for other cooking tasks. Plus, they are reusable so you can use them multiple times which is always a bonus!
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6. Wood Sticks
If you can’t find anything else to use as a cooking twine substitute, then you can always try out wood sticks.
They are definitely something that everyone has around the house and they can be easily found in most supermarkets.
You just need to make sure that the sticks are long and thin so that they will work well for your needs.
Then, you put them through whatever food you are trying to secure and tie off the ends.
It’s not going to be as ideal as if you had proper cooking twine, but it will work in a pinch! Plus, this is a great way to get rid of any extra sticks lying around your house.
Just like with toothpicks skewers, make sure that you remove the sticks before serving your dish. Nobody wants to find a piece of wood in their food!
7. Baking Paper
Baking paper is another household item that can be used as a substitute for cooking twine. It’s long and thin which means it will work well when you need to hold things in place while they cook.
You’re going to want to wrap the baking paper around whatever food you are trying to secure, then use one end of the paper to tie a knot and the other end to cut off.
To make it even easier, you can fold baking paper into multiple layers that are all tied together at one single point so that you only need one strip of paper for your task!
Just like with the toothpicks or skewers, make sure that you remove the baking paper before serving your dish. Nobody wants to find a piece of baking paper in their food!
8. String/Yarn
String or yarn can also be a great substitute for cooking twine when it comes to holding food in place during cooking.
All you need to do is tie the string around the food that you want to hold and then put it where the cooking twine would go.
This is definitely a good option to use if you don’t have any cooking twine on hand and need something quick.
Just make sure that the string or yarn can support whatever it is that you are trying to hold in place!
It may not be as secure as cooking twine, but sometimes this trick works even better.
It’s definitely worth trying if you don’t have cooking twine on hand, but it may be a good idea to keep some of this around the kitchen too.
Sometimes string or yarn can look better than cooking twine when holding food in place during cooking! You just need to make sure that whatever material you use is strong enough to hold the food in the place.
9. Butcher’s String
Butcher’s string is a great substitute for cooking twine when it comes to holding food in place during cooking.
It’s definitely something that you will want to have in your kitchen if you do a lot of cooking.
Butcher’s string is very strong and it’s perfect for holding food in the place. You just need to tie it around the food that you want to hold and then put it where the cooking twine would go.
It can be a good idea to keep butcher’s string around your kitchen because it comes in handy for many different occasions.
Just like with toothpicks or skewers, butcher’s string can also be used as an alternative if you don’t have any cooking twine on hand.
Butcher’s string is definitely something that you will want to have in your kitchen if you do a lot of cooking! It’s great for holding food in place and it comes in handy for many different occasions.
Just like with toothpicks or skewers, butcher’s string can also be used as an alternative if you don’t have any cooking twine on hand. So, make sure to keep some in your kitchen. You never know when you might need it!
10. Rope
Rope can also be a great substitute for cooking twine when it comes to holding food in place during cooking. It’s definitely something that you will want to have in your kitchen if you do a lot of cooking.
The rope is very strong and it’s perfect for holding food in the place. You just need to tie it around the food that you want to hold and then put it where the cooking twine would go.
It can be a good idea to keep rope around your kitchen because it comes in handy for many different occasions.
Just like with butcher’s string or skewers, the rope can also be used as an alternative if you don’t have any cooking twine on hand.
The rope is definitely something that you will want to have in your kitchen if you do a lot of cooking!
It’s great for holding food in place and it comes in handy for many different occasions.
Just like with butcher’s string or skewers, rope can also be used as an alternative if you don’t have any cooking twine on hand.
So, make sure to keep some in your kitchen. You never know when you might need it!
Avoid Using More Exotic Substitutes
While it is possible to find substitutes for cooking twine, it’s often best to avoid using more exotic substitutes. This is because they may not work as well, and they can also be difficult to find.
If you don’t have cooking twine on hand, there are definitely some more exotic substitutes that you could try.
However, it’s important to avoid using these substitutes if at all possible. Why? Well, because most of them just won’t work as well as the real thing.
If you need to tie something up tightly, for example, a rubber band is not going to do the trick – it will just snap. The same goes for string or dental floss – they might get the job done in a pinch, but they won’t be as effective as cooking twine.
Get Started with Cooking Twine
The first step is to find a good quality cooking twine. You can usually find this at your local grocery store, or you can order it from a specialty cooking store online.
In many cases, you will only need to use one length of this twine since the entire thing is about 18 feet long.
This is more than enough to cook a chicken or turkey, and it will also give you some extra length in case you need it for other tasks.
Once you have the cooking twine, the next step is to figure out how to use it. In most cases, all you need to do is make a small loop in the cooking twine, place your food inside of it and pull both ends tight.
Make sure that you use a double knot to secure this tightly so that no one will have any problems with pulling on it later when they are looking for a simple way to start roasting their chicken or turkey.
You can also find some other good uses for cooking twine when you are in the kitchen. For example, if you need to bundle some items together for storage or transport purposes, then this can be a great way to do it.
Conclusion
To summarize, there are a lot of different substitutes for cooking twine that you can use in various situations.
String or yarn is an excellent choice if you need to hold food together during the cooking process and the butcher’s string works great as well.
The rope also makes a good substitute because it has been known to come in handy whether you’re preparing dinner or doing other tasks around the house!
In short, it doesn’t hurt to have some alternatives on hand just in case. You never know when they might be needed!