All about paper towels

[Fat Guy]

I think this makes me a bad person, but lately I have been using paper towels like I own a lot of stock in Kimberly-Clark. I find them incredibly useful for everything from cleaning to blotting grease to using as napkins at the table in non-guest situations.

Am I alone? And if I am not, what are our opinions about paper towels? I'm a strong believer in select-a-size from Bounty.

[heidih]

I use the similar "select a size" Smart & Final brand and appreciate the reduced waste. I recall Barbara Tropp talking about paper towels as great grease soppers and spreaders. The idea was that it was actually cheaper and more environmentally friendly than using towels that need detergents and lots of hot water to be cleaned.

[Porthos]

I buy the 12-roll packs of Costco's jumbo rolls and use them for cleaning, blotting, you name it.

[HowardLi]

I use the similar "select a size" Smart & Final brand and appreciate the reduced waste. I recall Barbara Tropp talking about paper towels as great grease soppers and spreaders. The idea was that it was actually cheaper and more environmentally friendly than using towels that need detergents and lots of hot water to be cleaned.

Perhaps, but you'd have to have really hot water and be quite wasteful with it in order to even come close, economically-speaking.

[andiesenji]

I'm partial to the Viva brand of paper towels, also select-a-size. I find they are handy as "hankies" also because they have a soft smooth surface but are tough. Much more absorbent than Kleenex.

[jmolinari]

I love the costco ones because they're about the size of a bath towel

Though, it does feel wasteful sometimes....

[dcarch]

My kitchen towel strategy:

25 white 12’ X 12 “ cotton shop towels from HD. (cheap)

25 red 12’ X 12 “ cotton shop towels from HD. (cheap)

Paper towels, whichever is on sale. (cheap)

Paper towels are for really greasy and filthy wipes. After use, they go into the compost pile for the garden. They become next season’s tomatoes.

White cotton towel for clean use (salads). Red cotton towels for dirty use (pork, chicken).

After a few uses, they are quick rinsed in the sink and a few minutes in the microwave to be sanitized and dried.

After many uses, to go in the laundry.

My cotton towels have lasted many years. They don’t look bad in the kitchen. It is so good to have a pile of towels to use anytime you need a clean one.

dcarch

[ElsieD]

Bounty select-a- size. I buy them at Costco. In addition to the usual uses, I also use them to line a plate before putting say, a grilled cheese sandwich or toast on it as I find the paper towel keeps it from getting sort of soggy. Sometimes it becomes the plate.

[Darienne]

My kitchen towel strategy:

25 white 12’ X 12 “ cotton shop towels from HD. (cheap)

25 red 12’ X 12 “ cotton shop towels from HD. (cheap)

Paper towels, whichever is on sale. (cheap)

Paper towels are for really greasy and filthy wipes. After use, they go into the compost pile for the garden. They become next season’s tomatoes.

White cotton towel for clean use (salads). Red cotton towels for dirty use (pork, chicken).

After a few uses, they are quick rinsed in the sink and a few minutes in the microwave to be sanitized and dried.

After many uses, to go in the laundry.

My cotton towels have lasted many years. They don’t look bad in the kitchen. It is so good to have a pile of towels to use anytime you need a clean one.

dcarch

Much here to ponder. Thank you.

[annabelle]

I use paper towels quite a bit, as well. We buy them at Sam's Club and they are the select-a-size rolls. Very handy for kitchen uses as well as "place mats" under the cat's food (she is messy), and for polishing glass on cabinet doors and windows, of course.

[Edward J]

Don't use them much, and when I do, the cheapest variety available.

For greasy pots and pans I use..........(Drum roll please)

cardboard box tops and newspapers.

It's a habit I picked up as a 16 yr old while washing dishes at Greek restaurants, Owner caught me hosing off bacon grease laden sheet pans down the sink and freaked out. Made me cut off some box tops, and using them as a scraper, shoveled off all the grease and crud directly in the garbage. As a special treat, he made me muck out the grase trap to reinforce the idea of how much grease I was sending down the drain.

Plastic pastry scrapers make quick work of scraping/shoveling off pre-soaked or moist crud quite easily.

There is a chain of local bbq house (Memphis Blues) that has a paper towel holder on each table of it's restaurants in lieu of napkins. Cute, and probably cheaper..

[SylviaLovegren]

I use them for a few things, especially sopping up grease. Otherwise I use cotton towels.

[judiu]

Agreed, Viva are the best. They have even survived the washing machine in blue jean pockets! I have been know to rinse and re-use them, especially after light cleaning. Lettuce leaves work great for degreasing soup or gravy, though, but I still use paper towels under my bacon.

edited to add lettuce.

Edited January 4, 2012 by judiu (log)

[David A. Goldfarb]

There is a chain of local bbq house (Memphis Blues) that has a paper towel holder on each table of it's restaurants in lieu of napkins. Cute, and probably cheaper..

I just saw this a couple of days ago for the first time at Gilley's in Vegas.

I sometimes filter liquids like the fat from the deep fryer through paper towels when I'm out of cheesecloth.

I also use them for draining fried foods, but lately I'm tending to toss them in a basket, which seems to keep things crispier.

My wife likes Bounty, because it is soft enough for cleaning her eyeglasses (mine too), so we tend to get that.

I have lots of cloth barmops, so I don't use many paper towels. I suspect that the amount of water and energy needed to produce as many sheets of paper towel as one would need to do the work of one clean cloth towel is greater than what it takes to wash a towel.

[_john]

In Japan there are these great paper towels that are used in all professional restaurants called "Leed cooking paper" リードクッキングペーパー. They seem to made from matted fibers, like a very thin felt. I heard that there is a similar product in the U.S. Does anyone know the brand? These are the ultimate paper towels but they quite expensive. You can uses these towels to filter, absorb oil, keep surface moisture (for wrapping raw fish etc.), moisten a towel wrap vegetables and then microwave them to steam them, etc.

[janeer]

Bounty select-a- size. I buy them at Costco. In addition to the usual uses, I also use them to line a plate before putting say, a grilled cheese sandwich or toast on it as I find the paper towel keeps it from getting sort of soggy. Sometimes it becomes the plate.

Same. And I use them for many non-kitchen things as well.

[Susie Q]

Costco Kirkland jumbo paper towels. I go through them like crazy and I don't care. They are BIG and that's why I like them. I hate select-a-size they always de-select the size I wanted by tearing.

I also keep a roll of paper towels on a holder in the bathroom. Love 'em, plus when I have a party everybody gets a fresh guest towel when they wash their hands.

[chezcherie]

Am i the only one who doesn't care to select a size? The size I always want is the old-fashioned size, back when it was one size fits all. And I always seem to pull off the little size with those rolls. Plain, white, non- select a size rolls are harder and harder to find. Mostly I use terry side towels.

[SylviaLovegren]

I also keep a roll of paper towels on a holder in the bathroom. Love 'em, plus when I have a party everybody gets a fresh guest towel when they wash their hands.

That is a great idea. Had an aunt who did that and I'd forgotten all about it.

[OliverB]

I use them all the time. I have one roll next to the sink on a wall hanger and one under the sink. I like the select a size ones. I use regular towels as well, but would not want to miss my paper towels!

[nibor]

This post by Fat Guy prompted me to change my ways. I too used to use a ton of paper towels. My objection to cloth was mildew and general grossness. So I bought a stack of little terry towels (cute - in bright citrus colors) and now use a clean one whenever I cook dinner to keep the counter wiped up, etc. After this one use I rinse it and let it hang to dry, then throw it in the hamper for washing day. They are so small and lightweight that I don't think I am ruining the environment by washing them in with a big load of towels. I like this new system. I still use paper towels, but feel like I am saving a tree somewhere.

[Darienne]

. So I bought a stack of little terry towels (cute - in bright citrus colors) and now use a clean one whenever I cook dinner to keep the counter wiped up, etc.

A photo of the cute towels? A source? Thanks.

[flourgirl]

I love the costco ones because they're about the size of a bath towel

Though, it does feel wasteful sometimes....

That is so true

I buy the Costco brand too and find I rip off a partial piece a lot of the time because they are so big.I use paper towels mostly for applying shortening to baking pans and for wiping spills.

I rarely use paper towels for cleaning. I have a large collection of micro fiber cloths which I use from cleaning everything from the dog's ears to the windows and even the car.

Microfiber has to be laundered separately and you cannot use fabric softener or bleach; but, I find they are excellent for cleaning.

[Toliver]

For greasy pots and pans I use..........(Drum roll please)

cardboard box tops and newspapers.

Martha Stewart also recommended using newspapers to blot up oil. You're in good company.

[boudin noir]

damp paper towel in a plastic bag will keep washed and dried salad greens fresh for 4-5 days,