People are just realising what you should use each side of tin foil for

Ever wondered why tin foil has a shiny side and dull side? No? Me either, but now I am and if you are too then fear not as I have the answer.

Think back to the last time you were wrapping up some leftovers - or completely covering your flatmate's bedroom - in tin foil and you may recall that one side is more shiny than the other. But why?

Well, it turns out there’s no real difference between the two sides and both will do the same job, so pick which you prefer.

But if there’s no difference you may be wondering why they look different - it's all to do with how the foil is manufactured, according to Mike Mazza, marketing director for the US-based company Reynolds Wrap.

He told Today: "Regardless of the side, both sides do the same job cooking, freezing and storing food. It makes no difference which side of the foil you use unless.

"The difference in appearance between dull and shiny is due to the foil manufacturing process.

Pexels/Engin Akyurt

"In the final rolling step, two layers of foil are passed through the rolling mill at the same time. The side coming in contact with the mill's highly polished steel rollers becomes shiny. The other side, not coming in contact with the heavy rollers, comes out with a dull or matte finish."

He added: “Where the foil is in contact with another layer, that’s the ‘dull’ side.

“The ‘shiny’ side is the side milled without being in contact with another sheet of metal. The performance of the foil is the same, whichever side you use.”

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Which means that the only ‘correct’ side to use is the one you like the best. Personally, I prefer the dull side so I don’t actually catch a glimpse of myself scranning leftovers right out of the fridge - but to each their own.

However, while all of the above is true of most foil you will find - and probably the stuff you have in your drawer in the kitchen - there is a slight difference when it comes to ‘non-stick’ foil.

If you happen to be using non-stick foil, you should make sure you use the side that is labeled ‘non-stick, for reasons I hope are obvious.

So there you go - but now I’m wondering why we call it ‘tin’ foil in the UK despite it being made of aluminium. Back down the rabbit hole, I go.