Houzz Logo Print
driftwoodtx

Wax Paper extinct !?

14 years ago

I live in Southern California. In the past week, I have gone to Safeway (Vons), Ralphs, and Target looking for basic, plain old *wax paper*. None of them carried it. A box of Cut-Rite has been a staple in my kitchen for 50 years (but I usually buy several boxes at a time and keep some in the pantry, so I haven't tried to buy it in a while). Googling, I find that Cut-Rite is owned by Reynolds and they apparently still make the product. But why aren't the stores offering it for sale?

Is wax paper now considered outdated? Are they trying to say that parchment paper will serve all our needs now? (It doesn't!) Any ideas?

Comments (35)

  • 14 years ago

    If you have a food coop near you they will have it. Maybe not Cutrite, but brown waxed paper that works just as well. I buy the brown parchment there, too. You might check at whole foods, too.

  • 14 years ago

    Or you could order a lifetime supply from amazon...

    Here is a link that might be useful: cutrite online

  • Related Discussions

    waxed paper in pile

    Q

    Comments (3)
    They'll be there forever. Wax doesn't break down very well and it will protect the cups from water (which is its purpose, after all) so the paper won't break down. If you crush the cups to break the wax, water and micro organisms may get inside the wax, but it'll take a long time to digest a cup that way, and then you just get flakes of wax in your compost. Best to just trash waxed cups.
    ...See More

    Just to confirm...waxed paper plates

    Q

    Comments (2)
    No, more like 20-40...but I'll rip 'em up a bit first, and they'll go in with other scraps/napkins, etc... Thanks!
    ...See More

    Tom - Where do you get the cute wax-paper seed envelopes?

    Q

    Comments (8)
    Hi Carol, Lou is right. These are glassine G1 envelopes, they fit inside the coin envelopes. I really like them but I have not found a cheap source for them, I get them here, but even ordering 1000 they are a nickle a piece, these folks have crazy expensive shipping costs. Tom
    ...See More

    Where do you put your wax paper, clingwrap, storage bags, etc.?

    Q

    Comments (23)
    This is one of those broad "categories" I prefer to break up and store by use. Hence parchment sheets are near baking center, but parchment roll is near prep where I might be making up packages for steaming veg or seafood. Similarly, microvable wax paper is near MW, but waxed paper sandwich bags are stowed with the brown paper lunch bags. (I don't make up lunch bags very often, nowadays.) Foodsaver rolls are near foodsaver machine. Aluminum foil is near oven with parchment roll. Clingfilm is near the fridge, along with my ziplocks, though I am trying hard to use reuseable glass containers for leftovers, which are stored in the same place. Freezer bags and butcher paper are with my food preservation supplies. I am working hard to get over my tendency to lump sets (dishes, pots, implements, spices) together rather than disposing them around by where they get used. I figure that even if it's more steps to place them in their storage positions (i.e. putting soup bowls in a different cupboard from the cereal bowls) at least those steps aren't happening just at the moments I need them for cooking or plating. L
    ...See More
  • 14 years ago

    I picked one up accidentally at the Dollar Store. I was wanting parchment, but got waxed instead. So I now have both.

  • 14 years ago

    Interesting to see this. Just this past weekend my sister was telling me that an elderly friend of hers couldn't get wax paper at her local store anymore and she's limited on store access (doesn't drive and trouble walking) so Sis picked up some for her. I've found that there's usually some available at the bigger grocery stores, Target, etc but not the variety of brands there used to be available.

    I don't use it much anymore. I just use foil most of the time. I just picked up some parchment to try out. But I do use it as a quick paper funnel and as a shelf liner. Otherwise, for wrapping things I now use plastic as I guess most people do.

  • 14 years ago

    I always buy it at either Walmart or Target. I can't imagine they'd disco waxed paper? Really the only thing I use it for is to pack away cookies, I put them in a large square tupperware container and between each layer, I put a sheet of waxed paper. Perhaps the grocery stores have decided they need their own special spot and they aren't with the other wrap? I can't imagine they wouldn't stock it. Recently I discovered Parchment Paper...Sheeew, Parchment Paper where have you been all my life!? That stuff is incredible!!!!! Best thing ever for baking! WOW!

  • 14 years ago

    I remember that I had trouble finding wax paper the last time that I needed some & that was several years ago. My roll is now very low so I guess that I need to start looking now or hope that some turns up at an estate or rummage sale!

    Ditto on parchment paper. Only started using it w/in the last 2-3 years. Love it! Arkansas Girl--same thing--Where was it all my life??!!

  • 14 years ago

    Haven't had trouble finding wax paper. They still sell it in our local grocery store. I still use it frequently. As divider between layers of cookies or other baked goods, wrapping sandwiches. And my all time favorite...a comb kazoo!
    NancyLouise

  • 14 years ago

    I seldom use waxed paper, but I don't have any problem buying it at my small independent grocery store. I'm only assuming places like Walmart would have it, but I never go there so can't guarantee it.

    Nancylouise, I forgot about comb kazoos, I'll have to show the grandkids.

    I also prefer waxed paper when wrapping sandwiches for picnics, etc, as ziplock bags are handy but cannot be recycled.

    Annie

  • 14 years ago

    I had no idea waxed paper could be recycled. I am new to parchment paper as well, and am a fan. A friend's daughter came to stay with us and asked for it- she uses it as tracing paper. She said, "There's a lot of uses for parchment paper, Jenny." Smart kid.

  • 14 years ago

    I buy mine at Big Lots. I use it to line cake pans or put down on a cookie sheet. I guess everyone now uses parchment paper or foil. I find parchment paper too expensive. Remember you use to be able to buy wax paper sandwich bags? I haven't seen those for awhile.
    Clare

  • 14 years ago

    my food coop sells the waxed paper sandwich bags, so they are also still available.

  • 14 years ago

    Was just at Kmart and a small grocery store and both had it, $1.49 for Reynold's and the independent grocer even had a generic option! The shelf was full too!

  • 14 years ago

    I buy mine at WalMart.

  • 14 years ago

    I buy 200' of it for around $4 - it is a store brand. Check to see whether that might be more cost-effective than the smaller brand name packages. I use it for individually wrapping meats for the freezer (which then go into Ziplocs). Costco also has huge rolls of butcher paper, which should last you a lifetime! lol

    I buy my parchment paper from Costco too, best price I've seen for it and it is quite often on sale there. I love parchment paper, haven't greased a cookie sheet in years, and you can reuse the parchment once or twice before tossing it.

  • 14 years ago

    Driftwood, I live in SoCal also, & am pretty sure the Ralph's near me still carries it. I'll be glad to pick up some for you & mail them. How many do you want?

    Kathleen

  • 14 years ago

    All the different $$$$ stores seem to have it.

  • 14 years ago

    We used wax paper to slick up the bottom of the clothes iron when it would get sticky. I still use it to line layer cake pans because it's so easy to cut to fit. I sit the pan on the wax paper and use a sharp pointed paring knife to 'trace' around the pan. The paper is cut all the way around.

  • 14 years ago

    Just recently ran out of my Cut Rite waxed paper....hope I don't have a problem finding it here? A google listed Dollar Tree as a source and we have one of those here.

    Teresa

  • 14 years ago

    Hmmm. I didn't know you could use waxed paper for baking. Is it ok for baking cakes at 350 or so? On a cookie sheet, istead of parchment? does it burn?

    What about 450 for breads or even higher for pizza?

    Thanks for this info.

  • 14 years ago

    westsider, I've only used waxed paper in cake pans and for things like no-bake cookies or candies until they set, but if I can bake it in the bottom of a cake pan I don't see why I couldn't use it on a baking sheet for cookies. When I use it for cakes it does not burn, and peels right off the bottom of the cake after baking. It's the only thing I used for years.

    I don't know about bread or pizza either, I have a feeling that the higher temps might be more than it could handle, but I'm not sure.

    Ynnej, different areas take different items for recycling, of course. Mine will take waxed paper along with the waxed cardboard milk containers. I'm not sure what they do with the items, but they take them and have a special bin to separate them, as they are mostly milk carton type containers and they want to have them separate from the plastic milk bottles.

    My recycling center is supported by community donations only and they make money on only a few items like cardboard and metal and end up losing money on other items, such as magazines. Mine will even dispose of old televisions and computers for $10 or a similar amount, although they are not recycled but simply disposed of.

    So, are the waxed boxes and paper actually recycled or simply taken as a "community service"? Darned if I know, but there's a separate bin for it, so I put it in there. It must be clean, of course, no food residue.

    Annie

  • 14 years ago

    I wouldn't use waxed paper to line cookie sheets - it is just paper with a wax coating; this will surely melt off with direct heat. Parchment paper is paper with a thin silicon coating, and it can withstand a lot more heat and won't melt off. I do use waxed paper rounds at the bottoms of my cake pans to facilitate removal.

  • 14 years ago

    Thanks, Annie and Donna and anyone else that chimes in with personal experiences. I very much appreciate it. I've been using parchment but I will soon have used up the 100 sheets I bought for $4. Lots for shipping tho.

    Can waxed paper be used for coffee cakes and the like at in the 350 degree range?

  • 14 years ago

    Waxed paper does not work for baking cookies!!! Ask me how I know this..... use the waxed only for lining cake pans.

    Teresa (who really should have known better)

  • 14 years ago

    westsider, do you have a GFS grocery store by you? They sell the precut packages of parchment paper in, I think, packages of 100. PP is quite expensive by the roll. It's $3/$4 for just a small roll that doesn't go very far. I reuse the sheets for several times, just wipe with a damp clothe.

  • 14 years ago

    arkansasgirl, I also reuse parchment paper when baking cookies. I use one side a couple of times, flip it over and use the other side!

    Annie

  • 14 years ago

    Yikes! I'm in So Cal too (down San Diego way, not Los Angeles or Pasadena)--I'll have to check my local grocery stores, WalMart, Target and Costco to see if they still carry it!

    A box lasts me a long time and I always have a spare, but if wax paper is going the way of the dodo bird, I'll have to stock up and have two or three spares.

    If Kathleen can't find any, and if I DO find some, I'll be glad to pick up a box for Kathleen and Driftwood and mail it to both. Just let me know (the email doesn't always make a connection, so post here).

    Smiles,
    Sooz

  • 14 years ago

    A box lasts me for years, I really don't know what all to do with it. I think there was more wax on it years ago, than there is now though.

    I read that it's good for running around the cast iron skillet while it is still warm. I lay it on the cookie sheet prior to freezing berries, but really, I can't think of what to do with it. :)

  • 14 years ago

    I think I might have a box in my paper and plastics drawer, but I haven't used it for anything in years. I was at Target last night, and thinking of this thread I checked. Yep, they have it at the Target in Garland, near Dallas.

    Sally

  • 14 years ago

    I'm in Northern CA and I can get it pretty much anywhere. I use it all the time, but not for baking.

    Bonnie

  • 14 years ago

    I live in Oklahoma and can buy it everywhere. I use it in the bottom of layer cake pans and to make patterns for small sewing items or crafts. The pie crust recipe I use is soft, so I roll it between two sheets of waxed paper.

  • 14 years ago

    Thanks, Arkansas girl. I do have a GFS not too far and I will be happy to check it out. Thanks for the tip.

  • 14 years ago

    Found good ole waxed paper at my Lowe's Foods this afternoon.......YAY!!!

  • 14 years ago

    aptosca, you can sill find wax paper sandwich bags at Whole Foods.

    As far as Cut-Rite wax paper, I've never had a problem finding it here in Michigan. I only buy it at major grocery stores.

    Nicole

  • 14 years ago

    I got it at Safeway, the house brand, but not Cut-Rite, didn't see any of that on the shelves.