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Which side goes outward on foil, dull or shiny?

It is a manufacturing technique that makes one side more rough than the other. Both sides are equal at heat reflection. Tests show there is no measurable difference at all in cooking.
 
The shiny side reflects more heat than does the dull side.
So there's no right answer. It depends on what you're doing with the foil.

And for heavens sake, never wrap stuff in foil and put it in the refrig or freezer.
 
I've tested this extensively and found that crumpled is best at blocking brain waves.

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The only reason there's a dull and shiny side is because they have to run two sheets through the cold rolling mill together so it doesn't break. The side touching the mill rolls looks different than the side touching the other aluminum sheet. It's not design, there's no difference, it's just how it has to be made

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM35RKJXmV0
 
There should be a small difference in emissivity between the shiny and dull sides. Where the shiny side reflects more IR than the dull side. The difference is probably negligible in most cooking situations.
 
I thought you always put the shiny side towards the direction of the conspiracy rays. Shiny side up to keep the rays out and shiny side down to keep them in.
 
LOL, the shiny side always goes IN. Not for any difference in the physical properties or cooking results of one side versus the other, its that aluminum foil is wrapped to the shiny side is on the INSIDE of the roll of foil, so cockroaches and other bugs in your pantry/cabinet are far less likely to touch the shiny side.

Sometimes I feel like I'm a mature man teaching little kids on this forum lol.
 
SaltyNuts said:
LOL, the shiny side always goes IN. Not for any difference in the physical properties or cooking results of one side versus the other, its that aluminum foil is wrapped to the shiny side is on the INSIDE of the roll of foil, so cockroaches and other bugs in your pantry/cabinet are far less likely to touch the shiny side.

Sometimes I feel like I'm a mature man teaching little kids on this forum lol.
Click to expand...
...pest control service or don't be so nasty, ftw.
 
I also find it funny that people are picking apart the emissivity differences between the shiny and dull side of an incredibly conductive material that is radiating the heat of the food to the surrounding air. If keeping things warm is your goal, foil is not the right choice... plastic and glass are insulators and are your best options.

Foil is good once you're done with the food and are storing in the the fridge, because the conductive aluminum helps it get to safe refrigeration temperature faster. Or if you're grilling something in the foil, for the same reason. There are lots of good uses for foil, but heat retention is not one of them.
 
gorcorps said:
I also find it funny that people are picking apart the emissivity differences between the shiny and dull side of an incredibly conductive material that is radiating the heat of the food to the surrounding air. If keeping things warm is your goal, foil is not the right choice... plastic and glass are insulators and are your best options.

Foil is good once you're done with the food and are storing in the the fridge, because the conductive aluminum helps it get to safe refrigeration temperature faster. Or if you're grilling something in the foil, for the same reason. There are lots of good uses for foil, but heat retention is not one of them.
Click to expand...
In the vast majority of times that I've seen this question asked, they are cooking an item. Foil is often perfectly fine for cooking. It helps conduct heat more uniformly around the surface, can withstand the high temperatures, can keep the moisture in, etc. They usually aren't concerned with keeping things warm, but instead with getting them warm.

In that case, they are worried about reflecting the radiation from the oven AWAY from the food. Thus, you want a high thermal emissivity so that the radiant heat helps cook the food rather than just reflect it away.

The dull side has a negligibly higher emissivity than the shiny side, so people mistakenly think it matters. It does not. The difference is negligible and you get a bigger difference depending on how many crinkles you have in the foil (which no one asks about) than the side of the foil to use (which keeps being questioned). And even then the difference still so small that it doesn't matter in cooking.
 
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