Zip-Lock Omelets

[chubbyalaskagriz]

edited-out by original poster.

[Mama Mangia]

DON'T try this at home and we will tell you exactly why. What is circulating around again is instructions on cooking omelets in Ziploc bags. This is not recommended until further research is done on cooking with plastics. There is still question about the cancer causing breakdown of plastics and their contact with food during cooking.

"We have contacted the Ziploc company and they replied by telling us that ZIPLOC® brand Bags cannot be used to boil food. They also told us that they do not manufacture a "boilable" bag.... yet.

"They do not recommend using any ZIPLOC® brand Bag in boiling water, or to "boil" in the microwave. ZIPLOC® brand Bags are made from polyethylene plastic with a softening point of approximately 195 degrees Fahrenheit. By pouring near boiling water (water begins to boil at 212 degrees) into the bag, or putting the bag into the water, the plastic could begin to melt. Might I add that eggs and cheese have fat which gets much hotter than water thus the likelihood of melting the plastic increases.

"It is so easy to start something unhealthy like the idea of a ZIPLOC OMELET. All you have to do is type it up and send it out to everyone you know via e-mail. It spreads like wild fire. The ZIPLOC OMELET instructions start out by telling you "This works great !!!" But who ever started the idea had not contacted the company who manufactures the bag to see if such cooking techniques were recommended. Therefore people receiving the instructions might just assume this idea is safe and it is not.

"The specific concern centers on the possible contamination of foods with known carcinogens that may be present in plastic containers and wraps.

"This issue is certain to generate much research to clarify the potential risks. Until this issue is fully resolved, consumers who want to take a cautious approach should not use Ziploc type bags for boiling food in water or in the microwave. People should continue making omelets the old traditional way until plastic bag manufacturers come out with an approved safe bag that while heated containing food will produce no carcinogens."

According to SC Johnson's Frequently Asked Questions page:
Can I boil in Ziploc® Brand bags?
No. Ziploc® Brand bags are not designed to withstand the extreme heat of boiling.

I also received a letter from Megan O. Maginnis, Consumer Spe******t for S.C. Johnson & Son, makers of Ziploc baggies.Megan was replying to my inquiry about boiling with baggies.
"Thank you for asking about using Ziploc bags to make omelets. While we appreciate hearing about new and innovative ways to use our products, we must be cautious that these new ideas follow label directions.

"Ziploc bags are not designed or approved to withstand the extreme heat of boiling and therefore, using Ziploc bags to make any recipe that requires the bag to be boiled is not recommended.

"Like all of SC Johnson's products, Ziploc bags cam be used with confidence when label directions are followed. All Ziploc containers and microwaveable Ziploc bags meet safety requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for temperatures associated with defrosting and reheating food in microwave ovens,as well as room, refrigerator, and freezer temperatures.

"Please share these facts with others who may have this misleading information. We also encourage people to go to Food Storage Ziploc® Bags and Containers for more information on the proper use of this product."

Ziploc is a registered trademark of the SC Johnson Co . If you have concerns about cooking with Ziploc bags, you can call the SC Johnson Product Safety Department at 1-866-231-5406. They will address any questions you may have.

[CanMan]

I totally agree with Mama Mangia. Maybe someday the product will be different, but right now the fun and convenience is not worth the risk.

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Hell-fire! Maybe that explains this green hump growing out of my back and the pink hair sprouting outta the tip of my tongue! Yikes & Yozwa! Good info guys- thanks for setting me str8!

[Mama Mangia]

LOL - CAG - you gave me a good laugh with that one!

BTW - ditto with plastic bags period - DO NOT USE ANY PLASTIC BAGS FOR ANY FOODS, FOOD STORAGE, ETC. UNLESS THEY ARE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO BE USED FOR FOODS.

No grabbing the 13-gallon white plastic can liners to hold fresh homemade breads, cakes, cleaned lettuce and greens. etc.

Something in the plastic leeches out and gets into the food - even though you are not cooking in the bag!

[Mama Mangia]

I think this whole thing started when wa-aa-y back in "the good ol' days" they (company) came out with frozen sandwich fixings like turkey or roast beef in gravy - in a boil-in-the-bag pouch. Just boil water, drop the pouch in and boil "X" amount of minutes, cut the bag open and deposit on your bread or rolls for a hot sammie or add a salad and veggies and have a meal for one!

So, of course, not knowing any better many felt that they can now put food items in plastic bags and heat in boiling water. And of course, information was not as available as it is today.

Give me the really good ol' days - before plastic bowls, plastic wraps, etc.

[chubbyalaskagriz]

It's so kooky because I can't think of hardly any food that plastic doesn't touch- hot, cold or otherwise- even during the cooking/heating process. Just last night at work I ate Lean Cuisine Sausage & Ziti from packaging that likely had ounce-for-ounce as much plastic in the box as it did food. Nuked it in the black plastic tray with the clear plastic film folded back... Same with my spinach salad- came out of plastic that it had likely lived in since God was a boy! As I departed work this morning an arriving first-shifter had just nuked an english-muffin/egg/bacon breakfast-sammie in this neato plastic bag with these silly perforations in it to supposedly keep the muffin from getting steamy-wet.

Having been in Alaska for so many years (which admittedly- AK is usually very behind all things "trendy"...) and cooking high-volume foods mainly from scratch, I haven't seen many of these ingenius "new" things on the market. Helll- one can now even microwave plastic tubs of Campbell's Soup and Chef Boyardee Pastas- completely encased in weird little plastic coffins w/ holes poked in the top! Maybe you've all seen these items for years- but since I've been in a frozen "coma" up north for over a decade, some of these things are amazing me!

[StickyPirate]

You know, Chub, your Alaskan way of life is better on so many levels. Cooking from scratch is better for you, tastes better, uses less packaging to pollute our planet, and when made with local ingredients, supports our local agribusinesses.

Piffle on food in plastic coffins, I say! I'm with Mama M. But what can I carry my PB&J to work in?

[KYHeirloomer]

Just a sidebar on the "transference of carcinagens."

Most of this actually started in the '70s, with the search for a plastic bottle that could hold carbonated beverages (read "beer").

Most experiements were with polymers, and there was a lot of concern about the migration of free monomers.

Even though nobody knew whether or not free monomers even existed, or, if they did, if they migrated into foodstuffs, and, if they did, whether that meant anything from a health concern, by Gawd we had to be concerned. Cuz if all that did happen, by definition, free monomers were either an adulterent or an unspecified additive. Either way, and depending on which gubmint agency you listented to, it would make them an illegal and, by definition, a health hazard.

Congress even got involved, and held several hearing on the subject. Indeed, I testified at one of them.

Enter Dr. Gilbert, from Rutgers' food science school, who explains to the Congress of the United States, in all its dignity, that even if free monomers do exist, so what? They cannot migrate into the food, because Maxwell's Demons will keep them out.

Don't be alarmed, I will explain.

Dr. Maxwell was one of those 19th century "thought scientists." Most of them were German, but he happened to be Scottish. Maxwell addressed a non-problem (later, when thermodynamics became a science, it would become real---a rare instance of a thought scientist "solving" a real problem) having to do with the transference of particules through a permeable membrane. Nowadays this has to do with diffusion and osmosis, but nobody knew from such things.

At any rate, Maxwell posited that the reason movement takes place in only one direction (for instance, from greatest concentrations to least) is because if you magnified the membrane it would look like a wall full of open doorways. He called them gates. And in each gate sat a demon, directing traffic. Molecules could only move in one direction because of that.

Can you imagine. Congress hearing such nonsense? Never mind that Maxwell's Demons is a fully accepted idea in scientific circles. Congress wasn't having none of it.

In the Congressional Record, to this day, it is known as "the Gilbert effect."

[chubbyalaskagriz]

But the concern of the day for me is: will eating boloney wrapped in a red rubber sleeve make my arm-pit hair fall out? And when my broken thumb heals, will I be able to play the piano?