I have some frozen chicken parts, and the foil is really wedged in there. They were meant to be unwrapped, chisel a few pieces free, then re-wrapped the rest to return to the freezer, and thaw a few. Or maybe just patiently thaw the mass overnight, then unwrapped.
But I too impatient for that right now. So I just plopped the semi-unwrapped block of frozen boned chicken thighs into simmering water. The foil will be free, soon enough. Is this bad in any way? We used to use aluminum cookware (maybe I still do?) Is aluminum foil boiled in chicken both bad, for some reason?
I don’t think you’re in any danger. AFAIK boiling aluminum foil is not going to cause it to leach chemicals or anything. It’s certainly not going to melt.
Acidic foods like tomato sauce tend to break down the foil, but that’s not the case here. Agreed, though, you have to make sure there aren’t any torn bits in there.
Is small amounts of aluminum safe to ingest? Because that’s the only problem I can see. AFAIK aluminum is pretty inert, but I’m likely wrong. And when I mean small amounts, I mean little bits of foil that might have torn off the main chunk and you can’t quit fish out. I’m quite certain the temp is too low for any to melt or chemicals to leach off into the water.
Biting down on even a small piece of foil produces horrible results - so be sure to COMPLETELY remove all the foil after it’s freed from the frozen mass and you’ll be good to go
Meh. I’ve consumed small pieces of foil while hastily chomping down on a burrito or stuck to the bottom of some food to no ill effects. I think he’ll be fine.
Thanks guys. It’s just two hard frozen boneless chicken thighs I’m making stock out of. I got the big chunks of foil out, and there won’t be little bits left over. i do know that tiny bits of foil produce a horrible electrochemical reaction with people’s dental fillings, so I will strain carefully.