Posted by Les Mauvaises Herbes
You’ve been waiting for it for ages, here it is at last: the DIY guide to making your own eco-friendly, zero-waste food wrap, step by step!
But why, my good friend, should one embark on such an undertaking?
Because making your own food wrap means freeing yourself from a whole host of containers and packaging that are harmful to the environment and our health: plastic boxes (worse, polystyrene ones), the stretchable plastic film that goes by the sweet name of cellophane, aluminum foil, etc. It also means always having a wrap on hand, in the appropriate size!
Step one: acquire some beeswax
You are already facing a first, agonizing choice: where to go?
You could pay a visit to the local beekeeper (in this case, be sure to ask if the wax has been filtered, as it may have been stored in a garage or under a barn and could contain dirt). This first option helps support local beekeeping (and that’s a plus!). Bees, those tireless little workers, always produce more honey than their actual needs dictate. Most small local beekeepers only harvest the excess honey and wax, so as to allow their colony to enjoy the fruits of its labor and stay healthy.
The second option is to shop with us and pick up our raw Quebec beeswax, or head to a small local organic shop to get some precious wax pellets (they are sometimes packaged in compostable kraft paper, which saves you the tedious work of grating!). You can make about twenty wraps with a 400 g package of store-bought wax. In both cases, we prefer local beeswax, as it is much more eco-friendly.
Note that there are vegan alternatives to beeswax: soy wax and sunflower wax! Personally, I haven't tested them yet.
A few preliminaries
Before moving on to the practical side, I would like to tell you a little more about our foragers and this fabulous material that is wax.
In the hive, to protect their honey and keep it shielded from air and light, our little bees fill the cappings with wax. This is harvested by beekeepers after the honey has been removed from the frames, via melting using a wax melter (electric or solar) or a solar oven, which separates the wax from its impurities and honey residues.
Beeswax indeed has a plethora of qualities: it is an excellent fuel (just think of candles), a waterproofing agent (ideal for conditioning leather), a great form of furniture wax (remember that delicious scent when grandma would wax the furniture or the parquet floor), a healing agent (which helps, among other things, to treat damaged horse hooves), a permanent thickening agent, and a fabulous preservative (which is why we use it to make our homemade beauty butters)... The Egyptians even embalmed the bodies of the deceased with beeswax to preserve them better, that says it all!
You should also know that to produce 1 kg of wax, the workers must consume about 10 kilos of honey. Yes, a noble and rare material means a somewhat high price, but it's worth the effort, believe me!
Manufacturing
Enough chatter, the time has come for us to get to some practical work.
When it comes to coated fabric, there are two schools of thought: one that advocates melting in the oven, and the other that prefers the iron technique.
I will therefore explain the steps for each of the two manufacturing options...
To make your wraps, you will need:
- beeswax
- clean, ironed fabric (not too thick), cut to the desired size, if possible with pinking shears. You can repurpose a piece of tablecloth, an old napkin, etc., with the best being natural fabrics such as cotton (preferably organic), hemp, or linen.
- parchment paper
The oven technique
- Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet to protect it from any dirt (beeswax is hard to clean!).
- Spread the fabric on the parchment paper (it doesn't matter which side, as the wax will pass through the fabric and it will be coated on both sides).
- Sprinkle the freshly grated beeswax onto the fabric (or the pellets, depending on the chosen option). Regarding the amount of wax, imagine that once melted, the wax will spread, so don't put too much on it, otherwise you won't be able to wrap your sandwich because the fabric will have become too stiff.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven for 5 to 8 minutes at 210°F (100°C). Keep an eye on it and remove the tray once everything has melted.
The iron technique
- Take out the ironing board and place a sheet of parchment paper on it to protect the cover.
- Lay down the piece of fabric you wish to coat.
- Evenly cover the fabric with grated wax or pellets. Place a new sheet of parchment paper on top.
- Wait for the iron to be nice and hot before ironing the fabric sandwiched between the sheets of parchment paper. Watch the beads melt to ensure that the entire surface is coated evenly.
In both cases, shake the waterproofed fabric, freshly coated, to speed up the drying process.
A few tips
Warm the coated fabric a little in your hands before applying it to containers to help it adhere to the sides.
For maintenance, wash the beeswax wraps with cold or lukewarm soapy water (you want to avoid melting the wax) and let them dry flat. Re-coat the fabric if you find that it has lost its effectiveness.
So, you are now ready to transport your snacks, treats, snacks, cookies, fruits, pieces of deli cheese, etc., everywhere.
The icing on the cake: you will soon notice that your wraps give off the delicious scent of beeswax, which is a nice bonus! And then, of course, it's even better if the contents are homemade!
