RE: What is the difference between tin foil and aluminum?
aluhm > 12-28-2017, 09:40 AM
In today's world, they both mean the same thing. However, back before WWII, or thereabouts, the metal foil used in the way we now use aluminum foil was actually made of tin. Real tinfoil is no longer used, but it can still be bought costing over $100 for a 50 foot roll. It possessed most of the properties we now accept as normal for aluminum foil although it was stiffer and not as strong, and I don't think you could put it in the oven without it melting, but it looked and worked pretty much the same. In the days before plastic wrapping, metal foil was the only choice, and tinfoil was the only metal foil. After WWII, aluminum became widely available and was cheaper than tin. It was said that tin also gave a metallic taste to food wrapped in it, which aluminum doesn't.