How to Use Twine in Your Kitchen

Butcher’s twine, also known as cooking twine and kitchen twine, is durable, low-stretch, oven-safe, and often made of cotton, polyester / cotton blend, or linen.

Uses: Butcher's twine is perfect for trussing poultry, tying roasts to ensure they keep their shape, securing stuffed meats, and tying off a bundle of herbs. Butcher’s twine can also be used to tie off sausage or for smoking, drying, or curing meats.

Typically made of cotton or a polyester / cotton blend, this twine is food-safe but not intended for cooking. It is a durable twine with some stretch that often comes in different colors or striped.

Uses: The durability and visual appeal of baker’s twine make it perfect for tying off bags of cookies or candy, securing a cake box, or to add a decorative touch to your plating.

Often made of polypropylene, this twine has minimal stretch and is not recommended for use with food. This twine is highly durable and its waterproof design resists rotting and mildew.

Uses: This twine is great for general and industrial uses. Its durability makes it ideal for securing items in your distribution center, food truck, or retail shop. Use it to keep your storage areas organized by keeping newspapers, cardboard, bins, and crates bundled together.

Cotton is one of the more affordable, versatile materials for twine. It’s food-safe, oven-safe, and strong, making it ideal for cooking or crafting. Plus, cotton is a renewable resource so it's one of the more environmentally-friendly twines.

Uses: Cotton twine is best used as butcher twine since it’s oven-safe; however, its durability makes it an excellent twine for securing boxes or keeping food items bundled together.

Made of 100% hemp, this twine is environmentally friendly and usually compostable. Perfect for securing or tying, this low-stretch, durable twine is food-safe but should not be used with heat or put into the oven.

Uses: This sturdy twine is ideal for securing shipping packages, inventory, and homemade or homegrown goods at farmers' markets without worry. This twine can also be used similarly to baker’s twine to add a natural decorative touch to your food items.

An affordable twine made of 100% jute, this twine is also environmentally friendly and usually compostable. Jute twine is a food-safe, durable product with low-stretch and is not recommended for use with heat or in an oven.

Uses: Jute twine is perfect for adding a rustic, natural decoration to your food display. It’s great for securing packaging and even for hanging herbs. Use jute twine in your garden to gently hold up plants or to hold picked vegetables in bundles.

Linen, a material made from flax plants, dries faster than most natural materials, giving it antibacterial properties. Linen is durable, oven-safe, food-safe, and low-stretch, and out of all the natural twine materials, linen is one of the strongest and holds knots the best.

Uses: Linen twine is perfect for hanging meats for smoking purposes or for tying roasts and stuffed meats. Due to its strength and antibacterial properties, this twine is also is the ideal natural twine for use in shipping facilities, storage areas, and warehouses.

Polyester / cotton blends can vary greatly and depending on their thickness they can have different properties. Thicker twines made of this blend are durable with some stretch, while thinner, colored versions of this blend tend to have a greater stretch and are more suited for decoration or crafting purposes.

Uses: When this blend is used to create a thinner, colored twine it's ideal for adding a pop of color as a bakers twine and it can be used to spruce up packaged goods or for adding an eye-catching element to your table setting. As a plain, thicker twine it can work well as a butcher twine.

Polypropylene is extremely durable and has little stretch. It resists rot, mildew, and moisture damage, making it the longest-lasting twine material; however, it is not food safe and is best suited for industrial tasks.

Uses: Twine made of polypropylene is perfect for securing inventory, cargo, and storage containers. Use polypropylene twine in damp, dark areas since it resists moisture damage and rot or use it with heavy items since it's durable and low-stretch.

• Environmentally friendly
• Food-safe
• Some materials are oven-safe
• Will not affect flavor of food
• Not all natural twines are oven-safe
• Some natural twines may drop fibers during use
• Not water or oil resistant
• Less durable than synthetic twine

• Strong and durable
• Affordable
• Resistant to oil and water
• Resistant to abrasion
• Some materials are not for use with food
• Not oven-safe
• Not environmentally friendly