The string you cook with is butcher's twine, also sold as kitchen string or cooking twine. It is the string butchers and cooks use to tie meat and poultry so it holds its shape. Ours is the Professional Butcher's Twine, and it is cotton: the product page gives the material as food-grade cotton and lists the twine as food-grade certified, heat resistant and heat safe. It comes on a 500g reel (approx 600m), from £9.99 + VAT.
Below: what butcher's twine is, how it differs from the string in a garden shed or a parcel drawer, and what to tie with it.
What string can you cook with?
Butcher's twine. It goes by several names, including kitchen string, cooking twine and butcher's string, and they all mean string made for tying food. We can answer for the reel we stock, so here is what its product page says about it.
- Material: cotton. The page gives it as "Food-grade cotton" and lists the twine as "Food-grade certified".
- Heat: the page lists it as "Heat resistant" and "Heat safe".
- Type: "Kitchen-grade string" with a fine twine construction.
- Use: the page lists it for meat tying and cooking, and for meat preparation, roasting and trussing poultry.
- Size: a 500g reel (approx 600m).
Can you use cotton twine for cooking? Cotton is what our cooking twine is made of, and its page lists it for meat tying and cooking. What we cannot do is vouch for cotton string bought for another job, such as a ball of garden twine or parcel string. We know what is in our own reel, and that is the one we can speak for.
The Professional Butcher's Twine is sold in packs of 1, 5, 10 and 50 reels. Here is what each pack works out at per reel, from the live pack prices:
| Pack | Pack price | Per reel (pack price divided by reels) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 reel | £9.99 + VAT | £9.99 + VAT |
| 5 reels | £39.99 + VAT | £39.99 ÷ 5 = £8.00 + VAT |
| 10 reels | £69.99 + VAT | £69.99 ÷ 10 = £7.00 + VAT |
| 50 reels | £299.99 + VAT | £299.99 ÷ 50 = £6.00 + VAT |
Per-reel figures are rounded to the nearest penny. Every pack is the same 500g reel (approx 600m).
What is butcher's twine, and how is it different from other string?
Butcher's twine is string made for tying food: a joint, a rolled roast, a whole bird. Butchers use it at the counter and cooks use it in the kitchen. The names overlap, and our own product title shows it: the same reel is called Butcher's Twine, Kitchen String and Cooking Twine. If a recipe asks for any of the three, it means this kind of string.
What is it made of? Butcher's twine is usually cotton. Ours is: the page gives the material as food-grade cotton.
Butcher's twine vs string. String is the general word. Twine is string made of strands twisted together, and butcher's twine is twine made for the kitchen. So all butcher's twine is string, but not every string is butcher's twine.
Butcher's twine vs regular twine. The difference is the job each one is made for. Regular twine, the ball in the garden shed or the parcel drawer, is made for the garden, for parcels or for crafts. Butcher's twine is made and sold for tying food. On our reel, the page sets that out in its own words:
- "Food-grade cotton" as the material, and "Food-grade certified"
- "Heat resistant" and "Heat safe"
- "Kitchen-grade string" with a "Fine twine construction"
- "Excellent tensile strength" and "Superior knot hold"
Those are the page's claims for our twine. We do not make claims about string we do not sell.
What to tie with it
What string do you use to tie meat? Butcher's twine. The page lists ours for meat preparation, roasting and trussing poultry, and says it is "Perfect for all meats". For loose herbs and spices, a bag does the job a tie would otherwise do, and our White Cotton Garni Bags close with a drawstring.
| The job | What the tie is for | What we stock for it |
|---|---|---|
| A joint of meat | Keeps it in one compact shape | Professional Butcher's Twine (the page lists roasting and meat preparation) |
| Rolled or stuffed meat | Holds the roll closed and the stuffing in | Professional Butcher's Twine (the page says "Perfect for all meats") |
| Poultry | Holds the legs and wings in place, which is what trussing means | Professional Butcher's Twine (the page lists trussing poultry) |
| A herb bundle for a stock, soup or sauce | Keeps the herbs together so they come out in one go | White Cotton Garni Bags (the page lists bouquet garni, stock making, soup preparation and sauce infusion) |
How tight to tie, which knot and how long it cooks are recipe questions, so we leave them to your recipe.
The garni bags are 100% pure cotton with a drawstring closure. The page lists them as washable and reusable, heat resistant and boiling temperature safe, and lists easy retrieval and no herb escape among its benefits. Beyond bouquet garni, it lists them for spice blends, tea infusions and mulled wines. They come in Small and Medium, in packs of 25 to 1,000, from £8.99 + VAT for 25 Small bags.
The rest of what we stock for the kitchen is in our Kitchen collection.
Frequently asked questions
What string can you cook with?
Butcher's twine, also sold as kitchen string or cooking twine. Ours is the Professional Butcher's Twine: its page gives the material as food-grade cotton and lists it as food-grade certified, heat resistant and heat safe. It is a 500g reel (approx 600m), from £9.99 + VAT.
Is butcher's twine the same as kitchen string?
Yes, in practice the names are used for the same thing. Our own product title calls one reel Butcher's Twine, Kitchen String and Cooking Twine.
Can you use cotton twine for cooking?
Cotton is what our cooking twine is made of: the page gives the material as food-grade cotton and lists the twine for meat tying and cooking. We can vouch for our own reel, not for cotton string sold for other jobs.
What is butcher's twine made of?
Usually cotton. Ours is cotton: the page gives the material as food-grade cotton, with a fine twine construction.
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