Notes

[alt-text]  

Large slab of a beef roast, closely wrapped in a plastic bag. Seems to be hot, with visible condensation collecting in the bag.  

[transcription]

# Another unthinkable new idea from the Boil-in-Bag people. Roast-in-Bag. 

 ## Scotchpak Oven Film 3M Company 

If you think Scotchpak Boil-in-Bag heated up the frozen food business… wait’ll you see what Scotchpak Roast-in-Bag does! Or better yet don’t wait. Send for some samples and invent yourself a whole new line of moneymakers. 

We’ve been experimenting with this wild new idea for months. We’ve oven-cooked just about everything roastable or bakeable in our Scotchpak Oven Film from frozen, refrigerated and room temperatures. And we still haven’t figured out how far this thing can go. 

We do know some surprising things: nearly all meats, fish, poultry cook faster… brown up beautifully right in the bag without hand-basting… lose less weight in cooking… retain natural juices better than in open cooking. And they seem to tate better probably because less flavor escapes into the oven. 

Now… what do you do with this new idea! Obviously a whole array of poultry products will be packaged in our new Roast-in-Bags. Totally practical. Frozen fresh pork and beef roasts, packaged and trademarked (Scotchpak Oven Film can be printed). Frozen dinners, over-wrapped or under Oven Film lids, fish fillets, breadstuffs, ready to go from freezer to oven in see-through, faster-cooking, better-browning Oven Film. And built into every product is better value and higher profit potential. 

And for you, it can all begin with a letter (on your letterhead, please) asking us for information on Scotchpak Oven Film and your free Do-It-Yourself New Product Inventor’s Kit. 

Here’s the address: 3M Company, Film and Allied Products Division, 3M Center, St. Paul, Minnesota 33101. 

[additional notes]

This products raises the concern of microplastics and how safe film is for oven applications. While I can think of some modern frozen meals with a plastic film as a cover that you perforate, baking an entire beef roast in a plastic bag seems mildly alarming. This product is also not an agent, but rather a technology in the frozen food sector. Rather than doing the freezing, this products offers a better way to cook the frozen food, adding to the taste and convenience consumers could now expect from food. The discussion of browning, weight retention, and juicy-ness were interesting to me since that’s what is still desired in the cooking of meat. While roasting may not be done similarly, techniques like sous vide still use a bag method to ensure the same properties in meat. 

(Anna Guan)