how come aluminum foil doesn't get hot in the toaster oven?
it does but instead of getting hot it melts
Do they make a small Silpat that size?? I have seen the silicone you cut to fit, maybe that could work. Or parchment paper would be the disposable way to go...
If you use a toaster oven to 'toast', it may not be on long enough for the oven itself to get hot. In this condition, most or all of the heating done is radiant. Under radiant heating, shiny aluminum foil does not absorb the heat as rapidly as your cheese toast and stays cooler. If you are heating for several minutes, with the element off much of the time (like a conventional oven), most of heating is convection and conduction, and everything in the oven will reach pretty much the same temperature. Note also that the specific heat of aluminum is low and the foil is thin, so can't hold much heat by itself. It's also a good conducter of heat, so the foil will cool rapidly if more of its surface is touching cold material than hot material (steam counts as hot material). Hope this helps.
