Pink vs White vs Brown Butcher Paper: Which One to Order

What is the same across all three colors?

Pink, white and brown butcher paper share one basis weight: 40 lb. Pull a sheet of each and the hand feel is close. The differences come from bleaching and coating, not from a heavier or lighter sheet.

Every color comes on a standard core that drops into a counter dispenser. Every color can be cut into sheets, and the pre-cut sheet sizes are the same across the three.

On the shelf you tell them apart by eye, not by feel. Pink has a warm salmon tone, white is bright, and kraft is the tan of a grocery bag. Hold one of each up to the light and all three show the same fiber pattern.

• 40 lb basis weight on pink, white and brown
• Rolls measured in inches wide by feet long
• Pre-cut sheets from 12 x 12 in up to 24 x 36 in
• A free design proof on any printed run, in every color
• Minimum order of 1,000 sheets or one roll

Pink butcher paper: the smoker's paper

Pink paper is uncoated and breathable. There is no wax and no poly on it, which is the whole point. Steam leaves through the sheet, so a brisket wrapped at the stall keeps its bark instead of steaming soft.

Some suppliers call it peach paper. Same thing. The color comes from the pulp, and it hides grease stains far better than white, which is why steak counters line their trays with it.

It carries a quiet second job in a butcher shop. Lay it under chops in the case and the pink tone makes the meat look fresher than white does, while the fat that weeps out disappears into the sheet.

If your business smokes meat, this is the first color to stock. Read what the uncoated sheet does over a long cook on the pink butcher paper color page.

White butcher paper: counter, table and sandwich wrap

White is the bleached version. It comes uncoated, or waxed on request. Uncoated white is what delis use for sandwich wrap and what restaurants roll out as table covers. It looks clean and takes crayon or marker well.

Waxed white holds moisture longer. A hot sandwich with a sauced filling stays off the bag and off the customer's lap. It is not the sheet for a smoker, because wax and heat do not mix.

Delis that write the order on the wrap pick white for one more reason. A marker shows up clearly on it, and a printed order line in black ink does too.

White is also the brightest print surface of the three. More on that below, and on the white butcher paper color page.

Brown kraft butcher paper: unbleached and plain

Brown kraft is unbleached and uncoated. The fiber keeps its natural tan, which reads as rustic on a tray or a tabletop. Food trucks and butcher shops like it because it looks like a market, not a lab.

Because it is uncoated, kraft lets steam out much like pink does. It does not hide a dark grease spot as well. Most people use it where the paper is seen before the food lands on it: liners, bags, table runs, retail wrap.

One dark ink on kraft is the cleanest look in the catalog. See the full range of jobs on the brown kraft butcher paper page.

Which color fits which job?

Most buyers can settle this with the table. Match the job in the left column and read across. Where two colors both work, the first one listed is the usual pick.

Table covers are the one job where width matters more than color. A 36 in or 48 in roll covers the table in one pass, and either white or brown will do.

How does each color handle heat, grease and moisture?

Heat first. Pink and uncoated brown go straight into a smoker running 225 to 275°F. Uncoated white can too, though the stains show. Waxed white stays out of the smoker and the oven.

Grease next. All three uncoated sheets will take on fat over a long cook. The paper darkens and goes translucent where the fat sits, but it holds together. Pink hides it. Brown shows it a little. White shows all of it.

Moisture last. Uncoated paper breathes, so wrapped meat loses a little surface water and keeps its crust. Waxed white traps that water, which is right for a sandwich and wrong for a brisket.

A quick bench test settles arguments. Lay a sheet of each over a bowl of hot water for a minute. The uncoated sheets go limp and damp on top because steam passed through; waxed white stays dry and beads underneath.

Which color prints best?

White gives the truest match to a Pantone solid coated swatch, because there is no base color under the ink. Four-color work, light tints and a logo with a specific red or blue belong on white.

Pink and kraft tint whatever goes on them. A yellow on kraft goes olive. A pale blue on pink goes gray. So print dark: black, deep brown, navy, a dark red. One color, sometimes two.

Think about where the logo lands, too. On an 18 in sheet a 3 in mark in the corner shows after the fold; a repeat every 8 in shows wherever the customer looks.

If you are weighing a repeat logo against a single mark on the sheet, the printed butcher paper range shows both on real paper.

How to pick a color in five steps

1. Name the hottest place the paper will go. Smoker or oven means uncoated: pink or brown. Counter only means any of the three.
2. Decide if grease will be seen. Hidden grease wants pink. Grease that the customer never sees can go on white or brown.
3. Decide if moisture should stay in or get out. Out means uncoated. In means waxed white.
4. Look at your logo. Light colors, tints or four-color art go on white. Dark one-color art goes on pink or kraft.
5. Check the width you need against the typical sizes on the product page, then ask for a written quote.

Mistakes to avoid when switching colors

Buying waxed white because it was cheaper somewhere and then putting it in the smoker. The wax goes soft, the bark goes soft, and the pitmaster blames the paper.

Printing a pale brand color on kraft. The proof will show it muddy. Change the ink to a dark one or change the stock to white. Do not approve a proof that looks wrong on screen hoping press will fix it.

Ordering pink for a dine-in table cover. It works, but the grease marks from a plate show less on white, and white takes a crayon better for kids.

Mixing colors on one counter without a reason. Pink for the smoker, white for sandwiches and brown for bags is a system staff can follow. Three colors used at random just confuse the line.

How to order the color you picked

Plain paper in any color skips the proof. Pick the roll or sheet size, tell us the quantity, and the exact price comes on a written quote within one business day. Printed paper gets a free design proof first, with unlimited edits.

Production runs 4 to 6 business days after the proof is approved, or after the quote is accepted for plain stock. Free tracked delivery reaches any US address 2 to 3 business days after dispatch.

Not sure between two colors? Ask for both on the same written quote request form and compare the lines side by side.