Silicon bakeware

[Cranky Dog]

Anyone have any experience with some of those silicon cookie sheet, muffin pan, etc?

We have some quality silicon spatulas and they are amazing compared to the old rubber variety.

I know the science behind it, heat transfers through the silicon at the same rate as the air around it so it cooks more uniformly, yada, yada... But how good does it work in practice? Will my cookies burn less on the bottom and eliminate the guess work in getting the right timing?


Cranky Dog
"I have a silicon filled opinion, international!"

[silverwhisper]

i don't know either and am most curious to learn more, too.

[Ladyfyreyes]

I've seen them but haven't tried them. They felt "oily". I was concerned with being able to clean them throughly.

[Parzival]

Love them! They work great.

Cleaning them isn't a problem, they go right into your washing machine.
But make sure you give them at least a good hand washing before using them for the first time.

[Amso]

I have a silicon cookie sheet liner and although I washed it really well before using it the first time the whole apartment smelled like hot/burning rubber the entire time the batch was cooking. I was kind of scared to taste the cookies, but the smell didn't transfer to the taste and my pan was a breeze to clean. I give my liner 1 1/2 thumbs up. The smell was a turn off.

[silverwhisper]

AMSO, are you referring to a silpat? b/c my wife has 2 and they've never done that.

[silverwhisper]

is that what the kids are calling it now? :D

on a slightly serious note: the korean dish jjigae is served in hot (!) stone bowls in many restaurants.

[Water Jess]

My boy's mom uses silpat baking sheets and I loooove them. (She cooks for her church alot and I help out for the biggest dinner of the year.) They do feel a little oily but they aren't difficult to clean... believe me, I had to bake 6 cakes in a ridiculous amount of time with them and the baked-on stuff came right off. I just love cooking in her kitchen, she always has the nicest/newest gadgets.

[Stephane]

I'm on a diet, damn it. Stop that!

[Cranky Dog]

Love them! They work great.
Do they really cook as evenly on top and the bottom as they say they do?

How rigid are they? I don't like the idea of needing a pizza platter to take it out of the oven as it droops down in the middle if I grab it by the edges.


Cranky Dog
"I have a uniformly baked opinion, international!"

[Parzival]

Pretty close to the claims, actually.

They're pretty floppy. You can put them on a cookie sheet before baking to solve this. <shrug> But ours has mainly been used for cinnamon rolls, so it hasn't been much of an issue.

[Cranky Dog]

While I haven't tried the silicon mats, I can't imagine that they would duplicate the properties of stone in that regard.
I don't think so either. A bit of reading says that one of the properties of pizza stones is being porous, which helps take away moisture from the crust to make it crispy.

Haven't had homemade pizza in ages. And it's giving an idea for another thread.


Cranky Dog
"I have a pizza stone opinion, international!"

[Amso]

AMSO, are you referring to a silpat? b/c my wife has 2 and they've never done that.

Nope, mine's a KitchenAid silicone baking mat