Silicone bakeware

[iontrap]

My wife and I were at Target last night when we saw several types of silicone bakeware. I like the possibility of it being easy to use and easy to cleanup.
Does anyone use it? What is your opinion?

 

[tom slick]

I'm curious also. I know that different tpes of cookware materials cook differently, i.e. ceramic bakeware, cast iron...

 

[Gurkha]

The advantage of silicon ware is that finished product comes out with even finish and comes off easily but I would be wary of anything like silicom or teflon in utensils,have you tried dual layered baking trays called Airbake.

 

[stringsattached]

I have a Silpat mat that's worth it's weight in gold.

Haven't burned any cookies in years.

I've also seen the silicone muffin tins and loaf pans, but I don't know if they work or not. If you get a set, let us know how they do...

 

[oilyriser]

Is thi silicone as in rubber?

 

[sprintman]

Keep well clear of Teflon coated cookware. Very bad news indeed.

 

[robbobster]

Why is teflon bad?

Is it bad on just utensils, or is it just bad all around?

 

[sprintman]

Been on the news a lot lately. Bad on cookware as it breaks down.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=31356&st=30

 

[jmacmaster]

Yeah, according to the most recent media scare, we're all gonna die from all the Teflon we've been ingesting from our, our friends', our relatives', our neighbors', and our restaurants' Teflon coated cookware. Me, I still prefer the old, well-seasoned, cast iron cookware. As I always say (and it drives my wife crazy), "The old ways is the best ways".

 

[iontrap]

I'll have to look at them again to see if there is a teflon coating, hadn't considered that posibility.
The muffin pan is the one I want to get, the metal ones don't get clean in the dishwasher.
I guess you could call it silicone rubber, that's what it feels like.

 

[moribundman]

Actually, the news media reported that the risk of getting cancer from teflon-coated cookware was minuscule. It's been know for decades that overheated, burnt teflon can be quite lethal, so that's something to avoid.

As for cast iron pans, well seasoned, they do contain a layer of carcinogens that is probably not any less dangerous than teflon. I myself like clean stainless steel or ceramic cookware.

Silicon molds and baking mats are great, but don't burn them. For certain cakes and cookies that you want to brown a lot, silicon is unsuitable (no broiler allowed!)


PS: I'm waiting to hear that oxygen, which is already very corrosive, is also a carcinogen.

 

[moribundman]

quote:

---

The muffin pan is the one I want to get, the metal ones don't get clean in the dishwasher.

---

Butter the muffin pan and sprinkle with plain, fine breadcrumbs. Shake off any excess breadcrumbs. Nothing will stick and clean-up will be easy. The breadcrumbs won't affect the taste of the muffins at all.

 

[Gurkha]

http://www.mercola.com/display/PrintPage.aspx?docid=32118

http://www.mercola.com/2005/jun/7/teflon_toxicity.htm

Check those links out,EPA has admitted to cancer link with Teflon.

My family has been using cast iron for as long as their existence,also its a common cooking utensil medium in eastern region of Bengal,no cancer cases there,only with onset of non stick becoming chic here in India,cancer cases have gone up.

 

[sprintman]

We flicked all our Teflon stuff some time back. Use ScanPan NewTek now. Great stuff

 

[Crashbox]

I'll stick to my cast iron frying pans any day! (Or maybe I won't stick

)

I have long favored cast iron- it's pretty much all that Mom ever used. So maybe there's a few polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons floating around on it; no worse than mildly burnt toast!

I did see those silicone thingies at Costco a few months ago- admittedly they looked kinda neat.

 

[Gurkha]

Scanpan is really good,even though the initial cost is high,its well worth it,have few of their pans around and still doing very good after 16 years or so of regular use.

 

[Shannow]

moribundman, as to oxygen, I've read that a life devoid of contact with oxygen will prevent a person dying of cancer.

 

[robbobster]

O2 is good
O3 may not be (at least in your body)
O by itself is a free radical, I believe

So yes, oxygen can be harmful!

 

[oilyriser]

In fact, air with as little as 1% oxygen can cause death in less than an hour.

 

[Razl]

Silicon sheet pan liners like Silpats are excellent for general baking, such as cookies. They bake even and stuff slide right off without any greasing required.

The silicon muffin and bread pans are not so good. Structurally, the pans are very flexible and the food can come out distort or tend to break. Plus, it just doesn't brown right. The surfaces that are in contact with the silicone have a weird glazed appearance.

So for cookies and hors d'oeuvres, go for it, for muffins, bread, and cakes, stick to metal pans.