silicone bakeware

Has anyone used silicone for baking?  Did you like it or not?

 I use it almost exclusively.....have for about five years.  LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT !

I use mini-muffin cups to make appetizer things like quiches and spinach souffles.  Love them.  I also have silicone egg poachers called poach pods that I use to cook hard boiled eggs, individual quiches, etc.  Can't live without those.

Ann

Hate them.  I have some of the muffin cups, and some silicone liners (Silpat and others)

Instructions say not to put the muffin pans on a cookie sheet when baking--but those things are too flimsy to pick up.  Especially when hot.  And try positioning the muffin pans on your wire oven racks so they're all level without a sheet supporting them.

Instructions say not to grease or spray the pans, nor to use anything sharp like a knife.  So I lost fully half of each muffin when I tried to removed them--they stuck so badly.

There are some questions about the safety of using silicone for baking.

I'm very sensitive to smells and tastes.  I cannot eat food baked in or on silicone because of the 'plasticy' taste it imparts to the food (not everyone is sensitive to this, but many are).

I like a nice crisp golden crust on my baked goods--you can't get that in silicone.

Hard to store the silpat things--you aren't supposed to roll them, because it can damage the interior fibers.

You'll find, though, that there are as many people who like silcone bakeware as who hate it.  I'd suggest, if you asked because you're thinking of buying some, that you find a friend who has some and borrow it to try out before investing a lot of $$$.  Who knows, if they feel as I do, they may just give it to you.  If you can't do that, I'd start with just one piece to try, before you buy a bunch of something you may end up shoving in the back of the cupboard and never using again (of course, with it being flexible, you can squash it, and it won't take up a lot of space, if you never use it again--LOL)   Oh, and I'd strongly recommend against giving it as a gift unless you know for certain that the person you'd be gifting it to has used it, likes it, and doesn't mind that there are health questions that have yet to be answered with the stuff.

Now, I will conclude with this--I did find one good use for those muffin pans.  I put paper liners in them (that eliminates the sticking problem, and the chemical taste leaching into the food), and I use them in my microwave to make quick, individual cheesecakes--only takes 4-5 mintues to bake a cheesecake muffin in the micrwave.

 This question was asked once before and I still hate the stuff!

Bread comes out looking anemic. Someone thought I needed to try it and I did and I gave it back. I even purchased Madaline pans and ended up selling them at a garage sale. The cookies wouldn't come out of the pan. The bread wasn't browned and really didn't look appetizing.

Good luck tho. And like someone else suggested borrow it from someone first before you invest in it. It is kind of pricey.

Definitely read the instructions that come with your bakeware...

Mine says to put the muffin 'pan' and cake 'pans'  and the  'sheet' on a cookie sheet to stabilize them (and to leave them on it to bake, as well).  Mine also say to grease and flour per recipe instructions, just like regular metal pans.  I've never had a problem with sticking.  I let the product cool briefly (just like I would for metal pans), then pop it right out.

My cakes and muffins have a nice 'firmness' on the outside and my breads bake just fine (and aren't anemic looking.  The crusts brown up just fine for me and everyone I share my breads with....)  My chocolate, sugar and caramel dessert decorations and garnishes come off them with ease.

I have no issues with staining, or cleaning them - I throw them in the dishwasher on lazy days.  I roll them up on the shelf I store them on.  I've used the same set for years now.  I have 10 different sized sheets/mats, many of each of the 6, 8 and 9 inch rounds, 12 loaf 'pans', mini and regular sized muffin 'pans', several decorative cake ones (the rose one and the bundt are the favourite for requests)...    I even use them at work now, because they save so much space on our shelving.

I haven't noticed a strange smell or taste from them and I'm normally very sensitive to rubbery or plastic tastes, too.  None of my guests or customers have mentioned it, nor complained about it either (We have thousands of guests a day at the Casino).

 Amen, arcacia !  I think the key words are, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS !!  I've always had excellent results, just as you have and I also roll them up in the cabinets.  The various pieces are sooooooo inexpensive nowdays.....Aldi had them for $3.99 each and you  can buy sets at stores now for $10 for several pieces.  I think it is a marvelous product for intricate bundt cakes.  I have the rose petal design and comes out beautifully.  One of the keys is cooling to the proper temp before trying to remove from pan.  And aren't cookies great, how they just SLIDE off the baking sheets ??  Peanut brittle just lifts off in one gigantic sheet. Many, many virtues.

I'm using the rose one as the top part of a tiered cake this weekend for work for an anniversary party.  I wish we were allowed to bring cameras in (but I can't due to security regulations).

I  make a lot of caramel-sugar 'glass' decorations for my desserts at work and I'd never be able to get them right without a silpat or silicone mat.  I can't even begin to imagine how one did it before these were invented LOL