Cooking with a silicone matt

[HadEnuff]

I've been watching cooking videos and I am seeing more and more of these silicone matts.

Anybody here have experience with them? Love 'em? Hate 'em?

 

[growing_older]

Love them. I have one that is a nice thick piece of silicone and use it to line a baking tray. But I think there are other kinds. The first one I got was some kind of woven mat with a silicone coating, but not the brand name one. It was useless.

I also have some baking dishes (like cupcake pans) that are made of a similar thick silicone. They are a joy to bake with, although not as non-stick as the mat.

 

[cathy63]

They're great. I have a set of 3 that I got at Costco some time ago, two large and one small. I use them all the time.

 

[6miths]

DW loves them. I got her the three pack at Costco as well.

 

[Rich]

Use a couple on my outdoor grills. Amazing how they keep the grills clean.

Very effective. No impact on flavor.

Rich

 

[Meadbh]

I love them. I have a mat, a set of baking moulds (muffin tray, Bundt mould, loaf tray) and a couple of moulds for making small things, like chocolates. What I like most is the ability to peel the silicone mould off the food item, avoiding sticking.

 

[HadEnuff]

Use a couple on my outdoor grills. Amazing how they keep the grills clean.

Very effective. No impact on flavor.

Rich

Wow, I would not have thought they would survive direct flame. The ones I've checked out say something like "oven safe to 450F".

 

[powerplay]

I have several of the silicone baking mats and love them. They can really make cleanup much easier.

 

[HadEnuff]

I like to roast chicken wings in the oven. I always use a cookie sheet, and the skin sticks to the pan and the pan is hard to clean up. I saw a video using a silicone matt under the wings.

Looked like a winner to me.

 

[Senator]

Wow, I would not have thought they would survive direct flame. The ones I've checked out say something like "oven safe to 450F".

I have a grill mat. It works great on the grill, especially for things like chicken. It was like $5.

 

[MildlyEccentric]

I follow a no oil diet and I use a Silpat silicone pad all the time to cook oil free french fries in the oven. The fries get a nice crisp exterior even though they have just been baked and not fried. I also use a silicone coated USA bread pan so I can bake bread without coating the pan with oil.

 

[calmloki]

Have/had a silicone mat that I didn't care for at all. For cookies or fish or chicken in the counter top oven parchment paper is my go to. Being thrifty, the cookie paper gets used over and over again. Tried a silicone bread pan - hated it, didn't brown the crust well. Pretty sure it would be a bad plan to use parchment paper near an open flame though.

 

[photoguy]

+1 for parchment. I also did not care for the silicone mat. Found it a pain to clean up, and if I'm using it for meat, the juices run off and then I need to clean the pan under it anyway.

With parchment I just fold up the edges of the paper which traps the juices/grease and then throw the whole thing away. No clean up necessary. For cookies/baked goods we can reuse the sheets a few times.