Silicone bakeware and kitchen gadgets simplify home cooking

Grandma never was able to fold a muffin tin in half and have it bounce back to its original shape. Once it was bent -- even just a little -- it never worked quite the same.

In today's kitchens, home bakers can roll up a muffin or cake pan, secure it with a rubber band and neatly stow it in a small box. When the band is pulled off, the pan returns to its original shape and size, ready to fill. No chips, cracks, peeling or rust.

Better yet, either can go from freezer to oven, and safely endure a microwave and dishwasher. They are durable to minus-40 degrees and can tolerate temperatures up to 500 degrees.

Silicone bakeware and kitchen gadgets might look and feel like hocus-pocus -- and some performance properties really are amazing -- but their makeup is based simply on the nonmetallic chemical element called silicon and good old oxygen.

Enough of chemistry, except to mention that silicone kitchenware has the safety blessing of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The equipment is bringing new heights and hopes to home bakers. Its surfaces are nonstick -- no more expensive parchment paper to buy -- and muffins, madeleines or cakes pop out with a mere twist of the wrist.

Homemaking maven Martha Stewart was one of the first professionals to introduce silicone kitchenware to American home cooks. Years ago, Stewart raved on her television show about Silpat baking mats, from France, which could be placed on any baking or sheet pan to make the surface nonstick. No greasing required, and they were reusable, perhaps as many as 2,000 times.

Stewart was merely spreading the word already known by European chefs, who have enjoyed the pleasures of silicone baking mats since the 1980s. The initial work to develop silicone -- formally called polysiloxane -- goes back more than six decades, according to Fantes Kitchen Ware Shop's Cookware Guide at fantes.com/cookware.htm . The Philadelphia store, founded in 1906, specializes in utensils for the kitchen.

When Sally K. Frey studied pastry arts in France, silicone baking mats were used for sugar and chocolate work.

"For sugar work, the nonstick mats were an essential piece of equipment and very convenient to use," says Frey, cooking instructor and pastry expert at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh's Culinary Arts program. "I can't imagine a kitchen without a silicone baking mat." At home, she always uses silicone spatulas and pastry brushes.

Easy storage, smooth removal of cakes and cookies, and heat resistance are just a few of the reasons why customers -- including professional chefs -- buy silicone products, including the molds for cupcakes, madeleines, round cakes, Bundt cakes and loaf breads, says Kris Fischerkeller, who works at Balcony Cookware in the Strip District.

"You can actually bend (a mold) and shove it into a tiny space. Cakes and muffins come out very moist," she says. "And you don't need any cooking spray." Balcony Cookware just started carrying a new silicone line by metal cookware company Mauviel. It features 12 different shapes of molds in an array of colors.

Mauviel is one of dozens of companies cashing in on the silicone craze. Tupperware, Williams-Sonoma, KitchenAid, Rival (of Crock-Pot fame), Le Creuset, The Baker's Catalogue (King Arthur Flour) and The Pampered Chef offer silicone products, made of materials that differ in formulation among each.

A leader in the silicone cookware industry is SiliconeZone, which has marketed commercial-quality products for consumers under the brand name Kitchen Zone since 2002. In addition to its initial multicolor 14-item line -- bread, loaf, cake, fluted cake, muffin and angel food cake pans -- the New York City corporation has added a top-seller tortilla warmer/steamer.

Manufacturers also offer a variety of silicone gadgets and accessories -- popular items are pastry brushes, spatulas, and potholders and mitts. With the pastry brushes, there is no worry about a bristle being left behind from an egg wash or gunked-up bristles. Spatulas can make a clean sweep on nonstick skillets and pans without fear of scratches. Silicone mitts and potholders offer the heat resistance of asbestos without the dangerous fibers.

One of the latest products, a silicone rolling pin by Silpin, is supposed to take the headaches out of preparing pie or puff pastry, alleviating tears in the dough and eliminating having to flour the pin or use a stockinette.

For home bakers, Frey recommends silicone baking mats "without hesitation."

"The mats are great for baking cookies," she says. "Cleanup is a simple rinse. As an added bonus, they make great kneading boards. The mats roll up for easy storage. I have used several of the brands available. So far, they all seem quite similar. Silpat was the original, but Silicone Zone is the least expensive I've seen."

Frey says she likes silicone molds for cold or frozen desserts more than for baking. "When making a frozen mousse or a Bavarian cream dessert, the silicone molds work wonderfully," she says.

Traditional bakeware, however, is her choice for baked cakes, quick breads and muffins.

"If I am making something like a madeleine, I use the traditional tins because I found they brown much nicer, and the texture is perfect," she says. Research has shown that the outside of products baked in silicone molds tends to be shiny and light instead of brown, and in some instances, baked goods are done in a shorter amount of time than normal, again reducing the likelihood of browning.

Carefully read the instructions that come with silicone molds and accessories before using them. Each requires different care.

Pros and cons

Here is a breakdown of advantages and disadvantages of silicone bakeware. Depending on its chemical makeup, bakeware will differ in quality from manufacturer to manufacturer. Consumers should read and follow all instructions that come with an item.

Possible positives