Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I bought a small silicone bakeware for a dozen mini-muffins and I think it's quite good. Please share your opinions of silicone bakeware. Am I correct in that it eliminates the need for oiling the bottom (using Pam, etc.), and also the bottoms of your baked goods can't get burned?

Sometimes the bottoms come out a little soggy. It isn't as much a problem in the mini-muffin pan, but I don't care for the larger ones. I've also had uneven cooking issues in a silicon bundt pan. I LOVE the cookie sheets.

I still add a small spritz of the baking Pam, but not as concerned with it as I would be in a metal or glass pan.

Well I just made Isa's corn muffins in the mini-muffin mold, and the bottoms burned. Fortunately I've learned the trick of taking a grater and abrading the burnt part off. I have some things to figure out -- one of which is my oven may be too hot.

I haven't figured our oven out either. In my apartment with the bare bones no-feature oven, everything came out perfect, but my mom's new fancy LG oven with convection settings and a 2" thick user manual just seems weird. Temperatures are accurate, but sometimes cooking times are way off.

Do you have an oven thermometer?

That's interesting, thanks. My stove is an electric, not super modern. I find I usually have to shave at least 2 minutes off of any of PPK's cookie recipes, otherwise they come out like jaw breakers. I finally discovered the virtues of using parchment paper and that really has helped in saving the bottoms from burning.

No I don't have an oven thermometer ... been meaning to get one.

P.S. The corn muffins are delicious. I love the lemon zest and never go wrong doubling or tripling the amount called for.

It's not about silicone muffin pans but I don't recommend baking big cakes in big silicone pans (especially shallow and really wide) since taking them out may be a little bit difficult.

I hate silicone bakeware. I've never, ever had baked goods turn out the way they should when I use it.

Yes. Metal all the way.

I found silicone really difficult to get properly clean. It always seemed like it had some kind of weird skin on it, like when you take a shower and rub an area of dry skin and bits of skin rub off. I don't want to think about that going into my food.

And yes, they're difficult to move into and out of the oven. I also still have problems with things sticking (which might be a consequence of not getting them properly clean).

The only one I like is my loaf pan, but that one is really rigid, and I usually only use it for bread.

I got a set from my mom a couple years ago. I let my ex keep a few pieces (the muffin pan and the cookie sheet).

I agree with lavawitch on the bundt pan. It's nice cuz it doesn't stick, but problematic in that it does stay in shape in my over, so therefore I get lopsided bundt cake. I haven't used the round cake pan much. I do, however, like the loaf pan. I made corn bread in it and it came out perfecto. Nice and firm and golden on the top and bottom.

When I bake in silicone I use a pizza stone in the oven. It seems to help with evening out the temperature (I have an old cranky oven) and eliminates the soggy-bottom issue.

Hmmm, I guess from what all of you are saying that it depends on what size silicone mold is being used. My dozen mini-muffin mold seems to work fine and I also like that I don't seem to need to grease it. But now I would hesitate to buy other sizes. Then again, Bed Bath & Beyond has a pretty liberal return policy, so I could try them and see. Thanks for all the feedback. :)

I have a silicone loaf tin that I love - it never sticks and I wouldn't go back to using a normal loaf tin.

I hate my silicone muffin pan. The muffins stick to it on all sides no matter how much I grease it, and it never gets clean. It has stab marks from prying with a knife and grease marks from baking all that cooking spray. Even though a nonstick version would probably work better, I'm liable to get a metal pan next time.

Well, things do cook faster and at lower temperatures in convection ovens...

My mom bought us a bunch of silicone bakeware, but we never had any luck with it. I stick to (no pun intended) metal for baking. That + some pam + some parchment + some bake even strips makes everything even and pretty (well atleast most of the time).

Convection is just a setting; we have it on conventional. But the problem is even with correct temperatures some things take a long time. I have to add 3 minutes to most cookie recipes.

To the ones who LIKE their silicone loaf pans- what brand do you have? Sweetheart bakes our bread for us, and one kind he bakes is Danish rye bread. He uses metal loaf pans and he hates how difficult it is to get the bread out after baking. Using parchment paper as a lining puts strange patterns into the bread. He used a silicone mini loaf form I bought for making margarine and the loaves slid right out, so he asked me to buy him some full size silicone loaf pans. The amazon reviews are all over the place, so I haven't been able to choose a brand to buy him, and would appreciate some advice from people who like their loaf pans!

My mother bakes professionally, and hates it. Things like being warped by cakes and bread expanding/rising as they cook, pushing the sides out and ruining straight edges.

As others mentioned, it is difficult to get completely clean and I've found it gets very sticky with age. I have a load of muffin cases, which are very pretty but the hassle of cleaning all the little sticky bits out of every single one actually puts me off using them sometimes. I think I've actually bought little paper cases since (but not used them yet).

My loaf pan is Aldi's brand (Aldi Süd). I haven't used it for bread yet, just nut roast, but my friend used it for bread and asked me to buy her one, so she liked it. I also have gugelhupf (tall conic bundt cake) pan and tart crust pan (haven't tried that one yet, it's for tarts where filling doesn't need to be baked).

My muffin silicone pan is Tescoma, I bake portioned bread in it. I also have Jysk and Zenker silicone muffin cases. I find everything from Fackelmann of bad quality (Zenker is Fackelmann), but I bought them because I found them in pretty colours.

I have used these Aldi's silicone baking sheets for over a year, for potatoes, vegetables, burgers, they are stained now and somewhat sticky.

I also have these Aldi's flower and tiny gugelhupf muffin pans, but I use them for pudding, panna cotta etc.

When cleaning muffin cases, I turn them inside out.

I have a silicone bundt pan that serves me just fine, but I'll never buy silicone again. My glass baking dishes are my favourite.

I'm not a fan. As others have commented, the stickiness and lack of reliability drives me crazy. Also, I always manage to rip tender things because it flops about and you grab it in the wrong place and all of a sudden you've squished something.

My question is: Is it safe? I wonder if any chemicals leach in to the baked goods.

I love my silicone bakeware, I do spritz it with a bit of cooking spray mind you and never have issues with sticking or cleaning (I throw them in the dishwasher). I put my muffin pans & cake pans on a cookie sheet so I can get them in and out of the oven easier. For bread though I prefer my cast iron loaf pan.

Someone gave me some silicone individual muffin cups, and they made the muffins taste weird. So I do think chemicals can leach into the food but I don't know if that happens with all of them. I have a silicone loaf pan and cake pans and they don't leave a taste.