Turn on the television any day of the week and soon you’ll be meeting professional and amateur chefs from around the world grinding, stirring and seasoning rating winners like America’s Test Kitchen, The Great British Bake Off and MasterChef: Australia.
Interest in cooking has exploded and, as a result, sales of kitchenware. Silicone products, in particular, have seen a great increase. Watch any chef on TV and it won’t be long before you see him creating a wonderful dish with the help of silicone baking sheets, sheets and mats, spatulas and molds.
With popular TV shows promoting silicone cookware, it’s no wonder home cooks are buying these products in ever-increasing quantities. The world-famous John Lewis department store in London, for example, announced in late 2012 that its sales of silicone baking products were up 126% year-on-year.
Silicone itself is a man-made synthetic material created by bonding silicon with oxygen. But what is it about this product that quickly makes it a must-have in the kitchen?
1. Silicone is a non-stick material, which means that food does not bake. This makes silicone bakeware very easy to clean, saving you time and a lot of effort! Silicone Baking Mats can be used on top of baking sheets and cookie sheets, or inside baking sheets, making your silicone-free bakeware completely non-stick.
2. Silicone can withstand heat and cold. Whether you want to store food in the freezer or cook in the oven, silicone is perfect for the job. A silicone baking mat is also great as a countertop sheet for kneading bread or making dough.
3. Silicone conducts heat very slowly, so utensils stay cool even in a hot saucepan and kitchen surfaces will not suffer from scorch marks. When silicone mats are made to include fiberglass mesh, they provide uniform heat transfer, the fiberglass mesh and silicone work together to improve even cooking and browning.
4. Silicone does not degrade over time and does not rust or stain. If it is made of high-quality silicone, your bakeware can be used thousands of times.
5. Silicone is very flexible, so it can be bent or squeezed in tight storage spaces. This also makes it easy to remove cakes and muffins from silicone bakeware.
6. Silicone is a soft material and your utensils will not scratch or damage non-stick pans.
7. A silicone baking mat can be used more than 2000 times, so there is no need to buy parchment paper or other disposable liners / sheets. The environment will thank you!
Now that we’ve established the many reasons why silicone is so popular, let’s look at the safety issue: After all, silicone is man-made, and for food preparation purposes, it will be used to make something you love. you will take to the mouth.
Not all silicones are created equal, and as a result, quality and safety must be considered.
When purchasing silicone cookware and baking mats, make sure they are FDA (United States) and LFGB (Europe) certified; This means that it has received food grade certification and is safe to use for cooking and baking.
If you haven’t used silicone cookware and baking products, or tried silicone baking mats, you should consider trying them, but make sure they are certified. It could revolutionize the way you cook. And anything that makes home cooking easy is a real benefit in our busy, time-strapped lives.
