276889 Mon Mar 07 09:18:23 -0800 2005 9 31 Home Cooking 0 1461946 Silicone bakeware abounds... and it's so pretty and easy to clean!!! However, my mum says that it doesn't really crisp anything (eg. give a loaf of bread a crust) or even brown things enough (chestnut bundt cake). I want to buy a mini-madeleine tin, but don't know whether to go with a silicone or normal model; I don't want the madeleines to look like they're been steamed; I want the outside part to be slightly less yielding to the teeth. I also was thinking of being sacrilegous and experimenting with the mold and left-over cake batter (think: madeleine-shaped muffins), and so I definitely want to be able to cook something a bit longer than I would a madeleine to get a browned, slight crunchy-crust sensation. Are some things more suited to silicone than others? Do you adjust cooking times? Any experience with silicone that you could share would be appreciated! Mon Mar 07 09:18:23 -0800 2005 0 kate 1 1461954 I have silicone muffin pans and really don't like them. I sprayed them with cooking spray and now there is a polymerized, sticky coating that WILL NOT come off (yes, I've tried to clean them 12 different ways, including the dishwasher). The muffins don't brown as nicely inside the pan as with conventional pans. Muffins baked in a lightly-sprayed alumninum tin brown well and come out easily and the pan is easy to wash. What is the big benefit? Mon Mar 07 10:19:30 -0800 2005 1461946 0 Buttercup 1 1461959 There are some things they are great for; super sticky foods for which there is a challenge in the pan removal process, for example I make a pumkin chocolate chip cake that gets so stuck to conventional pans it gets ruined. However, I do not like to use them for banana bread or certain muffins because they do not brown. But my almond madeleines need the silicone so I can push them out (they too get frustratingly stuck in metal pans). I do like that the pans cool off very quickly. I have both in my house but do end up using the metal ones most of the time. I will say that I find the cooking time is about 5 minutes less. Mon Mar 07 10:49:12 -0800 2005 1461946 0 Keri T. 1 1461978 For madeleines, do get the plain metal ones (no non-stick). They work best. I chill them briefly, then brush with melted butter. Never had a sticking problem. Madeleines should be slightly browned on the underside, and you'll never get that from silicone. Mon Mar 07 12:44:19 -0800 2005 1461946 0 Sir Gawain 1 1873278 I use the silicon loaf pans when I want the bread to be moist and use the metal pans when crisp is preferred or called for. Spray is not necessary on silicon and has been known to ruin the pans. However, when I make a ice ring for punch nothing beats the silicon for ease of freezing or removal. Wed Sep 13 13:10:57 -0700 2006 1461946 36312 HillJ 1 1873292 I have several silicone bakeware pans and have given up using them. The lack of browning is one issue, the uneven heat conduction is another. They're also floppy so you have to use a tray or cookie sheet to move the filled pans to the oven. I've had cakes baked in separate pans come out as mismatched ovals because the pans don't hold an upright shape. It's a nice idea, just not for baking. For madeleines which need excellent heat conduction to give them their distinctive buttery crust I would neve use silicone. Wed Sep 13 13:15:02 -0700 2006 1461946 12335 cheryl_h 1 1873365 The only silicone thing I have in my kitchen is a silicone hot pad and I use it more for opening jars than for holding hot foods. Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I just don't see the thrill of them. I don't even think they are pretty, they just seem flimsy and too difficult to work with. Wed Sep 13 13:53:23 -0700 2006 1461946 14083 cooknKate 1 1873905 I have worked the pastry station and I have mixed feelings about silicone. Silicone molds do have their place , but I tend to use them for chilled desserts and the few baked desserts that are unusually sticky or shaped in a way that you cannot get the out of a inflexible metal pan. Cakes, cookies and muffins need the convection of metal and the thought of baking Madeline's in silicone is revolting. I love both my anodized and untreated bake-ware from Chicago Metallic and actually prefer it over the much more expensive All-Clad items. Sil-pats are nice to have for tulles and such, but a sturdy aluminum baking pan is much more commonly used in my home kitchen. Parchment paper is the bakers best friend and can substitute for a sil-pat 95% of the time. IMVHO Wed Sep 13 17:07:20 -0700 2006 1461946 22220 Kelli2006 1 1878461 I use my silicone muffin pan to make single serve frittatas. They work great. Easy to pop those suckers out. They brown for me. DT Fri Sep 15 11:38:24 -0700 2006 1461946 11291 Davwud 1 1878859 The only silicone pan we have is a bundt cake pan -- we were always having trouble getting those out of regular pans without breaking them. I have learned from experience to put it in the oven on a baking sheet and then fill it with batter because it's too difficult otherwise to get the flexible, batter-filled pan into the oven. But I'm staying with my non-stick metal pans for my other baking needs. Incidentally, we did a side-by-side comparison baking chocolate chip cookies on parchment and a silicone mat the other night. We baked half the cookies on one side of a large baking sheet with parchment paper and half on the other side of the sheet with the silicone mat. The finished cookies were indistinguishable. Both browned and both were easy to remove from the mat/paper. But after washing the mat twice I still was not able to remove some residue from baking them, so I wasn't so impressed. I'll stick with parchment or just bake them right on the sheet as I always have. Fri Sep 15 15:32:04 -0700 2006 1461946 12341 vanillagrrl