Storage for Silpats

[shallots]

I'm short and Mr. Shallots is tall and he tends to put our Silpats flat on a surface I can't see.
I read that they roll up well, and I'm wondering if anyone has tried long term storage for high use in a wine-rack sort of structure (PVC pipe cut and glued together)?

[chef chicklet]

I have always stored mine in the cabinet over the stove,microwave. Rolled up in their orginal boxes.Never had a problem with curling, and the one I've use most I feel is best. I love these things.

[normalheightsfoodie]

When they are dry, I place a piece of paper towel on it and roll it up and place it in the box that it came in.

[phofiend]

I roll them up and slip them inside a paper towel tube. My silpats are at least 10 years old, and they still look and perform like new.

[Mother of four]

Me too! Very easy way to store them, and they take up very little space.

[Buckethead]

Me three. It's free and works great.

[cook52]

Before I purchase these, I wonder if they are worth the investment, they are pricey. Do they soil easily or can they be washed without damage.

[flourgirl]

They can definitely be washed without damage. I buy matfer exopats instead of silpats. They are the exact same thing and usually a lot cheaper. (I use mine a lot and so far they're great. I've had 2 of them for a few years...)

[jlbwendt]

I just roll mine up, slide on a loose, thin rubber band and put it in a drawer. No problems whatsoever.

[janniecooks]

I have two, one a half sheet size and one a bit smaller. I roll up the smaller one, roll up the larger one around it and store them in a drawer in the space between the drawer side and the organizer tray - it's a perfect fit.

The silpats have not shown any wear or degradation from being stored rolled; before I use them I let them lay flat for an hour or two to remove the curl from being rolled up. However I read somewhere, can't recall where, that storing them rolled can cause the fibers within the silicon to break eventually. I figure if that happens I'll either replace them then or just stick with parchment.

[dscheidt]

Real silpats, and the matfer clones, and some other brands are woven fiberglass, coated in silicone. The silicone isn't a problem with rolling or folding or cutting. It's the fiberglass that can't take folding, or being rolled in too tight a radius; the glass will break. There are now mats made entirely of silicone. They have the advantage of being dishwasher proof, able to be stored folded, rolled, or wadded up into a ball. They work fine for most of the things that you use silpats for, rolling dough on, sugar work, candy making, and so on. They don't work well for things that need to crisp, though, because they're thicker and a better insulator.

[foodstorm]

I used to store mine rolled up, then I'd kick myself for not planning ahead like you do and let them lay out for a while to uncurl. Now I just do what MMRuth does, and store them flat in my sheet pans.

[Mother of four]

That's strange, because I keep them rolled up and as soon as I take them out they lie flat.

[MMRuth]

I just put mine on the cookie sheets, which I store under the counter - don't know if that would work for you. Do you have a lot of them than you need to store?