Customer Reviews

MIU France Silicone Basting Brush with Stainless Steel Handle

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have purchased many regular basting brushes (natural bristles and synthetic)but the results were always the same. I mostly use basting brushes for breads and would always end up with Bristles in my bread. I stumbled upon this type of brush while searching Amazon. I ended up buying this one and really love it! I haven't had it long and have only used it on basting bread but I think it would work really well on any food you previously used bristle/boar type basters on. I highly recommend this baster.

This silicone basting brush is my first foray into a non-boar bristle type pastry brush. I pleased to say that it has been a very positive experience.
Pros:
Very sturdy. Since the silicon is temperature resistant, the bristles will not "melt" when you baste hot pan drippings over your bird.
Easy to clean. You can throw it into the dishwasher without having to worry about damaging wooden handles or melting the bristles. No more having to run the brush under running water with lots of detergent trying to get the bristles clean.
Non-absorbant bristles. Since the bristles don't "soak up" the liquid you're brushing over your pastry (such as melted butter) you don't lose the liquid to the brush.
Delicate action. I've used this brush to brush glazes (melted butter, beaten eggs) over FULLY RISEN loaves of bread. The brush's action is very delicate and did NOT deflate the bread.

Cons:
If you pull it out of the dishwasher immediately upon the end of the cycle watch out! That handle will be hot hot hot! Yes, I realize that makes sense with a metal handle, but you may not think of it off hand.
Non-absorbant bristles. Yes, I know I said that feature was a pro. The downside to this is that you are mostly "spreading around" the basting/brushing liquid over the target. You will have to pour the liquid where you want it, then use the brush to spread it around. Once I realized this, I found it very easy to compensate.
Summary
Sturdy, easy to use and clean, this brush is a winner.

UPDATE: I have used this brush regularly for over three years and it still looks and performs like new! It was well worth its purchase price! 4.5 stars

Agree with the other reviewers, can't go wrong with this baster. clean look, high quality. easy to clean. can't mess with the stainless look. will stay in your top 10 tools for years to come.
Though, it is a little heavier than I expected.

I did not expect this product to function as well as it does. I knew that it would not lose any bristles and that it would be easy clean. However, I expected those results to come at the price of efficiency. I was wrong.

This product works as well as a standard basting brush. It effectively applies the thickest glaze (Garlic, Honey and Balsamic) as well as my "standard" brushes. I like this one so much that I intend to throw away my other brushes once I procure a second one of these.

I highly recommend this product.

Let me first say that this basting brush appears not to be an actual MIU product. It arrived to me with a gold "made in China" sticker on its handle and tag at the end of it that read something generic like "Viking" or "Technique". For whatever the older reviews here tell you, this is apparently what you will receive now when buying this poorly crafted basting brush. I don't know how this is possible or how Amazon (if its a fake) or MIU France (if its real) is allowing this product to go out to consumers the way it does. If I had spent over ten dollars, I seriously would have demanded a refund.

On to the brush itself. The quality you will notice immediately is very cheap. The handle and the head of the brush holding the bristles appear to be of a sturdy, good quality steel that I don't foresee rusting. This couldn't have less to do with using the brush, however. The silicone bristles, bunched together on a sort of pad attached to the head of the brush, at first glance may seem to be removable, possibly for easier cleaning. They are not. They're just not fastened to the steel head securely enough, and as it turns out I'm doing more damage to it by illustrating this construction flaw. Speaking of cleaning, its quite hard to get the bristles completely clean and free of smells, rendering this basting brush only useful as a pastry brush or basting brush, not both (I understand some have a designated brush for both. I did not think this necessary with silicone). Though the silicone bristles don't hold glazes very well, they do trap the odors left behind.

Bottom line: I can give you a myriad reasons as to why not to buy this brush. I was looking for something cheap, sort of entry level, nothing too fancy or high tech. I didn't expect to get low-grade quality. Does it work? Yes. But is it worth having to scrub the smell of last night's barbecue sauce out of it in order to brush the apple juice reduction onto my apple pie the next day? Not at all. For that reason (and many more) I can't say this product is useful. Believe me when I say you will be better served by spending the 12-15 bucks on one of the other quality basting brushes Amazon has.

Update, October 20, 2009: This basting brush is one step closer to the garbage. I recently purchased a $5 no-name, silicone-bristled basting brush in the aisle of my local grocer. Its sadly so far superior to the brush I purchased here. Four months after this initial review, I felt compelled to make it clear to anyone considering to buy this product just how much of a mistake they'd be making. I've used the MIU only 5-6 times, washed and scrubbed it furiously after each use, and as it sits in the back of my kitchen drawer, unused for over three months now, it smells like old dishwater and meat. Its simply unhygienic to use it again. The long handle made it difficult to "paint" on sauces, more like mopping them on with bristles that weren't sturdy enough for their length. In short, if you have $10 to waste then you won't be disappointed by this product. However, if you, like me five months ago, are looking for something of quality and perhaps with a little style and you're seeing all these glowing reviews extolling the wonders of this "perfect" brush...until you run across mine, please understand the reason this review is so long and in such detail (about a basting brush, no less) is because the brush was an unequivocal disappointing mess. I've wasted my time and money with this product, you shouldn't.

The bristles of typical basting brushes become "clumped" with use and are less effective over time (clumped bristles spread less evenly). This brush eliminates that problem. Many little rubber bristles stay perfectly seperated even after many many uses and trips through the dishwasher. This works like a dream for me. If I have any complaint, it's that it's heavier than conventional brushes. However, those who appreciate a quality product may see that as a bonus. The brush is also extremely attractive (more so than the picture shows), it seems like a shame that it's hidden in the drawer all the time.

I have always had trouble with regular basting brushes, as they tend to clump after you have used them for a while. This brush doesn't seem to suffer from this problem. The silicone bristles take a little while to get used to, but once you get a hang of it, the brush is a breeze to use and clean!

The silicone basting brush is sturdy and effective for basting barbeque and other more delicate sauces (butter). It has a sturdy handle with a nice weight and excellent balance in the hand. I am pleased with my purchase.

I guess the one thing about buying online is that the size of things can be deceiving. I like the look of clean stainless steel and the fact that I will no longer have to pick bristles off my foods. However, I was quite surprised by the size of this brush. It's bigger and heavier than I would have liked. I have other metal utensils, but they don't feel this heavy. I would probably order a wood or plastic handled one if I did this over.

As other reviewers have noted, there's nothing on it indicating that it's an MIU France product, but it works very well nonetheless (I used it to spread oil around a very hot cast iron skillet for searing meat, and it didn't melt, which is why I had to replace my last basting brush). It's true that it doesn't carry quite as much stuff as a nylon brush, but it doesn't melt, which is more important to me.