Customer Reviews

SiliconeZone Standard Baking Mat

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My first experience with a silicone mat was nothing short of a revelation, so I went on a mission to see if the several brands available offered anything the others lacked. In my opinion, this one performs as well as the others that I have used (which is to say it's fantastic). I use them for pastry, cookies, and any other baking that normally threatens me with over baked bottom sides, and breakage due to sticking. I have not used them for candy, but sugar that has fallen from cookies, and carmalized on it's surface doesn't stick in the least. This is a great product.

For roasts, I use a roasting pan. I like to make my own gravy, and I don't see how a silicone liner would help the process.

For pizza, I use an air core pizza pan that is riddled with holes to ensure a crisp crust by allowing moisture to escape rather than turning the bottom of the pie into mush. The same holds true for reheating a pizza. To put a silicone pad between a pizza and the heat source is inviting pizza disaster.

I suspect the bad review was due to a combination of operator error and misunderstanding of cooking concepts, rather than a defective product.

The previous reviewer seemed to have mistaken a baking mat - replaces parchment paper or grease on a baking sheet - with a baking sheet. What it does is provide a surface to which almost no baked products adhere. Why you'd do a roast or pizza on top of it is beyond me. I've used it for cookies, various candied desserts, and a number of things where you'd otherwise have to line or grease the baking pan. In each case it performed superbly. It's also incredibly easy to clean (unless, apparently, you do something ridiculous like puncture it).

As background I'ld like to state that I am in no way affiliated with silicone zone the maker of this product. I am also of a technical background and have seen some very amazing technology but this bakeware sheet is really something else.

Anyone that has taken a basic Chemistry class knows that substances made of silicon have particularly nice properties, namely it is extremely stable under high heat.

[...]the silicon(e) material is a compound of silicon and oxygen that shares many of the properties of the elemental silicon which is within it but adds a flexibility that makes it a good candidate for use in many gels, lubricants and even breast implants. Now in the form of silicone zone bakeware we can take advantage of the flexibility and high heat retention of silicone.

Upon first recieving the package I was amazed that the material would resist oven temperatures. When I touched it I was almost *sure* it couldn't. The surface feels tacky, almost sticky and has a high gloss. It feels very much like a place mat but is thinner and more flexible lacking a sponge backing for support. [...]

Inside the material a mesh can be discerned that I presume provides the silicone with needed rigidity. [...]

...it looks a lot like a carbon fiber mesh, the cross hatched weave serving to make the infused silicone *more* rigid.

Yesterday, I removed the sheets from their packages to bake my first batch of cookies. I was still a bit incredulous as to the fact that the package stated the surface could withstand up to 900 degrees! While touching the material you simply are not inspired with that confidence, that is until you put it in the oven. I placed the bakeware on an old "non stick" metal cookie tray that I used previously. (and created many a batch of cookies that refused to be removed unless broken on!) This time only as a backing to keep the silicone bakesheet (it literally is a sheet about 1/32 of an inch on edge) from flexing on my ovens wire grill racks. I loaded the sheet with dough ( I was able to put from 6 - 10 on the sheet depending on how much dough I used per cookie) and then slowly placed it in the oven which had been preheated to 325. There is no need for messy greasing procedures, no butter or crisco or any other anti stick coating is needed on the sheet!

I kept checking it(the sheet not the cookies!) in the first minute to make sure it wouldn't burn and it did not budge. You never get over that after having handled the sheets, they feel like sun light would melt them but they are impervious! Meanwhile the cookies baked up perfectly, medium brown on the edges and bumpy tops. (I made oatmeal-raisin-pecan cookies) 15 minutes later, I pulled the tray out to marvel at the finished product[...]

The silicone bakesheet was cool to the touch essentially *immediately* upon coming out of the oven! Despite the heat eminating from the cookies and the supporting metal bake tray.
After waiting a few minutes for the cookies to cool, I simply lifted the edge of the sheet and rolled over the cookies. They fell off of the sheet without any effort. [...]

Washing off the sheet involved using a soft sponge, a tiny bit of soap and simply rubbing it under running water. No mess, no fuss.

I give the highiest rating for these sheets, the amazing technology will provide perfect baked goods for as long as you care to use them. They are most definitely worth the price given they will last (several) life times!

Regards,

David

I had seen this on cooking shows and wasn't sure it would work. I got one for a Christmas gift and have since purchased another so I always have one handy. I love this liner. I bake on it all the time and wouldn't go back to cooking spray or parchment.

I recently started using my baking mat as a cassarole cover. It works better than aluminum foil and there's no waste. It did need a good cleaning afterwards with a soapy sponge, and it still had a faint bean cassarole aroma. I was expecting that, because silicon is porous and soaks up odors. However, the mat is thin enough that it seems to air out quickly: two days later, it smelled good as new.

Of course it also makes great cookies. I'm going to try rolling out pie crusts on it next.

Love this. This is my first experience with the Silicone mats and I love them. I bought two and made some oatmeal cookies for my gma and they worked like a dream. Plus I just washed them right off with water and the best part is that I don't have to wash the cookie sheets now, they didn't get the slightest bit messy! Very impressed!

Sheet is everything it was advertized to be. I just wipe it off and leave it in the metal pan.

I purchased this mat because it seemed to be comparable to the more expensive silicon cooking mats but I was wrong. The mat arrived with a very strong toxic odor that couldn't be washed away and it is very flimsy - much thinner than other mats. I returned it, spent five bucks more and bought a Silpat which I am very happy with.

I wanted to use this for a flax bread recipe because my spouse is allergic to wheat and yeast, and the recipe I found suggested using parchment paper or a silicone mat. I bought this one after reading some good reviews, and it seems to perform as expected. It arrived rolled up in a tube, and after a quick wash, I molded it into a 10x15" cookie sheet (you can trim it if you want, but I didn't want to), and spread the flax batter. The final result did not stick at all, although the bottom of the bread is not crispy as might be expected from cooking on a standard pan. There was no unusual smell or taste imparted in the final product, unlike some other mats I've read about, and cleanup is a snap. Hope to test it out on some wheat-free cookie batter next.

Used two of these for over a year now, great baking, easy washing, met all my picky expectations. They do not give any burnt silicone smell even at 500 degrees. Perfect. I bought some for my mom and plan to get more as gifts for my friends. They do not need to be stored flat, you can roll them up and put them in a drawer.