Customer Reviews

SiliconeZone 11-by-15-Inch Non-Skid Flexible Cutting Boards, Set of 4

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I think I've pretty much done my whole review in writing the title. You get FOUR cutting sheets for around several dollars each. The cutting sheets are extremely durable - unable to be cut through unless a concerted or intentional effort is made. They come in four colors - RED for Meat, GREEN for Vegetables, ORANGE for Poultry, and BLUE for Fish.
And since they are color coded." And the set of different colors means you know which has been used so you don't have to wash it everytime, since you'll remember if it's clean or not.

One side on each sheet is "rubberized / siliconed" backed so it doesn't slide around on the counter. A good thing. A bit confusing though - on the instructions it states "The sheets should be HAND WASHED with NON ABRASIVE CLEANSER". But here's a pleasant suprise since so many kitchen items now can't be - IN THE SAME INSTRUCTIONS IT STATES -"THESE ARE DISHWASHER SAFE". Which (IF ACCURATE) makes me feel better that the set can get REALLY sanitized in the dishwasher! Each sheet is 11 X 15, a good usable size for ALL of the items I use a traditional cutting board for. You can fold them and put cut up food into pots without losing alot like solid boards. And roll them up for storage in a kitchen drawer or when picnicking, etc

I'm happy with this purchase. It is an excellent value on a well designed and made product. And it's a kitchen item I've been looking to get when I found the "RIGHT" combination of value, that is well designed and well made. Here it is! Finally found it!
A happy HOME CHEF!
John Row

I loved loved loved these at first- they're cool, they're pretty, they store rolled up, and they make transferring veggies to the pot a snap. However, my opinion quickly changed. The sticky backing started rubbing off after a few weeks, and the boards do not stand up to use with a Chinese meat cleaver. Now, let me assure you that I was not overly rough with the boards. I always made sure that the backing was side down on the counter, I don't even own a dishwasher, I wash them with Seventh Generation all natural soap, which is extremely mild, and I followed all their directions. There's supposedly a guarantee, but I couldn't find a way to get in touch with the company, so it did me no good. So alas, it's back to old fashioned cutting boards for me! I would only suggest buying these if you don't cook a lot and only use them for light tasks like chopping vegetables.

This is a set of four very thin plastic cutting boards at a fairly cheap price. If that is what you expect, great! From the name of the product and description, I was under the impression the boards were made of silicone. Unless this is a hard form of silicone I haven't seen before, that is not the case. These boards do have small silicone feet all over the bottom of the board to prevent slipping, and this does work fairly well. The cutting surface, however, is plastic.

These boards are extremely thin. If I had to estimate, I'd say 1/16", maybe even thinner. Because of this, I am somewhat hesitant to use my expensive knives on these boards. It's not that I'm afraid of cutting through the boards - I was intentionally rough on the boards when I got them, trying to cut through them just to prove to myself that I couldn't, and they held up quite well to my sharpest knives. However, I'm not convinced that they are thick enough to protect my blades from dulling from the hard surface beneath the board. Also, I wouldn't trust the boards for any sort of cleaver use - even if the board remains intact, the surface beneath could easily be damaged.

The boards will pick up cosmetic cuts and scratches rather quickly. This doesn't bother me - it's a cutting board after all - however if you're worried about the appearance of your cutting boards, you'll probably want to look elsewhere.

I have purchased a total of 5 sets of these mats and up until my last purchase in December 2003 was blissfully happy. I love this product and I use them all the time.
However the last set I bought for my Mom was defective and when I attempted to contact customer service - I didn't get any help. I finally talked to someone who assisted me and promised a replacement set was "on the way." However 4 months later I haven't gotten it and the message on their 800 customer service line is that they are closed indefinitely. Ahhhh!

I was looking for a flexible cutting board that I could pick up, bend, and dump my chopped whatever into the pan. These boards deliver with one small challenge: not all the stuff comes off, so you are left with vegis stuck to the boards and have to scape them off or tap the board on the side of the pan. Not a biggy, really. I like that I can whip one out of the cupboard and slap it down on the counter and make sandwiches on it without having to worry about whether the counter is dirty....we live in a very dusty, sooty city. They are non-skid, which is perfect. They are much easier to handle than my oversized wooden cutting board or my plastic cutting board that I have to put a non-skid pad down for before I use.

They are very thin, sort of like the Tupperware roll-up pastry board. They do show cut marks from the first, but so does any cutting board! I own Henkel knives, both serrated and straight edge, and am not at all concerned about cutting through them. I certainly wouldn't use a meat cleaver with excessive force on one though!

The color coding is pretty.. but I don't pay attention..I use all four for everything. It's nice not to have to wash a cutting board in between steps, that's for sure. Cut/chop your meat, place the board aside and grab another board. Cut chop your vegis, place the board aside, grab another, slice your bread, and so on.

They clean up well and fit in any sink...because they're flexible! :)

My kids also use them for playdough! They will pick up the playdough scent, so dedicate one to just that!

Hope this review helps!

Overall, I'm really happy with the cutting boards. The non-skid backing works great on the countertops. The only thing that I don't like ishow my knives have left marks on the board. I don't think I'll cut through the boards, they seem pretty tough. But now they don't look as nice as when I first bought them.

Since I had time on my hands, I visited the SiliconeZone web site. It was well designed and fascinating, especially the history of the company. In order to test customer service, I expressed the above customer's concerns and asked what the outcome would (should) be. Within a day, I receved the following email (excerpt):

"Since we do not usually issue returns directly to the consumer, it is Amazon that is not responding to this customer. Our policy is to work with the retailer when they report a problem to us. The retailer we hope will have assisted the consumer with whatever issue they may have with the product. We then issue a credit to the retailer or a replacement product depending upon the retailer request.

We do not have a toll free number, but the retailer know(s) how to reach us and we are extremely responsive to their requests."

A few days later, I received another email from SiliconeZone:

"Generally, we ask the customer to return (it to) the point of purchase since the financial transaction happens between the consumer and the retailer. They (The retailer) should take back the product or exchange it. If not (exchanged), they (the customer) can send the product to us for replacement; however, we need proof of defect (the product back).

We do not have an 800 number yet, but we are working on it.

Happy Holidays,

Michael Karyo
CEO, SiliconeZone"

I think this is just awesome! How many times have you seen a customer service response from the CEO of the company?!? And this, over a $10 item!

I received these yesterday and think they are perfect. They are made in China and you will want to get some 'Ronsonol' to clean the tape backing from them before use. Due to lack of space, I placed one on an old (unsanitary), over-the-sink, wooden cutting board. This took care of providing a 'cushioned' surface (a complaint another reviewer raised). Using my heavy chef's knife (Think 'Psycho'!), I chopped up some carrots, celery and onions (using the pale green cutting mat) and had no problems with wear.
These cutting mats are stiff and not at all like the SiliconeZone silicone baking sheet, so they do not 'roll up', as the baking sheet does. Because they are flexible, they can be bent comfortably to carry the chopped results to the cooking vessel with no muss or fuss.

All-in-all, I don't know how a reviewer can give these any less than 5-Stars. For price, quality, ease-of-use, and variety, this set is without peer!

Thank you Amazon and SiliconeZone!

02/02/06 Update: These grip the old over-the-sink cutting board so thet there is no slippage. They are very tough. I have excellent knives that are kept razor sharp. I have lightly scored the red (meat) mat, but that is to be expected. My very sharp Calaphon meat fork did not even make a discernable dent in the mat. These are just an excellent value, especially when you compare them to similar products available on the Amazon site.

02/04/06 Update: One thing these cutting mats are not is (high) heat resistant. I placed a hot pizza stone on one without even thinking of the consequences. When I cleaned the stone this morning, I discovered the mat had molded itself to the bottom of the stone. I would still highly recommend these, put do keep in mind, as other reviewers have stated, these are not silicone.

I got these boards because I was setting up a kitchen and knew I wanted multiple boards, but didn't want thick ones. These boards are great.
-The colors are helpful for distinguishing between the different uses. I can pull out the red one any time I deal with meat, then toss it into the dishwasher and move on to vegetables without worrying about transfer of bacteria.
-The silicone is a nice material for the kitchen, and the thin boards are flexible enough to facilitate dumping chopped food into pans.
-The non-slip bottoms are a great idea--who wants to use a knife on a shifting surface. They are also well-executed in that they really don't seem to slip.
-I've used mine as trivets of a sort--they seem to take heat well while protecting my table or countertops.

I purchased this set because I was sick of cleaning the typical wood cutting board built into the counter. What I wanted was something that would fit in a drawer, clean easily, and allow me to prepare ingredients without cross contamination.

Upon first use, I noticed that both chopping and slicing at usual speed and force were out of the question. The plastic is flexible but easily chips when chopping with the force required to dice a russet potato, this is most evident as the bright colored pepper contrasts starkly with the insides of a potato. Although I only saw this once when cutting a wheel of cheese, slicking may also remove a thin curling bit of plastic which is simple to remove.

After running through the dishwasher the third time, 2/4 have become too brittle to be of any use. Of the remaining two, both have creases from areas where the material didn't stand up to knives and the sheets tend to flex in these areas which means they probably host a family of nightmares.

Since I like to avoid adding more stuff to the landfill than is necessary, I have used the green one for a template stencil, red for a lens filter, blue for a wind chime, and orange as a warming gel that goes around some five year old compact fluorescent lights which put out harsh light compared to the newer ones.

Update: These are increasingly finding a new career in my kitchen as funnels and guards. Flour, chopped bits, anything finely ground tends to stick-and-release at times, causing the sudden avalanche to overshoot the destination container (e.g going from flour bag to storage bottle). These work nicely to form a funnel-backsplash to keep the flour off your counter. Of course, you can chop on them too. I use these so much for this I've bought thicker, but slightly stiffer IKEA flexible chopping boards to help out with the stuff below. They're cheaper.

If you need to drizzle stuff into a mixer or even a blender, these work great too. Beats parchment funnels any day.

I use one of these as a secondary board under a smaller board for electric knife cutting. It's a pain to get the crumbs off the counter, so when I'm done cubing baguettes for fondue, or cutting bagels for breakfast, or trimming a round cake, I can simply clean up my counter by dusting crumbs off these boards into the sink.
When chopping vegetables, I also use a traditional cutting board, but with one of these boards underneath. Either it catches unwanted bits that I can easily toss into the disposal, or catches the chopped bits to funnel into the pan or pot (depending on the choppee)
So I don't know if they're great boards or not, but they are great mats with the added strength of accepting a stray stroke or two of the blade. Mine have lasted fine over several months.