Silicone cookware - the bendy stuff!

waterwatereverywhere

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has used this stuff and how it performs?

Saw some in Home Bargains today - a loaf tin style and a square baking tin style for £1.99 each which seems good value. Not a pretty pastel colour like the ones in Morrisons but those are £3.99 each...

Would be glad to hear how they perform in the oven to they cook well and not affect food taste? Do you still have to grease it when cake baking etc?

If anyone knows of any of the pretty pastel ones at a better price I'd be interested too...got to co-ordinate the kitchen!

Many thanks

annie-c

Places like Poundland and What! stock them quite cheaply. I bought 6 silicone muffin cases in pink for a friend's little girl from What! for about 90p.

I think they are just about OK for cupcakes but personally I don't really like them. They don't conduct heat well like proper baking tins and so I don't find them good for bread or heavier fruitcakes. The only one I love is a floral cupcake pan from Pampered chef which was £30 but makes very intricate designed cakes for special occasions. They are very good for detailed cakes as you can sort of ply the cake pan away from the shaped parts without leaving chunks behind. They do need greasing and flouring for intricate cakes or you can get 'quick release' spray from Lakeland.

I bought them because I believed the hype and thought that they would squash up into a smaller space in my cupboards than my baking tins do. Unfortunately, as I can't use them as a replacement for baking tins I have ended up with both sets in the cupboard and I am gradually giving them away....:D

r.mac_2

hi. I think it depends what you are making. Good Food magazine put tins and silicone through their paces a few months ago and came to the conclusion that tins are by far the best way to ensure even and reliable cakes, particularly in larger moulds. I think that cup cake/muffin size ones would probably be okay though....

pollyskettle

I have some silicone baking mats rather than cake moulds etc but in a blind taste test (after a few weeks use so not from new) my parents and my children could all pick which biscuits had been baked on the silicone mats and which on an enamel tray as the silicone seemed to leave a hint of weird taste, if that makes sense.

skintbint_2

have bought a few of these- different sizes and find them awful! you have to grease them really well so the outside of the cake or loaf has a really thick crust as if you dont you cant get them out of the moulds and even then i struggle,so personally i prefer the good old fahioned tins and greaseproof, HTH

Enterprise_1701C

I find they are wonderful! I do grease and flour them, as I do with anything (don't get too many cakes stick!!). BUT - I cook my sponges and the suchlike in the microwave (when I am going to ice them - no colour otherwise).

One tip - if you are going to use the larger ones, make sure you put them on a baking pan, they are very bendy!

System

i used mine once and got rid of them they were an absolute nightmare back to good old fashioned tins for me.

RHemmings

I do like the small silicone cupcake cases. I use them in place of greaseproof paper ones, and that's less waste to go out the door as they're reusable. They don't hold shape, so you still have to put them in a cupcake tray.

As for the silicone bakeware, I found that cakes would stick, so I ended up having to line them anyhow. No gain. I do like the very thin sort of weaved reusable greaseproof paper though. I'm not sure what the official name for it is.

cannyClaire

I have two of the 8 inch round cake moulds from Home Bargains, which were £1.99 each. I found them OK but I wouldn't rave about them. like other posters have said, they have to be greased and floured just the same as metal tins. I find I have to put the moulds on a tray, fill them and and then slide them off onto the cooker shelf.

I bought a blue silicone bread mould years ago from Poundland and found that the sides sagged outwards when it was full and the shape of the bread was affected.

By contrast, I found a cheap shop locally selling two non stick 8 inch cake tins for a pound. they are excellent!

SUESMITH_2

i agree with what everyone else says, i bought them cos i love kitchen gadgets but find thing don't cook as evenly as in metal and they stick, or at least the things i make seem to. they live squashed in a cupboard now.

pleased i found this thread cos i thought it was only me that had problems with them and didnt like em

Miss_Laid

I have the 4 large muffin size, I use it for yorkshires as we don't eat cakes, I find it does a great job