[eclectician]

How does it do when compared with a good aluminium or steel pan?

Even browning / crusting?
Heat conduction?
Durability?

Does silicone do better in some shapes than others? For instance, would I be better off using a silicone muffin tin and a metal cake pan, or the other way round? Or is one simply better than the other no matter what I'm using it for?

Thinking of going silicone, unsure whether it's worth the extra money.

Thanks!

[scott123]

That's a really good question. I'd like to know the answer to that myself.

My gut feeling is that silicon is not nearly as conductive as aluminum.

Are silpats made from the same material? I'd like to know the thermal conductivity coefficient (TCC) for those as well.

[phatch]

I don't think the silicone bakeware has the glass threads running through it. I think they were included in the Silpat for thermal conductivity.

Phil

[scott123]

Originally Posted by phatch

I don't think the silicone bakeware has the glass threads running through it. I think they were included in the Silpat for thermal conductivity.

Phil

That's fascinating, thanks!

[phatch]

That's just me guessing. I don't know that for a fact.

Phil

[Mezzaluna]

I have two 9" cake pans and some muffin pans. I haven't made cakes, just muffins so far. (I don't do a lot of baking.) But I don't think they brown quite as well. That said, they have their charms: easy clean-up, and you can fold or roll the cake pans for storage.

[Salthouse]

I am more likely to bake breads than cakes, but when I was going to bake a cake for a friend I bought two silicone cake pans. I was happy with the results in general. I also bought a loaf pan. The cakes turned out well, but I did learn that it is a good idea to lubricate the pan in some way. It also helps to remove the cake from the pan while it is still hot. As it cools, the water condenses making it stick to the pan.
I used the loaf pan to make banana bread side by side with the non-stick metalic pan. I was disappointed for two reasons. First, the crust wasn't quite as good. Second, the weight of my banana bread pushed the sides of the pan out distorting the shape.

[Dagger]

I bought a set of them form collections.ect for $9.99. They made a rose and sunflower cake and muffins. I tried the muffin pan with Pillsbury crainberry cake mix sold around thanksgiving and they turned out fine. The browned fine and came right out of the pan with a sunflower shape top. A pastry cheff at a nursery cooking show says these are the greastest invention in baking that has come along in a good while.

[phatch]

I baked two 9" round cakes tonight. Performance was good for cakes.

Phil

[ricib]

Last summer Sams had a Kitchen Aid set of 4 yes 4 Silicone "pans" for like $29 I should ahve bought more, thats how great these things are. The package came with a loaf pan, 2-10" cake pans, and a 12 (lg) muffin pan WITH a wire muffin carrier. The retail on the loaf "pan" alone was $25.

I've since picked up other brands of silicone and had just as good or better results with them. There is a slight cleaning issue with the KA brand though. I spray them with bakers release and even after thouroughly washing and drying, there's still residue from the release. They claim you don't need it, but it will stick without it sometimes. It also takes a bit of getting used to at first.

A few months ago, I was at Target and found some silicone mats on sale (clearance) because I couldn't justify buying silpats at $40 each to fit my hald pans. I haven't usd those yet, because frankly It's hard to beat parchment paper sometimes.