Is Silicone Bakeware Really Safe?

by Katie on November 7, 2011

The following post is from Katie of Kitchen Stewardship:

source: Mary Amanda Thompson

With holiday baking coming up and gift season to boot, I’ve been thinking again about the safety of silicone bakeware. Silicone pans, baking mats, and cooking utensils are not only a huge trend in the common culture but also touted as a way to “bake green” since you can avoid throwing away aluminum foil or parchment paper if you use and reuse silicone baking mats. They make great gifts since they’re generally both cute and affordable. But is silicone really a safe choice for your health?

I’ve been using the baking mats for years under the pretense that silicone is safe, especially compared to the hazards of aluminum and the many safety issues surrounding Teflon.

It seems that a few times a year, I’m asked to explain my rationale for choosing silicone bakeware, and since I can never remember the answer, it’s time to officially revisit that issue: Is silicone bakeware safe? Can it leach into the food or offgas into the air?

The Composition of Silicone

Silicone is a synthetic (man-made) material created by bonding silicon with oxygen. I think I often type “silicon baking mats” but that’s wrong – silicone is the material in the bakeware. Silicon is right on the periodic table, a natural element that is in sand and makes up 28% of the earth’s crust. However, I don’t eat on the earth’s crust. “Is a natural substance” can’t be the end of one’s material safety research.

Silicone’s Interactions with Food

Silicone is FDA approved as a food-safe substance. (Note: that sentence means very little, since the FDA approves a whole bunch of things for human consumption that I don’t trust, like hydrogenated oils, for example.) Almost all the sources I’ve found state that silicone is inert, doesn’t react with food or liquids, and doesn’t offgas chemical fumes. Those that stated otherwise were usually single people in a forum or comments railing about silicone being toxic.

Sources that claim “inert” and seem very genuine include Dr. Weil, Scientific American, and the research at Green Living Tips. Sources that claim “silicone offgasses” include the husband of one of my own readers, a material science engineer, who “will not touch the stuff.”

However, there haven’t actually been studies testing silicone’s reactions with food under heat. The “nonreactive” claim is just based on the fact that silicon (the element) is “inert.” Again, let’s be serious: just because something in nature is fairly stable doesn’t mean I’ll necessarily cook and eat on it.

Note: there is a discrepancy between food-grade silicone and industrial grade silicone, just something to take note of when doing research on the safety of silicone in general.

Concerns About the Dangers of Silicone in Baking/Cooking

source: scubadive67

With all of that said, here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Lower quality silicone coatings contain filler that may be hazardous. Most sites say that if any white shows through when you twist your silicone bakeware, there are probably fillers. (Going to the kitchen to twist some silicone, excuse me a moment…)
  • The oils in silicone, which are very powerful and toxic, may “migrate” from the material, but I can’t find any real data.
  • Some sources offer concerns about bright colors and leaching.
  • Some (many?) have concerns about odors during use, but that may be related to the fillers, and not the silicone. I do notice an odor or smoking every so often, especially when oil hits the surface (like when roasting pumpkin seeds tossed in EVOO).
  • Many silicone baking mats are actually made of fiberglass covered on both sides with silicone, so unless you want to risk fiberglass in your food, don’t cut on the mats!
  • It’s reasonably new, so long-term studies haven’t been performed on cookware that has been exposed to high temperatures over very long periods.

The Bottom Line on Silicone Bakeware

I take three issues into account when making purchases for the kitchen: Is it safe for my family? Is it safe for the planet? Does it make the act of making food easier or tastier?

Is it safe?

Just because there aren’t many studies done on food safety and silicone that show that it is not safe most certainly doesn’t mean it is safe. All over the Internet, people are basically saying, “I can’t find anything dangerous about silicone, so I assume it’s a safe material.” That’s basically what I’ve said over the years, and now I’ve just contributed another article to the vastness of the Internet that says little to nothing about the safety of silicone. Drat.

The bottom line on safety is:

  • Check your manufacturer for other materials possible contaminating your silicone bakeware.
  • Treat it well – no cutting on those baking mats!
  • If you want to be very conservative, skip the silicone and stick with glass, cast iron, or stainless steel for cooking and baking and unbleached parchment paper if you need something flexible.

Is it good for the environment?

Some sources say silicone can be recycled, which is great. It doesn’t take more energy to create than glass or mining metal for pots and pans, and it is not toxic to aquatic or soil organisms.

So for the earth, silicone bakeware is a fine choice compared to just about anything else out there, and better than Teflon, which contains chemicals that won’t break down at all.

Does it create a happy kitchen experience?

Other than when I get them all stained up, I love my baking mats. They’re awesome for homemade crackers and cookies especially. I also swear by my silicone “spoonula” for scrambling eggs in the pan and other stovetop cooking.

However, many people don’t like the way silicone pans, muffin cups, and loaf pans bake unevenly and don’t properly brown the food. I found the muffin tin to be a beast to clean, much worse than its metal counterpart. I gave mine away after one use and went back to paper liners. The “nonstick” claim leaves a lot to be desired on the three-dimensional products, but the mats are still my friend…unless I decide they might be toxic. Sigh.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Do you use silicone bakeware? Why or why not?

Katie Kimball is a mom of two who spends a ton of time in the kitchen making real food with whole ingredients and then blogs about her successes and failures at Kitchen Stewardship. She believes everything in life is a gift from God and should be taken care of wisely.

  • http://www.techgeekgirl.com/ Michelle Mista

    I don’t use silicone bakeware, more out of practicality since I find most silicone bakeware far too wobbly though I want a silpat for baking. You brought up some great points now; I may have to rethink that silpat.

  • erica

    I love my silpats (pizza, biscuits, cookies, chicken strips, etc), and have had the same trouble getting good results and cleaning from cupcake shapes.  Now I use them as little bowls for the kiddos to eat grapes and apple cubes out of. 

    • http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

      LOL, Erica — we do this with our cups too!

  • Tracy

    I’ve noticed that my silicone bakeware and spatula’s recently started absorbing the smell and taste of our dishwasher detergent.  Then, when I used the spatula in some batter, it actually transferred that taste into the food.  Yes, they were rinsed well.  And I’ve tried cleaning them with regular dishwashing liquid, and soaking in vinegar.  No luck.  I’m totally grossed out by silicone now.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1000890516 Janelle Stewart

      yes!  I have cupcake holders that have absorbed the taste of my dish soap (I have always hand washed them) and definitely transfer that flavor to my muffins.  Yuck!  I thought it was just me but I have gone back to paper liners.  I am still using a silpat though and have loved it.  Sigh.

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Tracy,
      I agree, that’s pretty nasty. I haven’t even thought much about my silicone spatulas, which I use constantly. Are there even any spatulas that are made of something else? Yikes.

      • Carrie Staiger

        Pampered Chef Spatulas don’t retain odors and are very hard to stain (if at all). I’m not sure what they’re made up but they last forever.

  • Kathleen K

    Thank you for the food for thought. I considered buying silpat for baking on my probable aluminum cooking sheets. I don’t think I can go along with the “since there is no information that it is unsafe, it must be okay” standard. Asbestos, lead, hydrogenated fats, high fructose corn syrup, and gmo’s are just a few examples of products that we were told were safe, only to find out with time that they are not. I’d like to see proof from extensive testing before I can trust it. In the meanwhile, I’ll continue to save for stainless steel and glass bakeware and use my cast iron and baking stones.

  • Jen Pagano

    I only use silicone for cold things. I really like it for freezer use – because it doesn’t become brittle as plastic or glass does. I have mini cups that are perfect for making PB cups. But I’m too nervous to cook with silicone. I heard of someone’s husband who worked at a silicone plant and refuses to let his wife use anything silicone because of all the illness around him and toxins given off in the plant.

    • http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

      I love your suggestion to use them in the freezer — it does seem like they would solve some of my freezer issues!

      ———- Forwarded message ———-

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Jen,
      Anecdotes like that do scare me…I just remembered another thing I like my baking mat for, and it’s a frozen dessert treat, as well as covering pans to flash freeze berries. Thanks, Katie

  • Petra

    I love my baking stones…are those bad??

    • Kate

      No!  Baking stones are just stoneware and those are very good. :)  hard to take care of but very safe.  I use mine a lot.

    • http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

      This is just my opinion without a ton of research, but I don’t think stones carry the same questions at all. Here’s a post from another green blogger about them: http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2010/11/using-stoneware-for-baking-and-cooking.html

      • MomLadyOR

        Thanks for the link, Mandi.  Great article.  I too love my Pampered Chef stones and have noticed their quality to be much better than other stones I’ve had.  The “coated” stones make me a tad nervous though.  Even if the coating is just on the outside I still wonder if the heat will cause any leaching into the air and thus my foods.  I’ll stick with the basic, plain, old fashioned stones. 

  • Heather

    I don’t know whether it is truly “safe” or not, but choose not to use it.  A couple years ago, I purchased 2 rather expensive spatulas that were silicone and started to notice that our oatmeal was getting a plastic-y taste to it.  I brushed it aside since it was such a slight taste difference.  Then, I realized that a lot of the foods I was using those spatulas with started to get that same off-taste.  The first time I really knew it was those spatulas was when I licked whipped cream off of one and it hit me — that was the taste!  I got rid of them and won’t buy anything silicone now.

    For cupcakes, I use unbleached paper liners in our non-steel cupcake pans.  Otherwise, I have baking stones — which I HOPE are safe…because I love them! lol

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Heather,
      I love my baking stones, too – they are safe, as far as I know! ;)

      I wonder if different brands/qualities of spatulas have varying degrees of adding taste to food/leaching. Although you just said yours were expensive, so that’s probably not a good theory…  :) Katie

  • Amy J.

    I’ve used silpats for years but will definitely reconsider after reading your article. The only other silicone I have is a spatula and I don’t really like it anyway. Wondering what most of you use for spatulas/spoons? Wood & stainless?

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Amy,
      Um, I use a silicone spatula. Phooey. ;) I also use wood, and a hard plasticky one that I love (spoon)…maybe that’s silicone too? Utensils are even tougher than pans!  Katie

  • Christina P

    My mother-in-law passed some on to me, but they’re too flimsy for me to love them more than my dark, nonstick bakeware. What I do use and love are the muffin cups, because I’m just setting them in a muffin tin like paper cups anyway, so it doesn’t matter that they’re flimsy. I like how they’re reusable, unlike paper liners, and they’re a nice size to give my toddler small snacks in, or to test to see whether noodles are fully cooked (rather than doing like my husband and spooning a BOILING HOT noodle in my hand–no, thank you!).

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Christina,
      I reuse the If You Care unbleached muffin cups! They last through a few batches…  ;) Katie

    • Melanie Conzachi

      Try putting them on a thin metal cookie sheet before you fill them, then put them in the oven, cookie sheet and all.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Elizabeth-Hobbs/100003042251514 Elizabeth Hobbs

    Other than a spatula I don’t have any silicone. I’ve been wanting a silpat for quite awhile. Think I’ll pass on it at least until they know more about it. This raises another question. Who says that the plastics they’ve used to replace the BPA-leaching kind don’t have their own issues? Just because they apparently don’t leach BPA doesn’t mean they don’t leach some other endocrine-disrupting chemical(s).

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Elizabeth,
      totally right – there are already some questions about no. 5 plastic, which is BPA free and the most common for food storage. Sigh. I lean toward glass or stainless steel whenEVER possible, but I can’t freak out about every little thing. I never heat in plastic, that’s for sure…
      :) Katie

  • http://www.shelfreliance1.com Jen

    I am so glad you wrote on this topic because I have always wondered about this and I thought I was the only picky one about things like this.  When I don’t really know about the safety of something I will avoid it, just like I did with teflon long ago.  You are spot on about “trusting”  FDA, EPA, etc. on things like this!  After reading this and the comments I feel better about not using it. I don’t like using plastics but especially colored plastics in my kitchen-even if they are silicon.

  • Heather James

    I love my silpats, and I have silicone spatulas and other cooking utensils (including a pancake-flipping spatula that is the BOMB) that are around 10 years old and have gotten hard use, without picking up any weird flavors or anything similar (if they all of a sudden picked up my dishwasher soap flavor, I’d be re-evaluating my dishwasher soap!  That sounds like someone changed their formula)  I had some silicone bakeware, but don’t like it as well as cast iron, pyrex, or even steel, so I freecycled it on, when I got my good stuff out of storage.  My favorite layer cake pans, bar none, are a cast iron skillet with a matching baking pan/lid.

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Heather,
      You bake cakes in your cast iron skillet? I never would have thought of that. Wow. It’s round, oven-safe – that’s brilliant! Do you have any trouble with sticking? I need to just season mine properly, but I always have trouble with eggs, no matter how much fat I use…
      Thanks! :) Katie

  • Rita

    I got a silpat not too long ago and I love it mostly because my cookie sheets are horrible and it allows me to wait till Christmas to try to get some stainless steel ones to replace them with. I’ve also been wanting to buy some silicone muffin pans but now I think I’ll just do stainless steel for that as well. Thanks for the info Katie!

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Rita,
      Good call, I totally wouldn’t rec. the pans. :) Katie

  • Stefanie

    I also have been wondering about silicone. Like Michelle, I find most of the bakeware to wobbly to use. I do use silicone spatulas. 

  • Tiffany

    I have a Silpat that I use almost every day, I LOVE it. I’ll keep using it until I have more evidence that it’s not safe.

  • Joy

    I have a silpat and silicone spatulas and that is the extent of my silicone cooking materials.  I don’t know if it’s safe or not, but I know that the aluminum cookie sheets I have aren’t safe.  For the time being I’ll use what I have, and watch here for any information about silicone, pro or con.  I haven’t had any of the problems with my silicone spatulas that others have talked about. 

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Joy,
      sounds like a good balance to me! :) Katie

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=146900833 Lauren Allen

    Actually, many parchment paper brands are coated in silicone. Those that are not are treated to a dip in sulfuric acid (or zinc chloride) to breakdown the paper pulp & make it a solid, less-porous surface. The chemicals are then washed off to stop the breakdown. I assume these things are safe, but that’s just my level of comfort. If you really want something absolutely-safe & non-stick, “stick” with healthy, high-temperature fats and some sort of flour for baking.

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Lauren,
      What a tangled web! I use unbleached parchment paper from If You Care, so  I think I avoid all that. Phew! :) Katie

  • MomLadyOR

    Hi Katie, I found this topic a tad humerus for me.  I have purposefully not purchased any of the mats you are talking about because I wasn’t convinced “they’re OK”.  But, at the same time, I have 1/2 dozen spatula/spoons that I use ALL the time and hadn’t even thought of!  I love them as they don’t scratch my expensive pans (Scanpans), they are heat resistant and even stain resistant!  Hum… now what would I use.  The wooden spoons worry me a bit because of mold/bacteria growth.  My pans can tolerate metal spatulas, but if I need to break something (say somewhat frozen ground beef), I’m afraid I’ll nick the surface and I really can’t afford another pan.  But, since they aren’t getting truly hot (just stirring and then sitting next to the pan not in it), is there much opportunity for them to leach anything??  Just a thought…  Thanks for all your wonderful articles and insight!  Keep up the great work.

    • Tle

      I ‘disinfect’my wooden ladles and spatulas in the sun after every wash. Maybe u can try the same in the oven during the cold months

      • MomLadyOR

        Thanks for the suggestion!  Yes, we don’t have a lot of sun, so the oven would be a must.  :)

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      ML,
      I know, I was just commenting above that I didn’t give my spatulas and spoonulas – which I love – a thought! I use wood sometimes too and just choose not to think about it. :) Katie

    • Gail

      Don’t worry about wood!  It’s the most natural thing you can use.  There were studies done a number of years ago (wouldn’t know where to find the research) that showed that wood has a natural antibacterial agent- plastic cutting boards that got cuts in them harbored bacteria, and who knows what leaches out of the plastic!  My grandfather was a butcher…remember butcher block countertops?  He used the same one for many, many years, just scraping it down with a metal scraper every so often during the day.  Interestingly, the floor of his meat room was spread with sawdust, which we would rake daily to clean out the debris. When it got really dirty looking, he’d compost it and put down fresh.  This was also used in the freezer room.  I grew up on that meat and we never got sick from it.
      I love my wooden spoons, spatula, and cutting boards- (and of course my cast iron).  One of my brothers carves the most amazing spoons, spatulas and bowls- I have a spatula out of lilac wood that is amazing!

  • Melsunuk

    Good subject to tackle.  I have a couple white silicon spatulas, but only use them to scrape the sides of bowls (no heat exposure).  I’ve seen too many “approved” products being recalled 20 years later with a flippant “whoops- sorry-about-all-that-cancer” response to trust anything new and synthetic.  I use the unbleached If You Care parchment paper for lining muffin pans and baking sheets, reuse it until it’s falling apart, and then compost it.  Even if I find out when I get to heaven that silicone was completely safe, I don’t think I will have missed much… 

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Mel,
      I reuse If you Care stuff forever, too! Glad I’m not the only cheap, “green” gal out there! ;) Katie

    • Adriana123

      The If You care parchment paper is coated in silicone…

      So upsetting that we have to work so hard to find safe options and when we think we’ve found it, we get disappointed again.

  • Tle

    This post is so timely. I had been wondering about the safety of these attractive bakeware before stocking up on them. I guess for now I shall stick my current stash of glass n steel bakeware. The silicone can just remain for ‘cool’ items

  • Dianna

    When the silicone products came out, I was immediately suspicious….and still am. At this point I would not use them, as it reminds me of when microwaves came out and everyone thought they were great. Now we know better. As for what to bake with, I transitioned out of aluminum and nonstick bakeware and now use Pampered Chef unglazed stoneware (all made in the USA, BTW). These are wonderful and produce superior baking results — I’ve done tests and am very pleased with the results. I made whole grain date bars on the PC large bar pan to serve at a Bible study in our home. Beautifully golden and no sogginess whatsoever. The guests all said WOW! Storage for stoneware can be a problem and let’s face it, stoneware is clunky and heavy. But once I accepted all of that…I will never go back to using anything else. Once seasoned, they are virtually non-stick. My muffin pan is a breeze to clean, compared to even the non-stick pans I previously used. A great investment.

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Dianna,
      I love my stoneware too! I just use the baking stones. I like my silicone mat for things like dried fruit rolls, when I really just need the flexibility, and I feel like then I don’t have to throw parchment paper away, which is “green.” Tough balance… Thanks for your great PC shoutout! ;) Katie

  • http://profiles.google.com/adamsmom09 Maryanne Anthopoulos

    I absolutely LOVE my Silpat.  I had it for several years now and I use it for everything – roasting squash and seeds, baking cookies and pizzas.  A couple of weeks ago I baked some biscotti on it and made the mistake of cutting them right on the Silpat.  Now, there are some tears in it, and after reading this I’m probably going to toss it.  Not a fan of fiberglass in my food!  I was going to get another one to replace it, but now I’m not so sure.

    I also have one of those square cake pans (also silicone), but I never use it.  It is most definitely NOT nonstick (even the oiliest, butteriest cakes always stick to it, whether it’s greased or not), and it’s way too flexible.

  • Gladreal

    I have a few silicone untensils, but I stick with my arsenal of kitchenware I’ve accumulated over the years-cast iron (plain and a few lovely enameled pieces I’ve inherited), stainless steel, glass, wood, parchment paper, waxed paper, and so on. I never took the time to do the serious research on silicone, so I resisted the temptations of the fun colors and “newness” of the cookware. Thanks for the information, but I think I’ll just stick with what I’ve got for now.

  • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

    Barbara,
    Thanks for the link – that info is the same source that I found in many other articles. The thing is, although the materials are “inert” those aren’t tested on people, in baking/high temps, or specifically with food. I want to see some studies on whether the material is getting in people’s blood like BPA, which was unexpected, right? Or does the food carry it at all?
    Thanks, Katie

  • Jae

    I think the quality of the silicone relates to the odor absorption and/or leaching of oils into the food. I have cheap silicone mats that definitely absorb odors, impart it to other foods, and the food tastes funny so I’ve stopped using them. However, my Silpat is not like that at all. But I’ve just noticed little holes in it so I need to replace it. I just read a review for silicone bakeware about using silicone pans for soap-making, so maybe I’ll repurpose mine for that.

  • http://www.charisscofield.com charis

    what about using a baking stone?  i don’t use any silicone, but have great success with my baking stones and they work just like cast iron with “seasoning” them for a non stick surface and are obviously reusable forever.  

    • http://www.charisscofield.com charis

      sorry, i just saw the discussion above.  i don’t think silicone is necessary if someone has a few good stones, cast iron, and quality pots and pans.  the stones and cast iron are non-stick when seasoned and not hard to clean in my opinion.

  • Thedogsweetums

    Thank you for article and comments. Food for concern. I do love my SILPAT though …

  • Misha Harrison

    Thank you for your article.  I just read the Wikipedia entry on silicone.  I have gotten a number of silicone baking pads, pans, muffins. and spatulas via thrift stores.  The muffin pans are much worse than metal to clean and the cake pans are too wobbly, but i do like the pads for when i need flexibility and i totally love using the muffin pans to portion and freeze stuff.  I think that we are right to be suspect about it and i will be getting rid of the baking pans.  I will keep the other stuff as i don’t use it in high heat cooking. 

  • Melanie Conzachi

    Katie, I posted some of this on the FB page,  but felt it valuable to post here as well. Silicone baking products from the company Demarle at Home are tested for chemical leaching with every batch made. They are filled, baked at the highest recommended temp for the product, cooled and sent to a lab to ensure there is no leaching. If you researche deep enough you should find that food-grade silicone was discovered buy a frenchman named Guy Demarle (the initial owner of the Demarle at Home mother-company) It did originate in France, but the company in the states is owned/operated by Cindy Juncaj, the woman first hired to bring the products to the states for direct sales. Their baking products do have woven glass in them (coated with food-grade silicone) so you are correct to say don’t cut on them. Here is why-silicone is not a conductor, of hot or cold. If you have a silicone product that is just silicone it will not conduct either temp evenly. This is why you have silicone cupcake trays and silicone oven mitts. It is the woven glass that conducts the heat and thus evenly cooks, or cools, your food.
    I hope this has helped.
    Blessings, Melanie Conzachi

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Melanie,
      That is good info! Amazing how deep we have to dig to find out information about how to cook safely in our kitchens…  ;) Katie

  • Adriana123

    I use silicone spatulas so I’ll be switching. Any recs on a good wood one? What about bamboo? What concerns me is the food-safe oil finish used on them…
    Thanks!!

  • Sunshine-supernova

    Any manufacturer worth their salt will be able to provide you straight away when asked with a copy of their certificate of lab tests to show that their silicone DOES not leach into foodstuffs.

    They should also be able to give you proof that their product does not contain PAA (poly aromatic amines) / polyamides or Formaldehyde. PAA and formaldehyde are present in many items of nylon bakeware and also in melamine. They are proven to leach into foodstuffs and cause cancer. These are now banned in any kind of food storage items / cooking utensils and food packaging.. They WERE known to be commonly used as a filler in low quality silicone bakeware items and not able to withstand higher temperatures

    The white in some silicone bakeware when twisted is not necessarily down to a filler. It can also occur when the material (which is a compound) is manufactured using a process called gaseous precipitation and this is of no health concerns whatsoever.

    As far as silicone bakeware goes, I’d always recommend using it on a tray for support. As a general rule with any non stick bakeware : grease AND flour if what you are cooking has a higher or equal sugar to fat content (and includes flour). Low sugar content or very high fat content in baked goods such as bread and pastry shouldn’t need any greasing or flouring. I find it best to release baked goods whilst still hand hot

    • http://adventuresinbabyhaving.blogspot.com/ Heather Lei

      Thank you for letting me know why some recipes call for greasing & flouring and why some don’t. Do you know why some call for greasing only?

  • http://www.facebook.com/rhiamom Cathy Gramze

     Silicone is the primary ingredient in glass, too, comprising 75% of it. Has glass been tested to see if it is safe and non-reactive? 

    • http://twitter.com/kitchenstew Katie Kimball

      Cathy,
      As far as I know, yes…

  • LeahL

    No matter what we use, there will be problems.  It can be so difficult to decide what is best for our families.  I truly enjoyed everyone’s comments and input.

  • Anonymous

    I actually love my silicone cake pans; I almost never have trouble with getting the cake layers out of them, unlike my regular metal pans. Ditto with the muffin tin. I’ve never had problems w/ uneven cooking in those pans, either.

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  • Billystorm

    IRON, GLASS, AND STAINLESS >ONLY<
    "speed-cooking" is "fast-food" cooking. and we all know what "fast-food" does for us – "speeds" us to the grave.
    listen; cook as the old-folks did, without the lard of course, because that's really the only way to have good-wholesome-great tasting food.

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  • Vacagare

    With all the fright I’ve just read, I’d like to ask one question- what did all of your babies drink from if they ever took a bottle?  My guess is a silicone nipple, heat sterilized, used over and over and over again, from birth on.  Has each baby been poisoned from birth?  I mean how many hours a day does a baby suck on a bottle?  A lot, and without any fear of leaching chemicals. 

  • Linda

    I have several of the original made in France silicone cake pans and muffin pans and they each came with a rigid piece that snapped under the edge all the way around so you could carry them to the oven. I was happy to find less expensive ones in the grocery store ($6 compared to $25 for the French) but they are wobbly. I put them on a cookie sheet before I fill them.  Once I forgot and it folded on me as I lifted it and spilled batter all over the oven. As far as sticking goes, I used to oil and flour and parts would stick anyway. Then I tried nothing and the cake just popped out (no fat at all in it).
    Usually I wait just a few minutes but once I waited all night and it still popped out. This is a tube pan that has a very shiny smooth surface.  I have another one that has a dull finish and that might stick more. As far as the healthy or not issue, I am still researching. One thought that came to me was that surgical tubing used in hospitals is made of the same material and whatever liquids are travelling through the tubing could possibly absorb undesirable elements, especially if the tubing was sterilized immediately prior and/or the liquid was acidic; therefore, hopefully they did studies to make sure this wouldn’t happen.  It shouldn’t be that hard for a scientist to analyze food before and after being baked in silicone.

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  • Randmboo

    I found another use for the silly cupcake cups!  Use it like a funnel!  I was trying to pour about 1/2 cup of sugar into a jug with a pretty small opening, so I put the sugar in one of my silcone cups, squeezed it enough to bend and fit in the hole well enough to dump all the sugar in without spilling. excellent. 

    • http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

      Love this idea!

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  • Rashmi

    May be its too late to comment on the thread, but I guess the topic is all the more relevant these days with so many silicone cookware/bakeware coming out in the market.. I’m usually very thorough when I buy any cooking products but I fell  for those cute designs of the Silicone 24 cavity pans in heart and flower designs and with 50% off coupons at the Craft stores.. thankfully I stopped at just 2!! My bitesize cupcakes broke in the pan; Cleaning these is a marathon.. finally after 3 hours of soaking in vinegar, applying some Baking soda paste and finally rubbing every cavity with Rubbing alcohol, I’ve managed to get the white film off.. may be for just now :( Thanks to Gibbs & Abby (NCIS) for helping me get through this. I guess I’ll just use these may be for making crayons or as a drawer organizer for pushpins & buttons and such stuff. Because even using them to make Ice cubes was a failure with some kind of white floaties that were left behind from the cubes from these silicone trays. 

  • Rashmi

    I hope the Red Apple colored Chantal pans are fine for baking.. got a couple in Square and Round

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  • Rachel Cobb

    I have some silicone bakeware that is great- HIC brand.  But recently I used Pampered Chef muffin tin, which I loved so much- my coconut flour cupcakes browned nicely and were GORGEOUS (shaped like flowers) and popped out so easily! Coconut flour muffins stick to papers and everything except silicone and parchment paper.  BUT they tate funny- now that I read this, I am thinking they taste like SOAP! Yuck!  I don’t have that problem with the other silicone bakeware… but maybe it’s my fault, I did wash it by hand before I used it… anyone else experience this problem?

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