What's your experience with silicone bakeware?

I’m very glad you asked this Q! I was thinking about trying to find silicone cake pans.

The only silicone item I have for baking is Silpats, which I use to line cookie sheets. I’ve been very happy with those.

I looked at Walmart recently, @JLeslie, and they had no silicone bakeware. None. I was looking for something along the lines of your ‘Silpats’.

Didn’t seem like a good omen, and prompted the question.

I have a collapsible silicone coffee drip cone (think Melitta cone which can be flattened) and I find it handy since I can just put it in a drawer.

Those drip cones, larger than just the one cup version, are pretty bulky and not east to store.

When I first got it, it did have a funky rubbery smell. But soaking in water with a ton of baking soda worked wonders for it.

A while ago I was considering getting some of those silicone things in which you can loach eggs but after reading through the negative comments on Amazon, I decided against it.

RE: Walmart. I have a hunch that the main reason Walmart isn’t carrying them is because they couldn’t squeeze them tight enough on price.

Most silicone items I’ve seen are rather pricey and Walmart is well known for being tough on potential vendors when negotiating price.

I don’t have an authoratative source for that but I think it’s the most likely reason.

Overstock.com appears to have a ton of it for sale.

My worry is that the chemicals would leach/bleed into what I am cooking. Glass is glass, metal is metal. Silicone is a chemical compound and may decompose in heat (as do some water bottles)

If we are counting all silicone used in the kitchen, and not just bakeware, I have collapsible measuring cups and a collapsible funnel. Both I think are fantastic. They flatten to fit nicely in a drawer and function well. I want a collapsible colander, but can’t bring myself to buy one while I already have a perfectly good one already.

Collapsible coffee filter and funnel sound really cool, @Buttonstc & @JLeslie. Not heard of either.

The amount of silicone bakeware I see at second hand shops and @elbanditoroso‘s observation about Overstock.com leads me to believe it’s not a great success. One of the workers at the thrift store even made the comment one day, “If this stuff is so great, why is everyone sending it here”. I took a new set to a gathering that had a ‘dirty’ gift exchange (you could open a new gift, or steal an existing one) and the silicone went begging. Twice, as a matter of fact. The recipient brought it back to the next exchange where someone else got stuck with it.
I also share the concerns about chemical leach, @elbanditoroso.

I was looking for a simple baking sheet that I could trim to fit a Pizza Pizzaz so I could use it to make hors d’oeuvres. Specifically Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuit crackers with toasted cheese.

Have not tried them myself, @ibstubro, but Bed Bath and Beyond still carries them.

I have a silicon baking mat I love – so much easier cleanup than using the pan alone or using foil or parchment paper. The only thing I don’t like is it was mostly translucent but after use it’s now a dingy brown so I’d go for one of the colored mats next time.

BB&B are probably out of my cost range, @2davidc8, but I shop right next to one, so I’ll check it out.

Probably a lost cause, @hug_of_war. I’ve had the same disappointment with colored silicone spatulas.

I recommend the pyramid baking sheet for lightweight foods. Allows the air to circulate so food browns more evenly and allows the grease to run away from the food instead of puddling under it. Much better than crumpled tinfoil.

I have some silicone cupcake cases. They are too floppy though so I end up putting them in a metal cupcake tray anyway. I suppose they save using a throw away paper case and have a little bit of ‘eco’ for that but pretty minimal. My daughter has a butterfly cake mould that makes a very pretty birthday cake. Again it is floppy and difficult to handle. We also have some moulds for making chocolates (my daughter is quite keen on baking…). These are small enough not to be floppy and have interesting shapes. All the ones we have bought have been cheaper than the metal version. All are also easier to pop out the finished product due to the floppy nature of the material.

Yeah, @Stinley, I’ve wondered about why advantage of silicone pans that have to be supported by metal of glass while baking. There was a set at the thrift store recently that had heavy metal built into the upper edges. I bought the baking sheet, and it’s been good support for the pyramid baking sheet. Still seems kind of ‘gimmicky’ to me.

I have a silicone bundt “pan” that I have to fill on top of a metal baking sheet or it will all pour out as I try to transfer it to the oven. I didn’t find that the cake was particularly easy to remove, which is why I don’t use silicone cupcake cups (although I would use them in my kid’s lunch box if they were the right height to not spill.

I haven’t used the bundt pan in awhile and am thinking of donating it.

I do use silicone baking mats (like silpat) when baking cookies. I’m not sure if I prefer them over parchment paper, but prefer that they don’t run out in the middle of a giant Christmas cookie baking session like parchment paper might. Either way, baking cookies directly on the pan is a no-no in my house.

Just to comment on parchment vs Silpat, I like the Silpat much better. Sometimes my cookies still stick a little to parchment.