Most consumers have no idea how much silicone they actually possess. It is in every room of the house and it can be in solid, liquid or gel form.
It is a substance that has only been around for about eighty years, but its benefits and flexibility allowed for it to be put to use in a large number of ways almost at its inception.
Silicone is a wonderful lubricant, sealant, adhesive and rubber substitute. It is capable of many types of extrusion and moulding and is used in almost every industry known.
It is these very properties that make it so appealing for use in the kitchen environment. Today millions of cooks, chefs and bakers rely on silicone cake and bakeware to produce superior products. They opt to do this because silicone can yield results that no other pans or sheets will.
Let’s consider a common baking problem – uneven distribution of heat. This issue results in lopsided cakes, breads and cookies. It also causes areas of scorching as well. Now, this is due to both the baking environment and the pan or sheet upon which the food is residing. Anyone who uses a silicone cake pan or baking sheet is never going to deal with lopsided or partially scorched food again. This is because the materials used in a silicone cake pan will be able to distribute the heat of the oven evenly around the food, which results in an ideal baking environment.
Of course the benefits of relying on a silicone cake pan don’t end just with balanced heating. One of the most prized properties of silicone is its ability to serve as a lubricant, and this remains with the material even after it has been shaped into a silicone cake or baking sheet. This means that a baker is no longer obliged to grease and flour the pans before using them. They can simply prepare the batter and pour it right into the silicone cake pan with no further effort. It’s also one of the reasons that silicone sealant flows so well and has so many applications.
Interestingly, this property has created a whole new trend or phenomenon in the baking world and that is the use of a silicone pan that has been formed into complex shapes. There are now all kinds of geometric and artistic styles of cake pans made from silicone, and though this would have usually required heavy greasing and flouring, the silicone makes the cake pop right out.
There are many types of silicone bakeware available, and there are also very handy silicone oven mitts that are capable of withstanding temperatures of up to 625˚F!