Silpat vs airbake vs flat cookie sheet

[elyse]

So there's no fibreglass in them?

[rickster]

These thin sheets sound similar to something I used to see in the stores called teflon sheets. They were as thin as parchment but were grayish black. I tried them but found them annoying to clean for some reason and switched to silpat when they came out.

[FuturePilot]

I also use the thin sheets of reusable silicon (?)"parchment"  (sorry, I'm not sure what it's called) that can be reused hundreds of time

Hi,

Am not sure either on the name. I found it under "teflon non-stick foil sheet" of all names. What a mouthful! I got it for for $8 from a website. I think it does come out cheaper, as the "teflon foil" is about the size of those commercial sheet pans, so you can basically get enought for about two cookie pans. Although, i must say, i think the silpat is much more durable.

By the way that same site sells silpats for 12.50! I'm new to this place and im not sure if posting names is allowed so if anyone wants to know the place just drop a line...

PS. This forum is just great!!!!

[sherribabee]

Does anyone bake with baking stones? I've used them for cookies at home for 8 years, and I couldn't conceive of using anything else (I'm trying to figure out how the heck I'll afford them if I ever live my dream of opening my own bakery).

Cookies turn out perfectly every time.

[Richard Kilgore]

Futurepilot --- Welcome. $12.50 for half-pan size Silpats? Or what size? And posting a site or link is fine here.

[Mottmott]

This is an example of the thin reusable and cuttable baking pan liner.

It's not the same brand as I get, but the place I buy them doesn't have a website. The second url is the page the image is taken from.

They don't last as long as a silpat, but unlike silpat, can be cut to fit your various pans. I doubt that they are much cheaper than parchment in the long run, but save having to cut parchment for your pans repeatedly.

http://www.fantes.com/images/99037pan_liners.jpg

http://www.fantes.com/pan_liners.htm#silpat

As for a baking stone, if you do much baking get one. It makes all the difference. I use mine for pizza, some pastries (for at least part of the baking time), some cookies, bread. If you leave it in the oven, it seems to level out the temperature fluctuations as the oven cycles.

If you don't want to invest in a large thick stone that can live on the bottom of your oven, you can buy inexpensive unglazed tiles (often called quarry tiles) and assemble them on a sheet pan.

I keep my stone covered with foil. It keeps it clean and keeps the smoke detector quiet. without noticable deminution in effectiveness. Also when using to bake a pie or tart I often put it on a sheet pan so that I can move it higher in the oven for the final part of the baking.

[PastryLady]

At the bakery, we always use full sheet pans with a parchment. Turns out good. At home I always use my baking stone, and they turn out great. I rarely use the silpat at home unless doing a wet batter such as tuille or caramel tuille. Sometimes I hate the geometric grid that you get on the cookies as a result though. I used to use the airbake pans and they worked o.k., but nothing really fabulous about them honestly.

Do you have an oven thermometer at home? I like to have two (one for each side of oven) to make sure the temp is the same. This also helps if your oven is a little hotter or cooler than the knob/digital readout says.

[bakerkel]

In case anyone re-visits this post, I wanted to give my 2 cents on Silpat vs. parchment. I've been using Silpats for years now on all my cookies, thinking they were yielding the most perfect results. Well, last weekend I baked off 6 different batches of chocolate chip cookie doughs (including Elizabeth's, thanks!) and did 1 sheet of Silpat and 1 sheet of parchment of each dough. To my surprise, they came out VERY differently, with parchment looking better/smoother/rounder almost every time. The Silpats had darker, "messy" edges, and all were darker on the underside. However, a few recipes spread a little more on parchment. Also, the outsides came out crispier than Silpat, which was nice because they were still soft and chewy inside. All in all the differences were striking, and I'll be converting to parchment for most of my cookies from now on.

Kelly

[KarenS]

I use silpats for tuiles and candy. I use parchment for cookies. Oh, bu the way- for the second bake of biscotti I use a wire roasting rack set on a sheet pan.

[Rachel Perlow]

I cooked some meringue cookies the other day and noticed a significant difference between those cooked on parchment vs. Silpat. They were simple (egg white, sugar, vanilla, cream of tartar) meringues, cooked until crisp at 200 F for 3 hours. They browned a little more than I like and I'll likely set the oven a little lower (150) next time (first time making meringues in the Garland).

Anyway the difference was mostly on the bottom of the cookies, here are pics:

. . . . . . .

As you can see, the parchment cookies browned less, and the bottoms were the same color as the sides. The meringues cooked on the Silpat browned more overall (I know the lighting is slightly different in the images, trust me), and formed a little bit of a carmelized crust on the bottom. I would think this would be from an increase in heat transfer to the cookies, but parchment is so much thinner, I just don't get it. Also, was the crust formed because of weeping? Those with that crust actually taste better, with a more interesting carmelized flavor, but technically they are less correct than the clean parchment ones.

Comments?

[Wendy DeBord]

Those with that crust actually taste better, with a more interesting carmelized flavor, but technically they are less correct than the clean parchment ones.

Comments?

I want to add to your findings Rachel. I agree completely with your taste assessment.

SO does Herme (one of our most reknown contemporary pastry chefs)! I read that- and was delighted to see someone of his stature finally breaking with tradition and going with taste over beauty.

So to he-- with what our technical pastry books have written-it's time to stand up and know your right in liking your browned/carmelized meringues. Pass it on.

[skyflyer3]

We did the Silpat vs. parchment experiment last time we baked cookies, and the Silpat ones came out overdone. My husband thinks that we need to experiment with timing a little more, but I have a feeling they won't have the same crispy texture outside/chewiness within that I consistently get from parchment. So we stick with parchment. And I do use airbake pans, but only because I got them as a present from my mother and we're too poor to buy anything else. I'm curious about spread varience if I use the thicker ones you get from restaurant supply shops.

Along the same vein, King Arthur Flour has come out with teflon cake pan liners, and I have to say I'm intrigued. Has anyone tried something like this with successful results?

[challah-baker]

I have used a Silpat with several different types of cookies including molasses. ginger, oatmeal and chocoloate chip with fine results. I have been using it on a standard half-sheet pan on the floor of a Hearthkit so I assume that the direct heat I am getting might make a difference, but they brown and spread nicely.

[Rachel Perlow]

Has anyone noticed that Silpats have really come up in price? When they first came out they were really expensive, then they dropped a lot and I could find them for as low as $15.00 for the larger size. Now I only see the smaller ones and the cheapest I found was $19.95!

I am surprised by the lack of enthusiasm about silpat.  I have heard praises from bakers sung for ages, and finally broke down and bought 2 on sale.  So far, I am really happy with the results, and am producing the best and most consistent cookies.... I have noticed the price dropping, not rising.

I just noticed the price of Silpat dropping on Amazon. Last time I noticed they were $15 or 16, now they're down to $12.99 for the half-sheet size (13-by-18-inch baking sheet is half-sheet, right?). Click here.

Also, I noticed in the customer reviews, several people said they experienced smoke that set off their smoke-detectors when using their Silpats. I've never had this problem. Has anyone here?

[ExtraMSG]

I've done several head to head tests now on Silpat and parchment with a variety of cookies and have found little difference. I do find that the Silpats tend to crisp the bottoms of cookies almost unnoticeably more. If you were baking something for a long time, it might make more of a difference. In my head to head tests, I was using aluminum half sheets for both and cooking batches at the same time using the same dough.

[achevres]

I have used the airbake, silpat, teflon sheets and parchment.

I don't like the airbake too much--I think because cookie recipes are not developed on those sheets, so I always have to adjust time and temperature. I haven't thrown them out yet, however.

I used parchment for years. I liked it, but you can run out. It is still handy to have to line cake pans. I also use wax paper for cake pans.

I got a Silpat as a gift and I like it but it doesn't fit perfectly in my American sized baking sheets (the regular ones, not the air-bakes). I haven't been brave enough to cut it. Has anyone cut a Silpat with good results? Also, I have found Silpat is almost non-stick, but not 100% non-stick on everything. Some bottom crumbs have stuck to it--nothing mayor. I hae found Silpat and parchment similiar in their non-stick qualities.

My favorite by far are the Teflon sheets: absolutely 100% non-stick, inexpensive and easy to cut to size. The cookies literally slide out the liner. http://store.teflon.com/nostik.html

[bakerkel]

They say not to do it, but I've cut my Silpats in half and have had no problems. No shards of fiberglass have gotten into my food (at least that I've noticed...) and I learned the technique from the CIA. I wouldn't cut unnecessarily though, like to fit a certain pan, just to cut a full sheet size down to half for economy's sake -- probably a moot point now that the prices have fallen. K