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Silicone Molds: Selecting, Cooking and Baking With

Kim WB

By Kim WB
in Pastry & Baking

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Patrick S

Patrick S

Posted
Posted
I don't own any silicone pans yet, but I sell the silicone zone ones in my store, as well as their baking mats which I have been using for years. One of the things their reps made sure to tell me is that they don't use any fillers--indicating that other companies do use fillers, I suppose. So perhaps that what you're tasting: the fillers? It's really just a guess. I can see some of these products finding their way to my kitchen soon, so I might have more concrete evidence later.

What the heck are fillers?

Some education from the company rep about what "fillers" are would be good.

I would think it would be plasticizers that you'd be tasting- the things that keep the silicone flexible.

Fillers are substances, like silica, that may be added to the silicone elastomers to affect properties like porosity.

I might be wrong, but I thought that food-grade silicone products do not contain plasticizers -- that their plasticity and flexibility was an inherent propoerty of the silicone elastomers themselves, and the way they are crosslinked during the curing/vulcanization process. Plasticizers are used extensively to make vinyl chloride polymers flexible though, but as far as I know, they is no vinyl chloride cookware.

Not all silicone is the same -- there are many different types of silicone elastomers, which different properties, and as fas as I can tell, there are no easy ways to determine which brands of silicone cookware are made from which types of silicone elastomers, and which other materials they might contain. Silicone cookware also varies in terms of how they have been cured or vulcanized, which I suspect can make a big difference in terms of their nonstickiness.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced" - Vincent Van Gogh
 

alanamoana

alanamoana

Posted
Posted
...and give potential pans the sniff test prior to purchase...

right, but often, these products smell fine at the store and when you put them into an oven at 375 degrees...all bets are off.

McAuliflower

McAuliflower

Posted
Posted

Fillers are substances, like silica, that may be added to the silicone elastomers to affect properties like porosity.

I might be wrong, but I thought that food-grade silicone products do not contain plasticizers -- that their plasticity and flexibility was an inherent propoerty of the silicone elastomers themselves, and the way they are crosslinked during the curing/vulcanization process. Plasticizers are used extensively to make vinyl chloride polymers flexible though, but as far as I know, they is no vinyl chloride cookware.

Not all silicone is the same -- there are many different types of silicone elastomers, which different properties, and as fas as I can tell, there are no easy ways to determine which brands of silicone cookware are made from which types of silicone elastomers, and which other materials they might contain. Silicone cookware also varies in terms of how they have been cured or vulcanized, which I suspect can make a big difference in terms of their nonstickiness.

thanks Patrick, that's a good clarification

flavor floozy

  • 1 year later...
zoe b

zoe b

Posted
Posted

I wanted to use the sunflower mold--you can see it in my signature pic- (that's actually soap) -to make a cake for a shower for my daughter--I want to make something simple yet wowser to thirty-somethings--that i can do ahead-- as my schedule that week is horrific.

I was thinking some kind of yellow cake with flavored whipped cream and sliced fruit --so what works best in these silicone molds?--i know nobody likes them much, but what would you pick?

I'm thinking genoise? but maybe a traditional yellow cake? or a bundt recipe? A pound cake?

The rep for the molds I have mixes a little of the batter with melted chocolate or cocoa and pours it into the center of the mold first--neat idea, I think!

Zoe

  • 2 months later...
iii_bake

iii_bake

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi

I have been collecting the silicone cake and pastries moulds but not so certain how to unmould it.

I only work with silpat.

I made my jello in a rose shape mould the other day and it came out smashed. ( I flipped the mould...thinking it would simply slip out!)

Then i made sponge cake for roulade on the silicone baking sheet and it stuck!

a) How exactly do you work with silicone sheet or mould, especially when it comes to mousse, jello, cheescake or any fragile stuff?

b) if i bake the sponge and have to wait until it cools sompletely on the silicone sheet so it will come off easily...will i still be able to roll it without breaking the sponge?

c) any tips on silicone choosing...i ran inot a company selling a "not-pure"silicone mould ..made in China...and learned later that after a few uses, it started to releases smell as it is not 100% food grade.

d) any other tips will also help.

SOS :smile:

iii

Edited by iii_bake (log)
Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

Posted
Posted

With mousse, cheesecake, things like that, I just freeze them then pop them out. I don't do jello/gelatin molds so I can't help you there. I've never had cake stick to silicon but I don't usually bake on it except for joconde sheets.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

Sethro

Sethro

Posted
Posted

I always spray/sugar/flour silicone molds for baking like they were any other kind of molds. For gelatin products you should invert carefully and wipe the back of the molds with a hot towel.

Sethro

Sethro

Posted
Posted
Sethro's suggestion is good; I use a hair dryer myself. I hope someone else will be able to help re: sponge sheet. :)

Missed that bit. Is he asking about sponge on a silpat? I've never had any trouble with that--seems to come right off clean every time. Why would you roll it on the silpat? Like for a roulade wouldn't you need it on parchment to pull it tight anyhow?

As for cheesecake, the easiest way is to freeze and invert, but with some very delicate style cheesecakes you can't touch the surface even then without marring it. For the ricotta souflee cake at perilla I had to cut it at room temp right on the silpat (using a cake knife on a silpat won't damage it).

iii_bake

iii_bake

Posted
Posted

Thanks for all your input.

About freezing, is there any dessert that freezing will change the texture ecen after thawing?

About the roulade,

i will pre-role the sponge when it is still very warm and leave to cool so that i can role it easier afterwards. My wonder was that if i need to leave the sponge to cool completely on the silicone sheet...what do you guys do?

Further, if you are to butter n flour the silicone mould like any toher type of moulds...what benefit do we get from using silicone.

Pardon my ignorance,

iii

Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

Posted
Posted
About freezing, is there any dessert that freezing will change the texture ecen after thawing?

It doesn't make gelatin happy. Makes it a very efficient filter though. :biggrin:

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

Sethro

Sethro

Posted
Posted (edited)
Thanks for all your input.

About freezing, is there any dessert that freezing will change the texture ecen after thawing?

About the roulade,

i will pre-role the sponge when it is still very warm  and leave to cool so that i can role it easier afterwards. My wonder was that if i need to leave the sponge to cool completely on the silicone sheet...what do you guys do?

Further, if you are to butter n flour the silicone mould like any toher type of moulds...what benefit do we get from using silicone.

Pardon my ignorance,

iii

I believe that freezing and thawing changes the texture and flavor of everything. I try not to freeze something unless it is to be served frozen.

The benefits of silicon are:

1) it can be poured into any shape

2) It can be super-heated or cooled without any damage

3) It remains flexible throughout the entire range of practical temperatures (for our purposes), making un-molding cakes and other delicate confections very easy.

Edited by Sethro (log)
  • 8 months later...
gfron1

gfron1

Posted
Posted

Where do the pros store your silicone? I'm asking because my collection has grown from a few to a bunch, so what used to do just fine in my toy box has now started overflowing and falling out all the time. Are you hanging them on a wall? These suckers like to creep around so I've got to get them wrangled.

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pax

pax

Posted
Posted
This post is directed to anyone who has baked in silicone pans. I taste a chemical residue in the bake goods whenever I bake something in a silicone pan. I have baked several different chocolate cakes in a French-made Flexipan, and, every time I do, I detect an unpleasant chemical taste in the final product. I think I can also detect an off taste when I bake cookies on Silpats.

Am I the only one who finds that cooking in silicone pans leaves behind a detectable taste?

I have a couple of silicone muffin "tins" and cake rounds, and I've been ok with those if I cook longer and slower. However, over Halloween I picked up a silicone seasonal cupcake thingie and I DID have an off taste. So much so I tossed two "tins" worth and baked the rest of them in regular tin tins and they were fine.

“Don't kid yourself, Jimmy. If a cow ever got the chance, he'd eat you and everyone you care about!”
jumanggy

jumanggy

Posted
Posted
Where do the pros store your silicone?  I'm asking because my collection has grown from a few to a bunch, so what used to do just fine in my toy box has now started overflowing and falling out all the time.  Are you hanging them on a wall?  These suckers like to creep around so I've got to get them wrangled.

Hi Rob, I'm thinking you might like to use one of the large plastic storage boxes with lids that snap on the sides. Take up a lot of space but I'm sure that's space you don't mind using for your toys :)

Mark

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Tiny

Tiny

Posted
Posted
Where do the pros store your silicone?  I'm asking because my collection has grown from a few to a bunch, so what used to do just fine in my toy box has now started overflowing and falling out all the time.  Are you hanging them on a wall?  These suckers like to creep around so I've got to get them wrangled.

In my kitchen we keep them on sheet trays on a speed rack organized by type and size....but we have a ton of them.

pax

pax

Posted
Posted

I'm not a pro, but for what my fix is worth, I keep them inside similarly shaped metal baking equipment, otherwise I find that they get warpy.

“Don't kid yourself, Jimmy. If a cow ever got the chance, he'd eat you and everyone you care about!”
  • 7 months later...
CanadianBakin'

CanadianBakin'

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have a problem I don't see addressed on this thread that I'm hoping you can help with. I just got the mini Bordelais mold for baking little pound cakes in. I'm using 5/8 oz of batter to get the height I want and they are baking unevenly. The center row rises straight up and down but the outside rows rise higher towards the center of the pan. How can I fix this? I tip them upside-down to serve and 2/3's of them sit crooked. I tried putting it in a 9x13 cake pan to see if the higher edges of the pan would help but it didn't. Any ideas?

edited to add: I'm recipe testing at the moment so I'm using my conventional oven at home. Would this problem be corrected or less obvious in a commercial convection?

Edited by CanadianBakin' (log)

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

CanadianBakin'

CanadianBakin'

Posted
Posted

Just bumping this up because I need your help :)

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

  • 7 months later...
brokenscale

brokenscale

Posted
Posted

a while back i saw some really unique modern silicone cake molds. They were european. I really want to buy some but for the life of me i cant remember the name of the company, im pretty sure it started with an s. Any help or reccomendations would be great.

Omar

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