silicone cookware?

[harmonymama]

I'm about to return my new muffin tin that I bought in a moment of weakness. I also need a new cookie sheet. I don't want nonstick, but couldn't find any other options but silicone at the store. Silicone sounded weird to me, but after a google search it is actually sounding pretty safe, certainly a lot safer than nonstick. I've also looked at ordering stainless muffin tins, but the price!! Yikes. Maybe cast iron? What should I do?

[bigeyes]

I have a real love-hate thing with silicone. I love my silicone spatulas, but I don't like my silicone pans and muffin tins at all. No matter how many times i wash or soak them, I cannot get the soapy smell/taste out of them once they've been used and washed the first time. I'm hypersensitive to smells, so ymmv, but it just turns my stomach, and I've gone back to regular pans and either greasing them or using paper/foil liners. I haven't noticed any difference between the cheap and expensive stuff either, with the exception of Silpat mats, I have no complaints at all about them, and shouldn't at that price. My silicone cupcake liners, both the cheap ones and the expensive ones, took on a funny soapy taste after being used and washed again. The second time I used them I swear I could taste the dish soap, and I don't use heavily scented products at all.

I think they do better in the dishwasher, so if you have one you may have better luck with the odor/taste thing. IIRC, the problems didn't start until we moved to a house w/o a dishwasher, so it must be related to the hand-dishwashing soap, or possibly cooler water.

[harmonymama]

thanks, big eyes. I just ordered a cast iron muffin tin. I think I'll like that. I'm going to look in thrift stores for an old cookie sheet.

[bigeyes]

I really like cast iron. Sometimes the old fashioned stuff is best.

I'm hoping in the next few months I can get a dishwasher and see if my silicone stuff magically loses the dish soap 'funk.' I think there is a difference between the more opaque silicone and the clear type as well. It seems to me the silpats are more transparent, like my spatulas, where my cupcake liners and pans are opaque, so there may be a connection there as well.

[mercy589]

Where did you get the cast iron muffin thing? I posted a poll and thread about this yesterday. Do you think the cast iron will be hard to scrub out? Will you use paper liners?

[mamadelbosque]

Cast irons great, I got six-hole ones from lehmans, and 11hole ones from shopperschoice.com (or something like that... search for 11 hole cast iron muffin pan), they weren't that expensive - $13 each plus $8 s/h (I know it says per pan, but I called and they gave it to me for just $8 total)... so they weren't too expensive

ETA: Oh, and my mom had cast-iron muffin pans for years, and they were always super easy to clean - way easier than my aluminum ones I had in college, thats for sure!! And the times I've used mine, they've been easy to clean too.. I just grease with crisco or cocunut oil and muffins just pop out with very little left inside!!

ETA: Actually, ya'll are in luck, I still have the link for where I got my 11-holes:

http://www.shopperschoice.com/item_n...m_1463647.html

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by bigeyes

I think they do better in the dishwasher, so if you have one you may have better luck with the odor/taste thing. IIRC, the problems didn't start until we moved to a house w/o a dishwasher, so it must be related to the hand-dishwashing soap, or possibly cooler water.

Silicone is actually not supposed to be run through the dishwasher. The packaging on it says it's not dishwasher safe. That said, I do run it through occassionally, because it's easier, but usually handwash it.

I have a set of Wilton's silicone muffin cups that smelled funky when I bought them, and several runs through the dishwasher hasn't really helped. Pretty much I don't bake with them, just use them for prep work. But I do have a pair of 9-hole silicone muffin pans that I adore. And I've had no problem with either sticking or tastes transferring. I do not use mainstream soaps though, I use vegetable oil based soaps both for handwashing and dishwasher.

[harmonymama]

Originally Posted by mercy589

Where did you get the cast iron muffin thing? I posted a poll and thread about this yesterday. Do you think the cast iron will be hard to scrub out? Will you use paper liners?

I don't think it will be too hard to scrub out. I'm used to cooking with a cast iron pan that I love, and all I too is boil water in it and wipe it out with a paper towel (as far as I know you are not supposed to use soap in cast iron). So yes there is always a little food residue, but that is part of what i love about it. It adds flavor. I imagine it will be the same with muffins. It will probably just end up tasting like coconut, since that is what I usually grease pans with. I don't think I'll use paper liners, but I might sometimes if I can find the unbleached kind (might be cheaper than coconut oil LOL).

[frogguruami]

I have the silicone muffin cups from Wilton. They look like the paper cupcake liners but are made of silicone instead. They just sit on a cookie sheet. They are easier to store because they all stack in each other (storing silicone bakeware is a nightmare IMO), eliminate the need for cupcake liners and you can arrange as many as you need on a cookie sheet. That is the only silicone I have. My bread pans are stone and I have a cast iron skillet for cornbread. I don't bake cakes much but I would use silicone if I did. Right now I make do with the junk hubby had when we got married!

[bigeyes]

Originally Posted by cristeen

Silicone is actually not supposed to be run through the dishwasher. The packaging on it says it's not dishwasher safe. That said, I do run it through occassionally, because it's easier, but usually handwash it.

I have a set of Wilton's silicone muffin cups that smelled funky when I bought them, and several runs through the dishwasher hasn't really helped. Pretty much I don't bake with them, just use them for prep work. But I do have a pair of 9-hole silicone muffin pans that I adore. And I've had no problem with either sticking or tastes transferring. I do not use mainstream soaps though, I use vegetable oil based soaps both for handwashing and dishwasher.

Really? I know one of my sets says they're dishwasher safe and that was the only time they didn't taste soapy to me. I haven't looked to see about the others, though. What brand of soap do you buy, and where? I'm super sensitive about scents, so I always think it's just me. But there are some obvious differences in quality when you look at them side by side. The silicone is less brittle, less opaque, and seems to hold odors less in the more expensive ones. So I think there must be higher and lower quality silicone that they use, yk? I just wish I knew how to find out for sure....