For those who use a silicone baking mat like Silpat, is it difficult to keep clean? If so, why?
I’ve tried parchment paper(too slippery), but I second non stick foil on baking sheets for cookies, biscuits and rolls. Strong enough to fit loosely in corners without splitting and it stays in place.
It can be wiped clean with paper towels and used over again. I don’t consider myself a thrifty cook by any means, but I am a “clean” one and it doesn’t bother me in the least to do this. It just seems a shame to throw a useful product like this out after one use for no reason.
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Yeah, because water.
“You can fill your sink with soapy water like when cleaning dishes”
What? Is that just a California question?
Water conservation on most boats makes California water supplies look like luxury. grin
I greatly appreciate the insight from @bmorecupcake on how to clean silicone products so they are really clean. The upside of silicone is less paper waste, balanced by more water and soap use. The major upside of parchment paper is clean up is literally seconds; the downside is more paper waste.
Horses for courses. In my head, silicone is analogous to food processors. “Look how fast!” “Look how long you take to clean!” Jeepers. Use a knife. As is so often the case I digress.
Now in fairness, some things don’t seem to take well to liners of any sort. Then we’re back to soaking pans. I do try to scrape them first to make cleaning easier but that doesn’t save any water.
For @shrinkrap and other Californians, my previous wife–who turned out to be psychotic–had her good points. Raised in a huge family (eight siblings, thirty-five in the next generation) that went camping she could wash a huge amount of dishes in about two cups of water. It’s hard to beat a full dishwasher for water efficiency but she could by huge amounts.
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I agree about the waste. And when I sous vide I think about the water AND the plastic.
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It all depends on the project and the pan; the only liner I don’t use is non stick foil - have never tried it, even.
If I’m working with familiar pans that I know to be easy release, and known recipes, I’ll frequently just spray or mist with oil. If it’s a new recipe, or a special occasion cake or dessert, I’ll use what’s suggested in the recipe.
Frequently I’ll make things in smaller amounts, and will use mini or regular cupcake liners, that I’ve sprayed with oil first, so the batter doesn’t stick to the paper.
For most cookies, I’ll just use cookie sheets, even if the recipe calls for parchment, unless they’re really delicate, sticky cookies.
I have one Silpat, which I use dead last.
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Parchment in flat sheets. They are large enough that I can trace and cut out circles up to 13" diameter if needed. I bought a big box of the sheets 20 years ago at a restaurant supply store, and haven’t been through half of them yet!
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How often can you re-use nonstick tin foil?
Here you go.
“Basically, as long as you don’t rip your sheet of foil and have clean sides to work with, you can reuse it forever. That being said, if you rip your clean foil , it still has lots of other applications. You can crumple it into a ball to use as a pot scrubber, or cut through the layers to sharpen scissors.”
Apparently there are a few things to do with it after you’re done with it.
If reuse is a primary concern, forget the nonstick foil. Buy heavy duty and use baking spray on it, or swab it with oil.
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I disagree - at least with non stick foil you don’t have to use cooking spray. That’s the beauty of it.
I guess it all depends on what one is baking. Initially I thought I would solve the problem by just getting a non-stick pan. I have a non-stick heavy aluminum baking pan I bought from Bed Bath Beyond, and after about three months, the non-stick coating started wearing off.
For wet, messy, greasy foods (e.g. cooking a batch of chicken thighs in a bun pan in the oven) tin foil seems to be most practical. You can cut it and shape it to fit the pan, and toss it out afterwards with no or little clean up to the pan itself.
For dry, or only slightly greasy foods, like home made croutons or cookies, parchment paper seems to be most practical. You just need something non-stick to line the pan with. You can cut parchment to fit the pan, re-use once or twice, and toss it out, with little or no clean up to the pan itself.
For foods that are somewhere in the middle–not super greasy, but not dry either–like say, frozen french fries, I’m not sure what to use. French fries do sometimes tend to soak through some parchment paper that I’ve used.
Silicone mats are non-stick, durable, and re-usable thousands of times. But you can’t cut them to size, don’t make crispy cookies, and you have to wash them (i.e. they don’t save the labor of washing the pan).
Teflon coated sheets are non-stick, can be cut to size, and are re-usable up to about 100 times. They are thicker than parchment paper, and so they could probably handle somewhat greasy foods, though I haven’t tried them before. I presume they would need to be washed, but probably not as laboriously as silicone mats or the pan itself. I am guessing the teflon slowly wears off…(into the food?). Not sure what happens when the teflon is wearing off, if the sheet becomes semi-sticky and some of the food sticks and some doesn’t?
Which makes me curious about non-stick tin foil. Is this teflon coated tin foil?
So I will continue to use tin foil for greasy foods and to catch drippings, and parchment paper for baking flour products like cookies and buns, etc. But I think my quest is to find a pan liner for those kinds of foods that are not too greasy, yet not dry.
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Chicken thighs and sheet pan dinners are uses for which I DON’T line the sheet pan. I want that fond for a sauce! It’s pretty easy to deglaze a hot pan with water or wine, using a rubber spatula to swab the liquid onto the inner sides of the pan before pouring the contents into a saucepan for reduction and thickening. Unless you’ve burnt the ingredients, not much scrubbing is needed to clean the pan.
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I get that - but heavy duty foil doesn’t tear or wrinkle as easily, so can be reused more.
I see where you’re coming from. But the problem I see is that Heavy Duty foil isn’t near as HD as it used to be. Then adding in cooking spray. Buildup on foil. Oh well.
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I avoid cooking spray. My wife still uses it some (it took her twelve years to talk me into a cat; I’m still working on her cooking spray habit). I don’t like the propellants that are, I believe, mostly LPG. I have a little hand pump sprayer I use for oil and either use that or wipe oil on with a paper towel.
Note it is the propellant that is flammable so this works with WD-40, hair spray, Pam cooking spray, spray paint, whatever.
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I’m wondering if you were a dangerous child:roll_eyes:
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Yes. There was an old radio. A clothes dryer. A car. Some other things.
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So, I am thinking I’m going to need different pan liners for different foods after all. I was hoping to have a one-type for all foods solution, but after thinking about it a lot more, that’s probably not feasible.
I’ll keep using parchment for certain foods (wish I could get some of that good heavy 90gsm Baker’s Mark parchment paper sheets from Webstaurant Store, but can’t find it anywhere here in Canada, and it would cost a fortune to ship it here. Can’t get King Arthur paper in Canada either). I found some cheap quality pre-cut parchment sheets on Amazon.ca
And I’ll keep using aluminum foil for messy, greasy foods, or for spatter cover.
I’ll also maybe try to buy a small silicone mat to see how it bakes certain foods.
Thanks to everyone for their helpful replies.
