Silicone bakeware

I'd be skeptical of using such things.  I have a silpat.  And even that decreases the conduction of heat.  I often have to take the bread off the silpat halfway through baking so that the bottoms will cook all the way.

The question for me is simply, why bother?  A plain ol' non-stick bread pan is super-easy to clean, conducts heat very well, and is nice and sturdy.  What is it about a silicone pan that's supposed to make them superior?

I have several little tea loaf pans that I use all the time.  They work wonderfully for small loaves of yeast breads.  I especially love them for those sweeter quick breads because they clean up beautifully.  I always hated cleaning those little metal buggers so much, I had stopped baking those great gift size smaller loaves.

I also use the mini muffin pans a lot.  Same reason, I hated cleaning the metal ones.  I made several dozen mini carrot cakes for a reception and not a one stuck.  They were the perfect carrot cake bite with just a squirt of cream cheese icing swirled on top.

The round cake pans work well, but I tossed the square and rectangular ones.  They will not hold their shape.

The larger bread pans also work fine.  I just like my heavier metal Bake Works bread pans best for larger yeast breads.

Storage is easy.

I set them on a cookie sheet, of course.  Terry

Just my opinion but I Hate the ones that I have. The cakes and cupcakes stick no matter what and they don't retain their shape well. It may be that I don't have a quality set but they were gifts and I thought they would be great. However, after using the old non-stick pans and a stone I take the stance that less and simple is best.

Good Luck!

Eli

I have a silicone loaf pan that I use as a liner in a standard metal loaf tin. It works beautifully. Without ever greasing it, the bread slips out after being baked without any problem.

And I have a silicone sheet that I line cookie tray with for biscuits, buns, etc. It works fantastically.

One thing that I do not recommend though is to use the silicone sheet (or silpat) for any bread that has a lot of butter in it - like cinnamon buns. The silicone takes on the odor of whatever has been baked on it if there is a lot of fat. It took months to get rid of the cinnamon smell from my silpat.

-Elizabeth 

I think that depends on the quality of the silicone.

For me , i do not like to change my old traditions in baking,i did not even give the silicone a chance.

Try in small cup cake mould, if it makes you satisfied , go and buy, and tell me about the brand and the result, good luck!!

Here in the UK I have two 2lb non-stick drawn aluminium loaf pans by Tefal. I use them all the time and they conduct heat very well. With 1300gr of dough in them the loaf will cook in about 35 inutes at 200 degrees C. When I tried to buy some more, I found that they were out of production, so I bought an identical sized silicone pan by the same company (in their Jamie Oliver range).

I'm not that happy with it. Under identical conditions, after 35 minutes, the loaf is still half raw and can be damaged if moved. I have to take the two loaves in the aluminium pans out to cool and return the third loaf (removed from the silicone pan) to the oven for up to a further 10 minutes.

So, yes they are poor conductors of heat and will need about 25% longer baking time. This, in turn, will affect the hardness and degree of browning (burning!) of the top crust of the loaf.

Still looking for a recomendation for a good pan I can buy in the UK.