Silicone baking pans?

[PamNY]

I tried the muffin cup liners and like them. Should I buy the regular cake pans that are at the closeout store for a good price?

[malkin]

My experience has been that the pans work about like the liners, so if you like them, go for it.

[Atlas]

I really don't like them. They have never cooked consistently for me, especially the bigger pans. I like my nice metal pans. But if you like the little ones and they work for you it might be worth a shot to buy one and test it out.

[abejita]

I prefer the metal ones to bake in, but I love the silicone ones to freeze stuff in because it is easy to get out once it is frozen.

[emily_in_nc]

A friend of mine who bought a bunch of the silicone stuff after seeing it hyped to death ended up not liking it and selling it all on ebay. She is quite a cook, so I respect her opinion and would not bother with it. YMMV, of course!

[OakLeaf]

Love mine for the easy release and cleanup, but I'm not much of a baker.

DH thinks that if you put them in the dishwasher, the detergent leaves a residue that you can taste.

[pumpkinpony]

I've got a couple. Used them once or so and put them away. Didn't think about eBay. I might try that.

I didn't find them to be as non-stick as advertised, it was quite a mess trying to get a cake out of it. I prefer my glass cookware and some Pam or Crisco liberally applied.

[PamNY]

Thanks. I think I'll get a few more muffin cup liners and skip the cake pans.

[zoom-zoom]

I didn't find them to be as non-stick as advertised, it was quite a mess trying to get a cake out of it. I prefer my glass cookware and some Pam or Crisco liberally applied.

I had the same problem, and mine weren't low-end...they were Kitchenaid brand ones I found at TJ Maxx. I ruined 2 cakes trying to get them out. Even greasing them didn't make a difference. And I thought the point was that one wouldn't need to grease silicone bakeware.

[GLC1968]

I have a silicone pan that makes mini loaves. I use it to make specialty quick breads at the holidays for gifts. The pan is about 13x9, but it makes 6 loaves (for size comparison). It was not cheap, but I couldn't find a mini loaf pan in metal so I gave it a try. It works wonderfully, actually. I've never had anything stick and it always cooks perfectly! Clean up is a breeze, too.

I have no idea how it would work on something larger as my loaves aren't all that much different than say 'texas-sized' muffins. I should also mention that my holiday breads are so rich, that for three of the four recipes I use, you don't really need to grease the pan even when using metal, so they may not be the best gauge of non-stick-ness.

I do have a silicone rolling pin and while clean up is super easy, I don't love it in use. I do love all my silicone utensils though.

[MomOnBike]

I have no idea how well the silicone pans either do or don't bake, but color me skeptical. I worry about the plasticizers and other chemicals that just have to be put in them to get them to bend like they do and stand up to heat, in addition to all the things I don't know about. These are the kinds of things that 10 or so years down the road, we will be warning each other not to touch.

I hope I'm wrong.

That said, and to prove my inconsistency, I have a silicone tea ball that is really quite nice. I still worry, though.

[Christopher]

I don't find them any better than metal pans. Best bread pans we have are two tin ones in very heavy-gauge pure tin. Never used glass, worried about dropping it.