I knew my new year was off to a rocky start when I discovered my silpat baking mat had started to crumble around the edges, exposing its precious fiberglass filling.
However, it the 7 years in which I owned it, the non-stick mat served me well. He happily baked hundreds of cookies, many dozens of appetizers, and even some 20 or so loaves of bread.
I personally gave him gentle sponge baths to help maintain his sleek appearance. It just wasn’t enough.
Are there any other bakers out there who find it hard to live without a silpat? I occasionally use parchment paper which also works well. Silpats offer a greener solution since they aren’t disposable and require little in the way of care.
Silpat Care
- Wipe with a soft, damp sponge using a mild detergent only when absolutely necessary
- Blot with a towel and allow to air dry before storing.
It doesn’t get much easier than that. When I used the baking mat last time, I noticed the edges were beginning to break down and disintegrate. As you can also see in this photo, my mat had become quite discolored with heavy use over the years:
Since the manufacturer warns against using a damaged silpat, I am throwing mine away. On the positive side, it allows me to go shopping ;-) I even discovered they now have a RoulPat which is designed for rolling pastry dough on the counter.
My baking mat shopping list:
Has anyone else had issues with their silpat or experienced the loss of a beloved kitchen tool/device?
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, he was so young :( (Okay, not that young, but I thought he’d live forever.) I don’t have a Silpat (!), since I couldn’t justify the high cost, as I didn’t bake with the sheet pan *that* often — it balanced out its use with the cake pans, tart pans, and muffin pans. But I would still want one, since lining sheet pans with parchment uses up the most paper.
Haven’t lost any really valuable baking tools. My ice cream scoop came apart at the seams recently, but it wasn’t particularly expensive either :)
This may seem ridiculous, but there was a standard-issue utentil, a combo kitchen-spoon/spatula, that was metal with a hard plastic handle and a flexible plastic bowl — sort of shallow — with a flat edge at the “business end.” They were utterly ubiquitous in every dime/discount/grocery store. They were my constant companion when I was learning to cook. And then they disappeared, just about the time that the one I relied upon fell apart. There is now an inferior version that is somewhat similar, but NOT the same, so I had no choice but to being a sad crusade, scouring every out-of-the-way crummy store that had out-of-date sock in kitchenwares, but to little avail. Now, I cut a sinister figure, slouching dull-eyed through the aisles at Goodwill, ruthlessly shoving aside other hapless salvaging soldiers at the Salvation Army. I see one, I buy it. I am hoarding them. I am the go-to guy if you need a Vintage Plastic Spatula Spoon. I am cornering the market and establishing the base value. One day people will be banging down my door, and I will become rich. I beseech you, Allen: Gather Thine Silpats While Ye May. One cannot have too many.
It is always a pleasure to know you “have to” shop for something. We do not want this site to suffer because you do not have a silpat, do we??
I can’t imagine not having one, I actually have three!
I love my silpat too! And I have the roulpat and I can’t image working with dough on any other surface! I love it!
Condolences. ;)
Hmm, that RoulPat sounds like a good idea!
Awe…poor Silpat! Hopefully he finds peace in the great kitchen in the sky ;)
OK, this is hilarious. Bruce just made meringues this afternoon–and the silpat, a long-time piece of the kitchen, failed. It ripped. No joke. And the meringues leaked under the sheet because the heat was uneven. So I just threw away a silpat and all the meringue cookies on it. I had to pause over the trash can. Was I sure it couldn’t be saved? Was I?
Hmmm interesting. I use my old silpat (not worthy for baking) for kneading bread dough since I don’t have a marble/granite countertop. So far, so good. This old silpat is over 10 years old. I can’t part with it yet…
I’m sorry for your loss :( My first Silpat (out of a collection of four, hey – I like to bake!) is going on his/her 10th year and is discoloured beyond recognition. I only use it for non-baking purposes, but I’m having such a hard time letting it go. *sigh*
When mine died I freaked out and bought two for every pan. Now I have 8!
Wait! you didn’t toss it yet did you? Couldn’t you use it a trivet when cooking? Since it withstands oven heat it would be a great counter protector and you don’t have to part with it …yet.
Please accept my deepest sympathy – i hope you will find a suitable garbage space to give him his final goodbye…. so young.. so many fond memories you must have.
Let the new silpat be us cherieshed as your dear friend was..
:-) This post is sooo funny and so true..
Alissa
I also recently replaced one that a friend accidentally cut through with a pizza cutter (my fault I suppose for baking the foccacia bread on it). I continued to use it for a couple of years even though it was torn, I just didn’t put things directly over the cuts. I nearly cried when it became to bedraggled to use. I have two – one for each sheet pan and cannot consider baking with out them. The new one made the old one look so discolored and worn, but I’m quite proud of that – it shows I love to use it. Give the person that invented these a big round of applause!
My deepest sympathies, may he R.I.P.
My Silpat is discoloured but intact. I always find it a pain to clean because I can never get every bit of stain off and it bugs me. I have discovered the joys of Costco-sized rolls of parchment paper. I now use parchment and have not touched my Silpat since. I know it’s not environmentally conscious, but the Silpat doesn’t look biodegradable either. So, oh well. I have also been finding that my silicone bakeware isn’t as effective for baking purposes and also stains from my cake batters. I know it sounds almost impossible, but I “lost” a Henkels chef’s knife (I swear, I can’t find it!) and so I recently bought a new Shun knife from Williams Sonoma.
How’s the noise downtown? GoCanadaGo!