Silicone Pastry Mat

[Cindercat]

I just bought a silicon pastry mat from Chefscatalog.com. I also bought a silicon baking liner. I know they aren't supposed to be used as cutting boards but does the pastry mat hold up to cutting noodles or cinnamon rolls on it? I use a bench scraper to cut rolls and bear claws and a pizza cutter to cut noodles. None of it requires a great deal of pressure to be put on the utensil doing the cutting but they do have semi sharp edges.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

silicone

 

[Cindercat]

Sorry, I've been looking at my students' spelling papers. I guess they are rubbing off on me - I can't spell and apparently can't copy either.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Sorry I didn't mean to be picky. I've worked so long in the electronics industry where our chips are made out of silicon, and the TV news keeps mistaking silicon for silicone, thinking that "Silicon Valley" (area near SF) was responsible for silicone. Silicone is a synthetic rubbery compound made from silicon with CHO (carbon, hydrogen, oxygen) and used for sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medical applications and cookware. The cookware application is founded on some of them with very good heat resistive characteristics and AFAIK they are all non-stick.

Silicones are also used for breast augmentation. Thus the mistaken term "Silicone Valley" which IMO better applies to my own San Fernando Valley (NW suburb of L.A.) where X-rated movies were popularized in the '60s because we were just close enough to be convenient for Hollywood workers--we're just 20 miles NW--yet far enough away that we could be distanced and disclaimed. We have thousands, maybe 10K suburban homes where photo lights could be set up and the iffy films shot. That's why the SFV remains as the nation's capital of X-rated films.

Close enough to Hollywood to be convenient, far enough away to be denied.

 

[inchrisin]

I wouldn't use a knife on these mats, the same as I wouldn't use a knife on a nonstick pan. Why chance ruining a $20 mat when you can transfer to a plate or serving dish and cut it there? Not even a bench scraper! 0

 

[Dawgluver]

I wouldn't use a knife on these mats, the same as I wouldn't use a knife on a nonstick pan. Why chance ruining a $20 mat when you can transfer to a plate or serving dish and cut it there? Not even a bench scraper! 0

+1

 

[RPCookin]

I just bought a silicon pastry mat from Chefscatalog.com. I also bought a silicon baking liner. I know they aren't supposed to be used as cutting boards but does the pastry mat hold up to cutting noodles or cinnamon rolls on it? I use a bench scraper to cut rolls and bear claws and a pizza cutter to cut noodles. None of it requires a great deal of pressure to be put on the utensil doing the cutting but they do have semi sharp edges.

No way I'd cut on them. If you want something easy to store and relatively inexpensive, get some of the cutting mats. When I'm prepping ingredients and I have to cut meat as well, I just pull out one of these mats and put on my wood board and keep the meat juices on the mat, then it goes straight into the sink. That way I don't contaminate the wood board, but I don't have to pull out a second board either and use more counter space. I keep my expensive baking mats pristine for baking.

Any of THESE labeled as "cutting"mats will work well for that.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

By the way, I've been using thin made out of "something" really tough as a SOB cutting mats for years, they're cheap, they save your knives from dulling, they're cleanable (although they do get scarred by repeated cutting) and they IMO make a great counter wide surface for all around food prep.

I often use a Teflon (or similar material) smaller board on top for quicker cleaning of smaller amounts of ingredients, but the mat protects all my counter. I just measured, it's 18" x 24" x estimated 1/16" thick. A knife will just not cut through it, and it protects your knife from anything under it.

 

[Dawgluver]

I recall using "self-healing" silicone mats when I used to cut fabric strips with a rotary cutter. They're used by quilters. Don't know if they're food safe.

 

[Kylie1969]

I too, would not use a knife on those mats

 

[salt and pepper]

Oh no, Its not kevlar!