Smart Ware

[Hungry]

How about some feedback on the Silicon cookware?

My daughter got me a 6 cup muffin pan for Christmas. Just like the commericals says, no oil or greaseing the pan. Pop it in the oven on the oven rack, no Cookie sheet needed.
I was a little leery about putting that "rubbery thing" in a 400 degree oven on the bare rack.

For the test I baked the Jiffy Cornbread Mix. I seldom have luck with that brand. The muffins always stick and come apart when I bake then in my regular muffin pan.

Well... just like the commerical, the muffins came right out of the pan, a nice golden brown, in one piece with out a crumb left in the pan. Clean up was nothing!

I have been pricing them and they are not cheap! There are a couple different brands which could make a difference in the preformance
I would like to get some feed back from other users before I make a purchase.

Charlie

 

[JohnL]

Charlie,
I've been wondering about those also.
I don't really understand how they work.
They're soft and flexible, how do they conduct heat?
John.

 

[htc]

Hi Hungry,

I have one Gastroflex silicone mold tray and love it. Boy was it pricey though. I think it was almost 30 bucks just for one. I don't know what the official shape is called, it's like if you were to see a cartoon and see the bottom outline of a boat.

Anyways, when I do use mine, I love it. I honestly don't use it much but it's one of those "just in case things". I don't know how cheaper products work. I've always wondered though if price makes a difference. I bought mine at a fancy kitchen place. I think the name is Sur La Table.

Here's a link to it http://www.bourgeat.com/us/produit/pastry.htm

Hope this helps!

 

[Hungry]

Smare Ware

I just dug up some more information on the Smart Ware.

http://www.kblasseenontv.com/SmartWare

Smartware is the incredible flexible cookware that makes everything fabulously delectable and fun to make. Smartware bakeware is created using a unique non-stick material made from Temperflex. Temperflex is not plastic, but stores like it. It's not rubber, but bends like it. It's not steel, but lasts like it. Temperflex allows you to take your Smartware from baking to freezing in a flash. Your Smartware bakeware can go from 60°F below zero to almost 500°F above without warping, melting or flaking. But the real joy is in how it cooks

Smart Ware as seen on TV $39.95 + $14.95 No tax in U.S.
16 Piece Smartware Product Includes: 9" x 11" All Purpose Roasting/Baking Pan Loaf pan Savarin Bundt Pan Cookie Sheet Mat Serving Tray Serving Tray Serving Tray 2 Storage Lids 8 Holiday Stencils

This is the same offer that is on TV. I don't know what the shipping cost are on the TV offer. This $17.95 seems very high!

There was another site that listed the items individually for $14.95 each.
You could pick and chose. I didn't mark the page now I can't find it again!!

Charlie

 

[Zereh]

I am leary of using plastic to cook food on; plastic leaches into food when it reaches a high enough temp. I'm a skeptic, I know. =) But I think I'll just stick to using my glass- & tin-ware.

Z

 

[Michael in FtW]

I am leary of using plastic to cook food on; plastic leaches into food when it reaches a high enough temp. I'm a skeptic, I know. =) But I think I'll just stick to using my glass- & tin-ware.

Actually, silicone is not a plastic but is more akin to glass. Silicone in a 3-D crystaline matrix is silica (sand) from which we make glass. The nonstick coatings on pots and pans are "high temperature" plastics.

The nonstick coating on cookware begins to breakdown and produce toxic vapors (probably from the fluorine) when heated to near 500-F. This is why nonstick cookware is generally only rated for oven use up to 450-F, and not for use under the broiler.

Silicone bakeware has a heat limit, too - it begins to break down around 480-F. But, it doesn't seem to have the problem of toxic vapors that nonstick coatings have since it is just a composition of silicone, oxygen and carbon. But, when it melts or turns to dust, that wouldn't be "Good Eats".

Ironically, you mention having no problem with cooking in tin. Tin melts at only 450-F. This is why the tin lined copper pots need to be retinned frequently.

Chemically, silicone bakeware has a backbone of alternating silicone and oxygen atoms (which gives it it's flexibility) and small fat-like carbon chains protruding from it (which makes it act like a permanently well-oiled pan). It is non-reactive like glass.

Silicone bakeware is very conductive, like glass, which probably accounts for it's cooking qualities - such as the browning qualities of food baked on/in it.

Hungry - your problem with the Jiffy cornbread mix was probably what you were baking it in. Everyone (in the Southat least) knows that making cornbread is why God invented the cast iron skillet!

 

[Zereh]

I called it "tin"-ware since I have no idea what it really is. But I guess it can't be actual tin since it sure doesn't melt in a hot oven. So whatever the shiney silver professionial bakeware is made out of, that's what I use.

I do not use teflon coated cookware of any kind for exactly the reason you stated. One look at a pan that has a scratch or fifty, where the coating starts to flake, tells you that you're ingesting that stuff. There's a huge bruhaha going now over the folks that created Teflon because they didn't disclose information about some of the chemicals used to create it cause cancer. Surprise, surprise. I quickly glanced over a link to an article from CNN on it, I'll try to dig it up.

And I'm still gonna stick to using what I already own. =P

Z

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Michael in FtW: I'm truly impressed. You certainly know your silicone. I have used silicone sealants around my home for years, not to mention high-temp versions in various car engines. I have to admit that I always wondered at the oily feel of my silicone spatula. Now I know. Thanks. Learn something new every day.

Myself, I'm studying voice-over-IP telephony systems right now. I like cooking better.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Michael in FtW]

Goodweed: Not all "silicone" is the same ..... obviously "food grade" silicone is not the same as a silicone sealant (nasty toxic stuff mixed in there) ... and not the same as the silicone "grease" that is probably lurking in your computer to forn a thermal conductive bond between your CPU and it's heat sink.

I wish I had a new CRC Manual some times so I could figure more of this stuff out than just trying to rely on memory .....

 

[Hungry]

Silicone

Michael,
Thanks for your information.
Goes to show you. People that like to cook also has other interest.
I'm for ever amazad at the talent on these boards.

One coment on the muffin pan I have. (Is it a pan?) Maybe we are in the old "Iron Woods". No, pans are tin, copper, rubber, plastic, siclilon,

Some golf clubs are iron woods

BTW when I was baking the muffins, the wife said it smelled like cigarett smoke!

Thanks,

Charlie