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the material leak into the food, thus causing the food to taste funny?
*Are there any unusual smells during baking?

Based on the "Baking Pans" article on the Cook's Illustrated's website, silicone bakeware was deemed more efficient for recipes that called for "non-baking tasks." During the test run, the browning quality was similar of that provided by non-silicone pans but because the "the floppy SiliconeZone vessel had to be steadied on a metal sheet pan (the bottom of a cornbread baked without the sheet pan came out with striped grid marks from the oven rack)," the overall baking time increased.

Furthermore, uneven swelling of the pan occurred from heavy batter. This in effect caused the bread and be irregularly shaped with soft angles. (Cook's Illustrated, "Baking Pans." December 2007)

If these accounts have not affected your decision to buy silicone bakeware, then there are certain brands that have earned rave reviews.

Ironically, on Cooking.com, the large muffin pans by SiliconeZone have 26 ratings, with an average of 4.1 out of 5.0. The smaller one has 18 ratings, boasting an average of 4.4 out of 5.0.

Another brand is KitchenAid. KitchenAid's Red Flexible Square Cake Mold received 12 ratings with a satisfaction rate of 4.3 out of 5.0. The Red Flexible Muffin Mold with Sled fared better with more ratings, 34 to be exact. Furthermore, customers rated this mold 4.4 out of 5.0.

Then there's Demarle (Silpat and FLEXIPAN); Llorente, and IKEA. Each brand has their respective website so you can check out which products are providing customers with satisfying baking experiences.

So, go ahead and see for yourself. Just because silicone bakeware is the next big trend in kitchen bakeware doesn't mean it belongs in YOUR kitchen.

Learn more about this author, Lakish Campbell.
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