Okay, these things have just revolutionized cooking for us!
Mats are purchased based on pan size. We have mats for our half sheet and quarter sheet baking pans.
At first, I wondered if they were really worth the investment. We started using parchment paper a little more in cooking, though, and noticed a difference in the quality of the food. So, we thought the one-time expenditure for a baking mat might just be worth the cost.
And it was!
- No pan greasing needed.
- Food does not stick, thus preserving the look of the food and easing the clean-up.
- The baking mat cleans very easily, leaving very little on the pan to be cleaned.
- The food cooks more evenly. I won’t bake cookies without it anymore!
Any negatives? I’m not sure I’d call these negatives, as long as you know to expect them. But, here they are…
- Food does not crisp as well on a baking mat. You have to be intentional about crisping.
- The mat cannot withstand a knife blade. While this is typically not an issue for us, we do have one recipe that requires cutting in the pan. We solved this with a plastic knife. It is not sharp enough to cut the mat, but it is wedged enough to cut most things that might end up on the mat.
So, where might you get such a thing? Amazon.com has a wide selection, as I’m sure kitchen stores do. A popular brand is the Silpat brand.
Not Quite Ordinary 