Baking Mats

• Baking mats were the first cooking tool commonly available in silicone; they are available in a range of sizes and colors. They are most commonly used as a reusable substitute for baking parchment; they serve as a heat-resistant, nonstick surface for cookies and candies. Silicone baking mats can be washed with dish soap and either air-dried or dried with a soft towel. While they can endure high temperatures, they should not be exposed to direct flame, such as an oven burner. Because silicone mats are soft, do not use knives or other sharp tools to cut cookies or candies on top of a mat --- remove them to another surface first before cutting them. Be aware that not all flexible baking mats are 100 percent silicone. When shopping for a mat, try folding or bending it: if white streaks appear when the mat is bent, it's not pure silicone.
  
  

Spatulas

• Soft spatulas with silicone heads are quickly replacing plastic or rubber models. Like their older counterparts, silicone spatulas' flexible heads make them useful for scraping batter and other food out of mixing bowls. Silicone spatulas have the additional advantage of being heat-resistant, so they can be used to stir sauces and other foods on the stove top. While the silicone heads of these spatulas are typically machine washable, their handles --- often made of wood --- may not be. These heads are often detachable for convenient washing.
  
  

Oven Mitts

• Silicone's heat-resistant properties have also made it a good material for oven mitts. Silicone oven mitts allow you to hold extremely hot items safely, but they are more rigid than traditional cloth mitts and may not be as comfortable for some cooks. Like other silicone kitchen tools, they can tear easily if exposed to sharp surfaces and should be stored with care.
  
  

Baking Pans

• Silicone candy molds and cake and cupcake pans are also easy to find. Because they are soft and flexible, it's easy to unmold cakes and candies made in them. However, their softness also means a lack of stability; it can be easy to accidentally crack cakes when removing them from a silicone mold. Silicone pans and molds still need to be greased (and sometimes floured) to ensure baked goods will release cleanly. Because they are soft and flexible, they should be placed on a stable surface, such as a baking sheet, before being filled, moved or put in the oven. Expect baked goods to require about 10 to 15 minutes more baking time than those baked in conventional vessels. You also must fill muffin and cupcake molds with slightly more batter than you would with conventional pans, since the cakes baked in silicone molds won't be able to cling to the sides of the mold and rise as much as those baked in other pans.