My sister and I are 14 years apart. She was going through puberty while I was still in diapers. By the time I was 4, she was off to college. And, as you can imagine, there was little for us to bond over when all I wanted to do was to play make-believe and she was already living real life.
After my sister left home, opportunities for us to spend quality time together became fewer and farther between—that is, until the holidays rolled around, and I could always count on her to spend hours baking cookies with me. With a set of measuring cups and a cookie press in hand, my sister and I were seemingly unstoppable, and our vanilla-scented sugar cookies quickly became a cherished family tradition.
After years of baking without a hitch, we thought we had mastered it—until an old, decrepit, no-longer-nonstick baking sheet wrecked a batch of our prized cookies and, in turn, ruined my life. (It was the closest thing to heartbreak that I, at the ripe age of 11, had ever experienced.)
To help calm an utterly devastated middle-schooler, my mom took me to my favorite store at the time, Williams Sonoma. (Yes.) There, she bought me my first Silpat mat, and the rest of my nonstick-baking journey is history.
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This nonstick baking mat prevents cookies and roasted veggies from sticking to a baking sheet. It also comes in handy for other routine cooking tasks, such as freezing foods and making surfaces grippy.
Silpat is a French brand best known for its reusable, food-grade silicone mats, which are free of phthalates and BPA and are designed for nonstick baking. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including circular and rectangular, as well as molds for madeleines and mini loaves. Yet what they all have in common is an iconic orange border.
You’ve likely seen these mats on TV, where just about every baking-show competitor uses them to line their baking sheets in order to ensure their goods don’t stick. And you can bet your bottom dollar that you’d find at least one of these mats in the pastry section of any professional kitchen. A good friend, who was a sous chef at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in Beverly Hills, confirmed that they used them nearly every day.
During culinary school, Silpat mats were my lifeline when I was learning to bake with the notoriously sticky pâte à choux dough, used for making éclairs and profiteroles. When I grew even more confident in my baking, the mats helped me perfect my French macaron–making skills, and they ensured that the often-finicky batter puffed beautifully and maintained its “footed” edges without deflating or cracking. (Silpat also sells a macaron mat, which has outlines to help make consistency and portioning easier.)
In my experience, Silpat mats’ nonstick capabilities are unmatched, and unlike a sheet of regular ol’ parchment paper or aluminum foil, they can be used over and over again. They also come with a lifetime warranty and can withstand temperatures from -40 °F to 428 °F.
And although I can’t imagine baking meringue-based desserts, such as a pavlova, without my Silpat mat, it isn’t the best choice for every job. For example, it isn’t ideal for recipes that require a higher degree of browning, since the mat can block some of the direct heat.
As senior staff writer Lesley Stockton has previously pointed out, silicone can hold on to grease, smells, and dust. And that’s why she recommends cleaning the mats with hot water and unscented dish soap to remove any oily residue. I’ve also encountered issues with lint (and dog hair) clinging to the surface of my mat, but it’s nothing a quick rinse won’t solve.
Also, I’ve found that Silpat mats can begin to show discoloration over time. Yet I like to think of this as a rite of passage as a baker, since discoloration doesn’t impact the mat’s nonstick abilities (and it is perfectly normal and safe, per the mats’ maker). To prevent any savory odors from tainting a sweet dish, I have two separate mats, reserved for those respective duties.
You also need to be careful never to cut a Silpat mat, since doing this can expose the silicone-coated fiberglass weaving it’s made of. If you accidentally pierce the mat with a knife, the company advises that you not reuse it. In my experience, these mats are exceptionally durable as long as you treat them nicely, which is why I always hand-wash them and keep sharp objects far away, to prevent accidental cuts.
Despite Silpat mats’ minor flaws, I still consider them to be perfectly imperfect, and this hasn’t stopped me from using them to roast veggies, chill chocolate-covered strawberries, or freeze pre-portioned, unbaked cookies. I also like using this versatile nonstick mat to roll or knead dough, which spares me from making a mess of my cutting boards.
Even when I’m not baking, my trusted Silpat mat comes in handy by helping me turn my kitchen’s slippery granite countertops into a grippy surface and preventing my wooden cutting board from sliding around. It works even better than a damp kitchen towel (the usual go-to trick for that common predicament).
I once tried buying an off-brand, slightly cheaper version, but it discolored within just a few uses, and it retained odors even more prominently. Meanwhile, my first Silpat mat—which my mom still owns—is in good condition, even 20 years later.
But most importantly of all, my family-beloved sugar cookies haven’t been ruined by a mediocre baking sheet ever again, and my sister and I couldn’t be more thankful for that.
This article was edited by Megan Beauchamp and Maxine Builder.
