Silicone Baking Mats
How we tested
Silicone baking mats are reusable alternatives to parchment paper: Pop one into a baking sheet and you instantly have a nonstick baking surface that you can use, wash, and reuse. Made of silicone embedded with heat-conducting fiberglass or nylon fiber mesh, these nonstick mats were originally intended for use in restaurant kitchens. But since they've become increasingly popular with home cooks over the past decade, we decided it was time for a fresh look. We bought five mats priced from $8.99 to $24.39, including our former winner, the DeMarle Silpat U.S. Half-Size Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat. We pitted the mats against our favorite parchment paper, King Arthur Flour Parchment Paper 100 Half-Sheets, using them to bake multiple batches of tuile cigars, sugar cookies, and chocolate chip cookies. We also tested them against an unlined rimmed baking sheet, roasting potatoes and salmon.
Are Silicone Baking Mats Better Than Parchment?
The mats certainly have advantages over parchment paper. They're easy to slip into a baking sheet, and their comparative weight (60 to 117 grams) helps them stay put better than even our favorite parchment sheets (4 grams). This comes in handy when you're working with melted chocolate or caramel or need to spread out clingy batters such as the one for our Tuile Cigars. With the occasional exception of the lightest-weight mat, we never had to worry about the offset spatula pulling the mat up, as sometimes happens with parchment. And because these mats usually sit flat, they produced tuiles with perfectly smooth undersides—not always the case with parchment, under which air bubbles can form, resulting in wrinkles or seams in the finished tuiles. (We've also found that creased or curled parchment can affect the appearance of cookies and cakes.)
Better still, the mats have all the nonstick benefits of parchment—and then some. This made it a breeze to remove cookies and skin-on salmon fillets (in contrast, salmon cooked on a bare baking sheet sometimes stuck, requiring us to scrape it off). In fact, the mats' nonstick surfaces are so slick that they repel fat, which pooled around and under our roasted potatoes and ensured that they browned more evenly than they did on the bare baking sheet. One thing to note: Because the mats are so slick, some types of cookies spread out more on them; for example, chocolate chip cookies baked on the mats were about ¼ inch wider than those cooked on parchment, and their edges browned more deeply, resulting in a slightly crispier final product.
The Best Silicone Baking Mat
The mats were all durable and performed similarly, regardless of manufacturing differences or exact composition. Our preferences boiled down to size and ease of cleanup. All the mats could be used with our favorite rimmed baking sheet, which measures 16½ by 11½ inches, but one was a bit too small (reducing the usable surface area) and another was a bit too long, so cookies placed near the short ends of it took on the mat's upward curve. Three mats fit the baking sheet perfectly, and of those, we preferred the two slightly heavier ones (each weighing more than 100 grams), as they stayed put better.
Choosing between these top two mats came down to cleanup: We preferred the model that was dishwasher-safe. Over time, all the mats in our testing accumulated some residual fats and oils, just as their manufacturers said they would. They also retained odors. After we used the mats to roast salmon, they smelled distinctly of fish in the oven when used to bake sugar cookies; the cookies themselves also tasted faintly fishy to a few testers. Mats that were dishwasher-safe generally felt cleaner and less sticky, and they had less-pronounced odors.
If you bake a lot and like the idea of a reusable mat or prefer not to fuss with parchment, a silicone baking mat might be a nice addition to your kitchen. Our previous winner, the DeMarle Silpat U.S. Half-Size Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat ($22.35), is still our favorite. This mat performs beautifully, fits perfectly in a baking sheet, and is dishwasher-safe.
Methodology
We tested five silicone baking mats priced from $8.99 to $24.39, pitting them against our favorite parchment paper, King Arthur Flour Parchment Paper 100 Half-Sheets, and our favorite baking sheet, the Nordic Ware Baker's Half Sheet. We made tuile cigars and multiple batches of cookies (both sugar and chocolate chip) and roasted potatoes and salmon. We also washed the mats according to manufacturer instructions. We evaluated the mats on performance and ease of use. All models were purchased online, and they appear in order of preference.
Performance: We evaluated how well and consistently the mats baked the cookies and roasted the potatoes and salmon.
Ease of Use: We evaluated how easily the mats fit in our winning baking sheet, how stable they were within the sheet, and how well they resisted odors and grease buildup.
The Results
Design Trifecta 360 Knife Block
Admittedly expensive, this handsome block certainly seemed to live up to its billing as “the last knife block you ever have to buy.” The heaviest model in our testing, this block was ultrastable, and its durable bamboo exterior was a breeze to clean. Well-placed medium-strength magnets made it easy to attach all our knives, and a rotating base gave us quick access to them. One tiny quibble: The blade of our 12-inch slicing knife stuck out a little.
Schmidt Brothers Downtown Block
This roomy block completely sheathed our entire winning knife set using just one of its two sides—and quite securely, thanks to long, medium-strength magnet bars. Heavy, with a grippy base, this block was very stable. An acrylic guard made this model extra-safe but also made it a little trickier to insert knives and to clean; the wood block itself showed some minor cosmetic scratching during use.
Schmidt Brothers Midtown Block
This smaller version of the Downtown Block secured all our knives nicely, though the blade of the slicing knife stuck out a bit. With a base lined with grippy material, this block was very stable. An acrylic guard afforded extra protection against contact with blades but made it a little harder to insert knives and to clean; the wood itself got a little scratched during use.
Swissmar Bamboo Magnetic Knife Block
This small, scratch-resistant model had a stable, rubber-lined base and could hold all our knives, though the blade of the 12-inch slicing knife stuck out a bit. But inch-long gaps between its small magnets made coverage uneven and forced us to find the magnetic hot spots in order to secure the knives. Its acrylic guard made it safer to use but harder to insert knives and to clean.
Messermeister Walnut Magnet Block
This handsome block was done in by its shape—a tippy, top-heavy quarter-circle that wasn’t tall or broad enough to keep the blades of three knives from poking out. It lacked a nonslip base, and its extra-strong magnets made it unnerving to attach or remove our heavy cleaver. Finally, it got a bit scratched after extensive use.
Epicurean Standing Knife Rack 12"
This magnetic block sheathed all our knives completely, though with a bit of crowding. But it was hard to insert each knife without hitting the block’s decorative slats on way down, and because the block was light and narrow, it wobbled when bumped. Worse, we couldn’t take it apart, so splatters that hit the interior were there to stay. Additionally, the outside stained easily, and when we wiped it down, the unit smelled like wet dog.
Kapoosh Rondelle Knife Block
This model stabilized knives with a mass of stiff, spaghetti-like bristles that shed and nicked easily after extensive use, covering our knives with plastic debris. While all our knives fit securely, several of the blades stuck out, making this unit feel less safe overall. Finally, though the bristles could be removed and cleaned in the dishwasher, their nooks and crannies made this block hard to wash by hand.
Kuhn Rikon Vision Knife Block, Clear
This plastic block required us to aim each knife into the folds of an accordion-pleated insert that was removable for easy cleaning but got nicked easily with repeated use. Because we could only insert the knives vertically, longer knife blades stuck out; a cleaver was too wide to fit. The lightest model in our lineup, this block was dangerously top-heavy when loaded with knives.
