Parchment Paper vs. Silicone Baking Mats

You’re in all probability used to seeing cookie recipes that decision for lining your half-sheet trays with parchment paper, so what provides with the rise in recognition of silicone baking mats over the previous few years? Are these two nonstick surfaces interchangeable in recipes? And, are they equally good at baking cookies, cooling thick caramel, or releasing delicate macaron shells? Or a litany of different frequent baking and cooking duties?

Let’s get into it.

What’s Parchment Paper?

Also called baking paper, parchment paper is solely paper that’s been handled with both silicone or Quilon (a chemical made up largely of isopropanol) to render it nonstick and heat-resistant. Silicone-treated parchment is barely costlier to provide, but additionally extra frequent in grocery shops. In contrast to Quilon-treated parchment, you may reuse silicone-treated parchment just a few occasions, and there appears to be some disagreement about Quilon’s well being security for baking purposes.

Parchment paper is mostly offered in shops by the roll or in containers of pre-cut sheets that might match on most cookie trays. I want the rolls of parchment to the pre-cut sheets as a result of a lot of the sheets are too small, and I’d moderately trim off or fold up any extra paper to get extra protection. Nevertheless, pre-cut parchment paper has its followers (together with affiliate editorial director Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm, who swears by King Arthur Flour’s). 

Many specialty shops additionally promote pre-cut parchment liners for cake pans of all sizes, however you may also reduce out your personal. (As an apart, parchment paper may even be was piping luggage.) 

The Execs and Cons of Parchment Paper

Execs

• Disposable for simple clean-up
• Very skinny for even cooking and optimum warmth transference
• Nonstick, however not slippery, resulting in optimum unfold for cookies
• Way more versatile—good for lining any dimension pan, and even making pastry luggage
• Some manufacturers are compostable

Cons

• Single-use paper, even when you will get just a few makes use of out of it, isn’t as sustainable

What Are Silicone Baking Mats and What Can You Use Them For?

In my kitchen, essentially the most common process for parchment paper is lining half-sheet trays for a batch of cookies. (I additionally like to chop off a small rectangle to line quarter-sheet trays and dole out balls of dough for simple chilling.) Not solely does parchment present a floor that even the sugariest cookie dough received’t persist with, but it surely additionally provides a layer of slight insulation, serving to to forestall scorching (particularly if utilizing darker pans). It received’t persist with your cookies, but it surely additionally isn’t so slippery that your cookies flatten out quicker than they bake. 

Silicone mats can’t compete on this enviornment. As Stella Parks notes in her piece on the troubles of baking cookies on silicone, it doesn’t take in moisture or fats like parchment does, leaving cookies a tad greasy—and likewise sweaty, if cooled on their trays. Additionally, they’re a bit too nonstick, inflicting cookies to unfold an excessive amount of within the oven, which ends up in the fallacious texture, overcooked edges, and/or not sufficient rise. The thickness of those mats can assist conduct warmth extra gently, however they insulate the cookies an excessive amount of from the direct warmth from the tray under, which is also why they don’t set quick sufficient and unfold an excessive amount of. 

One other nice use for parchment that may’t be replicated by silicone? Lining cake tins. Greasing the tin, after which inserting a sheet reduce to the pan’s form on the underside means the cake will launch with ease and little to no breakage. After all, they promote cake tin-size silicone mats, however then you must have two to 3 of them for each dimension cake pan you have got. 

For delicate piping work like buttercream flowers, royal icing transfers, or tempered chocolate designs, I like to make use of parchment as a result of it’s simple to peel off whereas being very cautious to not injury your creation. Silicone mats generally is a bit too thick to softly peel them off. Plus you may reduce the parchment into no matter dimension you want and simply transfer them round, prefer to the fridge or a showstopper cake. 

Lastly, I like rolling out dough for cut-out cookies on parchment as an alternative of a silicone mat. I simply lay one other piece of parchment on prime of the dough and roll the dough between the 2 items, which additionally helps my rolling pin from turning into a sticky mess. This fashion, it’s tremendous simple to find out the proper thickness for rolling, switch the slabs to and from the fridge, and pry the fragile cutouts out of their dough prisons. 

Though parchment can also be nice for baking one other cookie, macaron shells, some bakers swear by utilizing silicone mats. Lots of them even include macaron templates of various sizes conveniently printed on them. This would possibly boil down to non-public choice. And whereas silicone mats make some cookies, for instance, the basic chocolate chip, unfold an excessive amount of, different sorts of cookies corresponding to florentines and tuiles profit from a whole lot of unfold. 

Bread bakers love utilizing silicone mats which can be precisely the scale of a bread oven. With them, they will prove their formed loaf onto an oval of silicone, spray it, coat it in flour, rating it with a lame, and simply switch it with their two little tab handles to the pre-heated bread oven. In my expertise with baking sourdough, parchment tends to scorch on the excessive temperatures required for a tall rise and open crumb. 

One other style of baked items I’ll whip out my silicone mats for is something tremendous sticky. I’ve discovered that with sizzling, molten caramel, silicone is rather more forgiving. After I’m dipping caramel apples, I like to put them on silicone to set. Or after I’ve made a hard-crack caramel like for peanut brittle, I prefer to pour it out onto a silicone mat on a sheet tray. Parchment can get caught on the caramel somewhat simpler and, as a result of it’s paper, it is susceptible to ripping. (A superb silicone mat will virtually by no means tear.) The identical goes for a batch of syrupy granola. It’s annoying to must attempt to peel off parchment caught to one thing sticky, belief me. After all, you may all the time evenly grease any parchment you’re utilizing, however you then’ll get a sheen on the completed product, and why undergo the additional step?

Additionally they make silicone mats for worktops which can be a fantastic non-stick floor for rolling out pie crust, brioche dough for cinnamon rolls, or different sticky pastries. They typically include ruler markings on the perimeters, useful baking conversion charts, and concentric circles displaying you the proper diameters for pie crust, too.

The Execs and Cons of Silicone Baking Mats

Execs

• Value-effective in the long run—purchase it as soon as and also you’ll have it for years 
• Reusable—much less waste and environmental impression
• Extra heat-resistant than parchment paper
• Straightforward to throw within the dishwasher
• Much less fragile than parchment paper
• Evenly distributes warmth

Cons

• Too slippery, resulting in an excessive amount of unfold on cookies
• Tough to wash and dry by hand
• Have a tendency to carry onto highly effective smells and stains

Why We’re the Consultants

• Eric King is a recipe developer, photographer, meals stylist, and content material creator.
• He has a B.S. in journal journalism from Syracuse College.
• He runs a baking weblog referred to as easygayoven and has developed, styled, and photographed recipes for Netflix Household.
• He has reviewed many objects for severe eats, together with bench scrapers and wine tumblers.