This One Cheap Purchase Will Make Your Kitchen More Sustainable and Less Messy
Silicone baking liners are staples in chef Nyesha Arrington's kitchen. "One thing I would say people should invest in—especially if they are going to do a lot of sheet pan cooking—are these amazing tools called Silpat baking liners," she shared in a recent episode of Well+Good's show Cook With Us.
Shop now: Silpat Half-Sheet Silicone Liner ($25)
What are silicone liners, you ask? Think of them as an eco-friendly replacement to aluminum foil and parchment paper. "You can get them anywhere, but it's essentially a non-stick, silicone baking surface," Arrington said. That means you can use it to bake cookies, roast vegetables, or cook salmon without worrying about your food staying stuck to your pan.
Well+Good's senior food and health editor, Jessie Van Amburg, is a fan of the Silpat silicone liner, too. "I hate doing dishes, so I used to love lining my sheet pans with parchment or aluminum foil to make baking and roasting less messy. But that also meant I’d throw away a lot of parchment and foil which obviously isn’t great for the planet," she says. Her brother—who worked for years at high-end home goods stores—introduced them to her around five years ago and she hasn't looked back. "They prevent things from sticking to the pan and protect your cookware from grease and mess, but are washable and reusable." You can clean them by hand (just a wipe will do for most things) or in the top rack of your dishwasher. Can't say the same for foil.
Van Amburg says she has silicone liner for savory foods and one for sweet foods so that the flavors don't transfer from recipe to recipe. (Because the last thing you want is for your chocolate chip cookies to start tasting like garlicky chicken breasts, right?) "They’re a bit pricey up-front but make up for all the money you’ll save on disposable baking liners," she says. "Plus, they're fancy and French, which makes me feel fancy and French."
They're not just for sheet pans, either—you can find specifically-sized mats to work with round cake pans, muffin tins, and more. And while Silpat is the brand that Arrington and Van Amburg love best, there are also a few other brands that make silicone baking mats, including AmazonBasics ($14 for a pack of two) and Kitzini ($11 for set of three).
Making clean up a cinch while making your cooking more sustainable? That's definitely a cooking win.
Watch the video below to see Chef Nyesha Arrington using the Silpat baking liners when making her one-pan roasted veggie hash:
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