If you’re the type that likes to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, chances are you’ve come across the overly expensive bakeware sets sold in most retail stores. While they’re advertised as “top quality” to try and sell more units, in actuality most of the time the same quality products can be found online for much less.
Manufacturers often over produce the amount of products they need and sell them to wholesalers and third party distributors if they have any extra supply. If you’re not keen on buying the latest and greatest bakeware as it comes out (we don’t know anyone that is), you can save some coin by buying your bakeware online instead of in stores like Williams-Sonoma.
Your Options
Depending on your baking needs, as in serious baker or just something to get you by for the few times you bake during the year, there are different sets that you can consider.
Beginner Baker:
For those that don’t yet own any bakeware sets in their home, this starter set is a great way to get your baking career going. It comes with everything you need to bake all of the essentials such as cupcakes and cookies, as well as a bread pan to make your very own homemade bread. What makes this set so great is how easy it is to lean. If this is your first silicone bakeware set, you’ll notice that it’s not only easy to throw in the dishwasher, it’s also extremely easy to handwash if your dishwasher is full. You can easily expand the set with other blue colored silicone baking pans, or you can mix it up a bit and buy other colors as well.
10 Piece Set:
For the more serious baker of the family, a 10 piece set may be more appropriate. This particular 10 piece set has more than you’ll probably ever need as a budding baker. Complete with two 10” cake pans, a baking sheet, bread pan, a spatula, a square cake pan, and a muffin tray, you’ll be set for months as you bake to your heart’s content with all of the options you have to choose from. Just as stated below, all of the silicone pans in this set are completely dishwasher safe, meaning you can bake your delicious cookies and serve them to your hungry kids and throw the pan in the dishwasher without worrying about it melting or warping while it gets run through the wash. Best of all in this set is the lifetime warranty you get to ensure that if anything ever goes wrong with your set, you can get it replaced and taken care of in no time at all.
The Benefits of Silicone
Bakeware is made from many different materials, but by far the most popular and easy to use is silicone. Silicone has become more popular in recent years for a number of reasons. Not only is it heat resistant up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, making it ideal for use in high heat ovens or for faster baking, it’s also able to be frozen safely without any nasty chemicals seeping into the food while in the freezer.
Convenience: From a convenience standpoint, silicone is always nonstick and makes it easy to get your food out of the pan. In addition to being non-stick, silicone distributes heat evenly throughout the food within it, giving an all around even cooking temperature so you don’t have to worry about the bottom burning or the top rising too quickly Everything cooks at just the right temperature all the way through until it’s done.
Clean: Silicone is easy to clean and can be thrown in the dishwasher without worry of it melting or falling apart. Most silicone pans are also odor free, making them the perfect candidate to bake smelly things with as they won’t retain any of the odor of the food you’ve baked in them.
Silicone Baking Sets
A quick side note that’s probably important to make is that if you purchase a silicone baking set, you’ll probably get a spatula in the set as well. Spatulas that come with wooden handles are not dishwasher safe. Although the silicone portion of the spatula can easily be cleaned in the dishwasher, hot water left on wood for long periods of time can cause it to crack and warp, ultimately destroying your spatula. And chances are, the warranty you get with your set won’t cover damage to the spatula because you ran it through the dishwasher.
Baking Ideas
If you’re new to the world of baking or are just looking to get more value out of your new silicone baking set, this particular book is a great way to get ideas and get your baking career started right. There are plenty of ideas with everything from cookies to breads to keep your sweet tooth satisfied.
An unmentioned benefit to the book is that it’s ring bound, making it easy to flip to a page you want to read the recipe for and have it stay on the page without closing or flipping pages. Plus, the durable rings will take a beating as you move it around the kitchen as you bake.