Silicone Kitchen Products

Silicone is safe, nonstick, and flexible. It can withstand high temperatures and is easy to clean. It also doesn’t release toxic fumes or leach chemicals into foods like Teflon and plastic do.

Make sure to buy silicone that’s labeled as food grade. Cheaper grades may contain chemical fillers and binders that can leach into your food during high-temperature use.

Cookware

Whether sauteing vegetables in a pan or stirring a bubbling pot of soup, silicone utensils and cookware are a modern kitchen essential. Made from a flexible, heat-resistant material called silicone, they’re BPA-free and safe to use at recommended temperatures. They’re also non-stick, stain resistant and dishwasher safe for hassle-free cleaning.

Silicone kitchen tools and bakeware are available in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. To be safe, look for a set that’s made with only food-grade silicone—the kind Health Canada (Canada’s national health agency) maintains doesn’t react with foods or beverages or produce harmful fumes when exposed to high heats.

Some silicone utensils feature indents to rest on the lip of a pan, while others have a longer, more ergonomic handle for better control and maneuvering. Gonzalez prefers the durable, hygienic products from Core Kitchen that are made of a single piece of pharmaceutical grade silicone—and have smart design details like a spatula that’s extra long and wide at the head so you can scrape every last bit out of a bowl or pan.

Silicone utensils also have soft silicone heads that prevent scratching or damaging the surfaces of your cookware. They’re freezer, microwave and oven safe and durable enough to be used for years. The Silicone Kitchen Products utensils also fold flat for easy storage, so they take up minimal space in your drawer or cabinet.

Utensils

Unlike plastic, silicone can withstand high temperatures, and manufacturers typically specify maximum temperatures that their kitchenware can withstand. The hottest home ovens rarely reach those levels, so you shouldn’t have to worry about your silicone cooking utensils melting or degrading.

Another advantage of silicone is that it won’t retain odors or absorb the taste of foods like some metal utensils can. It also resists stains and scratches. However, it’s a good idea to avoid using silicone with acidic foods or substances like citrus fruits that can damage it.

Spatulas might come to mind first when thinking about silicone utensils, but these versatile tools are just as useful for other kitchen tasks. Strategist writer Maxine Builder tested a set that includes a slotted spoon and a slotted turner and found that they “have a core head of stainless steel that’s sturdy for scooping food, and a tapered edge that slips under the sides of pans without damaging them.”

If you’re purchasing silicone utensils, make sure you get 100% pure silicone. A few percent of other materials is fine, but if your silicone has chemical fillers, they’ll discolor quickly, and that can affect the flavor of your food. One quick way to check if your utensils are pure is to pinch them, and a quality product won’t discolor much.

Baking Bundles

Silicone kitchen tools are heat-resistant and non-reactive, so they won’t react with acids or bases in food. They also don’t produce hazardous fumes when heated and won’t retain odors like wood can. Plus, they’re easy to clean because food won’t stick to them as much.

When choosing silicone cookware, look for products that are LFGB certified (Food Grade) by the FDA. LFGB certification means that manufacturers have been tested to ensure their silicone cookware meets industry standards. This includes ensuring the silicone doesn’t contain dioxins or PFAS (perfluorooctanoic acid), which have been linked to health issues including weight loss, liver problems, and cellular changes.

A silicone bakeware set will include a variety of items for baking, including a muffin pan with liners and a silicone spatula. The liners are made of BPA free, oven safe, non-stick silicone that’s flexible and heat-resistant. The silicone spatula is also oven-safe and can handle high temperatures, so it’s great for flipping pancakes and moving cookies to a cooling rack.

Because of their reusable nature, silicone kitchen tools are better for the environment than single-use plastics. Unlike plastic, which can take up to 500 years to break down into inorganic matter, silicone does not float in the ocean and does not leach toxic chemicals into the water. However, some Silicone Kitchen Products lower quality silicones can be toxic to the environment if they contain chemical fillers. To avoid this, check if the product is made of pure silicone by pinching it. If you can see white, that’s a sign that chemical fillers were used and you should avoid that product.

Accessories

Silicone kitchen tools and cooking utensils are an excellent complement to many nonstick cookware pieces. The soft texture of silicone is perfect for scraping the last bit of cake batter from a bowl or getting all the pasta stuck in a strainer. And unlike metal utensils, which can scratch Teflon or other nonstick surfaces, silicone tools will not.

Most importantly, silicone is safer for your food than plastic. While both are BPA and phthalate free, silicone is an inert material and does not leach chemicals into your food. It also is more heat-resistant than plastic.

In addition to being safe, silicone is durable and easy to clean. It can withstand high temperatures and is flexible enough to be used with most pots and pans. It is also easy to store and can easily withstand repeated use. It is one of the most versatile cooking utensils you can buy, and it comes in a wide variety of colors to match any design aesthetic. It also is a great choice for anyone who cares about the environment and wants to reduce the amount of single-use plastic in their kitchen.