What is Silicone? Are Silicone Kitchen Safe? All the Thing You Need to Know About Silicone

In recent years, various types of silicone tableware and kitchen utensils have become more and more popular in Europe, America or Japan, such as silicone bakeware, silicone table mats, silicone cups, silicone fresh-keeping bags, etc. Are silicone tableware safe?

The silicone raw materials used in the silicone tableware we are talking about today have been proven to be a safe materials. In Europe and America, stainless steel cake pans have been gradually replaced by silicone pans. The traditional PE cling film has gradually been replaced by silicone film. Silicone spatulas, various tableware or kitchen utensils are gradually being introduced into silicone materials.

Speaking of this, you may still be unable to understand what is silicone?

SO, What is Silicone?

Before I go further, I must clarify a few terms, because silicone and silicon are often misused.

Silicon (without the suffix e) is a chemical element that is second only to oxygen in the earth. This hard and crunchy gray substance is the least suitable material for cake pans, let alone breast augmentation. However, silicon is a kind of semiconductor, which is of great value as the "chip" and microprocessor for computers and hundreds of electronic devices. Therefore, the high-tech area around San Jose, California is called "Silicon Valley."

On the other hand, silicone rubber is a chemical compound, which is a polymer like natural and synthetic rubber. In other words, their molecules are made up of thousands of long chains connected by smaller molecules. Silicone molecules have a backbone made up of overlapping silicon and oxygen atoms, which are connected to various carbon and hydrogen atoms. Depending on the length of the molecular chain and the nature of the connected atomic groups, silicone can be liquid (used in brake oil and water-based insecticide spray), colloid (breast augmentation implant), grease (lubricant and lipstick) or elastomer, like a fool Clay, bouncy balls, gaskets for refrigerator doors and kitchen utensils.

When silicone is mentioned recently, people have a deep-rooted impression that they are implants for plastic surgery. In fact, silicone rubber contains a wide range of chemical compounds and has thousands of uses. In the field of cooking, the French Silpat glass fiber reinforced silicone bakeware mat has been used in professional kitchens since its introduction in 1982. However, various silicone kitchen utensils have not entered the US market until recent years, and have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for repeated exposure tests. Today, not only the bakeware mat, but the entire bakeware is made of silicone.

In fact, there are many places where we can see silicone in our lives, but we don't pay special attention to it. For example, most of the pacifiers on baby bottles or pressure rings on pressure cookers are made of silicone.

Benefit of Silicone

Silicone baking utensils have many benefits. First, the material itself is translucent, allowing the product to show a variety of bright colors. (KitchenAid’s muffin cake tins, toast tins and cake pans are all red or blue.) The silicone baking pan can withstand high temperatures and will not melt (the molecules will not leave each other) because its molecules are very It is long and tightly intertwined, like a plate of cold sticky pasta, so you can put it directly from the oven into the refrigerator, or from the refrigerator into the oven without worrying about it cracking. Its molecules are elastic, but they are tightly fixed in the same place and will not expand or contract greatly due to temperature changes.

Silicone does not absorb microwaves, but like all kitchen utensils suitable for microwave ovens, it will also become hot in the microwave due to contact with heated food. Since silicone is a chemically inert substance, silicone bakeware is also suitable for dishwashers, and corrosive detergents cannot destroy it. At the same time, in most cases, desserts can be easily ejected from the back. However, do not use it to make jelly or aspic; soaking the baking mold in warm water will not make the glue fall off, because silicone is a thermal insulator.

Any Bad Side for Silicone?

So, are there any disadvantages of silicone? Since it is an electrical insulator (one of the most important characteristics of silicone in other applications), it is easily affected by static electricity and may accumulate dust in the cabinet. In addition, when you move the batter-filled silicone bakeware to the oven, you may worry about it being too loose. We can put it on a baking iron plate without edges and push it into the oven.

Silicone baking utensils, like all products, have good quality and bad quality. Remember that "silicone" is not a single chemical substance. Some silicones may be less heat-resistant, so be sure to confirm the maximum high temperature endurance value of the product. For example, the heat resistance of silicone potholders ranges from 232∼357℃.

Little Conclusion

The development of silicone materials has been continuously improving. Due to its heat-resistant, non-toxic properties, and good biocompatibility, more and more applications are closely related to our lives.

I believe that the relevant regulations will become more and more perfect. Knowing more about various related regulations or the key points of selecting silicone products will enable us to use these silicone products with more and more confidence!

Our Silicone Product:

The following is some of our silicone products, if you would like to browse more about silicone products, please go to our website.

Marble Pattern Non-stick Silicone Cooking Utensils Set | Kitchen Tools Set

Silicone 3D Cartoon AirPods 1 2 Case | With Keychain

Vincent Van Gogh iPhone case | Soft TPU Art iPhone Cover