Turning the Kitchen Into Silicone Valley
By: Lara Naaman
Wall Street Journal Friday, July 1, 2005
When Kathryn Tsuchida Mann was registering for her wedding last year, she came across a baking pan that wasn't made of metal, but of silicone. The material caught her eye. I comes in a variety of colors, and can be rolled or folded for storage. It's nonabsorbant, nonstick and dishwasher-safe.
"Normally when I'd bake a cake, I'd lose half the thing when I tried to get it out of the pan," she said. "This was the sort of thing you could tip over and just peel off. It was idiot-proof." Ms. Mann, who works in finance in Manhattan, decided to register for as many silicone products as she could. "We got about 10 counting spatulas."
Silicone is an increasingly popular nonstick fixture in kitchens, showing up in spatulas, oven mitts, and baking molds. The type of silicone used in bakeware is a synthetic rubber which can withstand a teperature range of roughly 450 degrees to -40 degrees.........
SiliconeZone, a New York-based retailer, has seen sales jump 46% this year, even with a growing number of competitors in the marketplace. "When we debuted as the International Housewares Show in 2002, people were lauging at us," says CEO Michael Karyo. "This year, all the metalware folks are coming out with silicone products." SiliconeZone now sells 300 pieces of silicone kitchenware and baking tools. One new item this year is the Easy Lid, a universal pot lid that also works as a trivet or splatter gaurd. It sells for around $14 in stores and catalogs........
Eddi Hales, pastry chef at the Four Seasons, Philidelphia says he uses silicone more than metal. " I use the molds for cheesecakes, mousses, and chocolate souffle cake. I wonder how I managed without them before."