If You’re a Home Chef, You Need To Get a Pastry Mat ASAP

While baking your favorite recipes, there’s no crummier feeling than the mix of panic that sets in when you find your treats stuck to the baking surface. Most people wrap their baking pans with baking paper before trying a new recipe for cookies, baking cakes, or grilling vegetables to avoid food sticking to the pan, but a lot of beginners and professional chefs use pastry mats as a substitute. When you bake or roast food, the non-stick surface of the pastry mats efficiently creates a barrier between the pan and the food, making it easier for you to take out the food efficiently. If you want to free yourself up from the hassles of cleaning oil-slicked pots, scratching food off of them, or wasting foil and baking sheets, you need pastry mats in your baking setup.

WHY DO YOU NEED PASTRY MATS?

They’re reusable

Unlike parchment or baking papers, a pastry mat can withstand over 2,000 oven uses. Even the finest paper only lasts for about four uses before it starts to get gritty, oily, or crumbly, so you need to replace it more often, making it a costlier option.

They’re almost as versatile as parchment papers

You can use pastry mats just like parchment paper to line baking pans for other purposes besides baking cookies, such as freezing items, baking vegetables, and laying out pizza dough.

They’ll make your cookies look better

Have a really old baking tray? Thanks to pastry mats, you can even the dented baking pans to a more even baking surface. Your cookies will bake evenly and you will enjoy perfectly brown cookies every time.

They keep your space tidy

When you make puff pastry on Saturday afternoons, you’ll appreciate using a pastry mat to keep your surface clean. In addition to withstanding the heat and sticky characteristics of sugar, these mats can also help caramels and taffies settle more efficiently by distributing heat evenly.

They’re more practical

Most pastry mats come with measuring lines or have different shapes printed on them, allowing you to be as creative as you want. Baking sheets, on the other hand, don’t assist you in measuring the content or spreading the batter evenly.

HOW TO USE A PASTRY MAT?

You can use a pastry mat for baking cookies, mixing dough, and making a cake or pastry. If you want to bake cakes, just put the mat flat on a pan to serve as a pan liner. When using pastry mats for cookies, spritz the mat with non-stick spray before putting the dough on it if you think that the dough may stick. If you want to knead bread or dough, you can also put the mat on a worktop. By doing this, you can save flour while also avoiding a messy countertop.

IS IT SAFE TO USE PASTRY MATS?

Pastry mats can withstand higher temperatures of up to 428 degrees Fahrenheit without deforming or leaching any harmful chemicals into the food. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), silicone pastry mats are the safest to use because they won’t react with food and are made using non-toxic materials. They also evenly distribute the heat, preventing the dough from sticking to the pans and making clean-up a breeze.

If the silicone you bought contains fillers, you will notice a strong burning smell after using it to bake. So, it’s essential to get pastry mats from a reputable manufacturer or supplier. You can almost always get in touch with the customer care staff if you want to be sure about the mat’s components before purchasing.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Your home baking setup must have a pastry mat if you want to hone your baking skills. They won’t completely replace parchment paper, but they are still worth the price and they take up only a small amount of space in your cupboards.