Silpat are all they all that??
Demarle's Silpat's
Update: Silpats are now available in Australia from The Red Spoon Company my favourite molecular gastronomy supply store.
Finally!! I have got my hands on some Silpat's, could not find them anywhere in Australia... well, I didn't travel Australia for them but I did have a jolly good look on the internet.
Amazon's International store stocks them to ship to Australia, I don't think I'll go into the postage costs, I'm still slightly traumatised by the experience.
We do have silicone baking mats here, I own several, what we don't have is Silpat with it's woven matrix of fibre glass strands sandwiched between silicone coating.
Fibreglass weave sandwiched between Silicone coating
Apart from saving on the copious metres of silicone baking paper I go through, the fibreglass component of the Silpat should help prevent the over browned bottoms of baked goods I'm experiencing with my new & ghastly oven.
I also want to expand my sugar work skills & I've been led to believe that the Silpat is the perfect surface to tip hot toffee/candy onto.
As I now gaze at the Silpats on the bench, with their "I'm new" sheen, I'm hoping they will be "all that"!!
After over a year of use I can report I love the silpats. I use them for all my hot sugar/isomalt work, plus baking and as a general non-stick work surface. Brilliant product!!
Seven years later: ok silpats stain .... sometimes from first use, it doesn't change cooking fuction but they don't look as attractive. Wear and tear... stored flat and cleaned gently away from sharp ojects you will get many years of average use... however they don't last forever and do need replacing if a surface is won or nicked. I'm on my third lot since 2011 with medium to high non commerical usage. I still love them!!