The Culinary industry has been using silicon baking pans (molds) for years. I have not used the consumer versions, but the professional ones work very well. I made a bread pudding for an Amuse a few weeks ago, they popped out effortlessly. Our bakeshop has a wide variety of sizes and shapes. They also work as well for frozen desserts as baked goods.
Silicon spatulas are any cook’s best friend. Silicon oven mitts are worthless. I have had the same experience as Joey P, hands starting to melt inside the gloves, but the gloves hold up fine!
And anyrose? I am not sure what you want to use that truffle slicer for, but if it is anything other then truffles, or nuts, try a benriner instead. linky
Truffle slicers are not that sharp to begin with, and dull quickly. Benriners are as sharp as any knife and the blade can be sharpened with a steel or a stone, just like a knife. You can buy them at most asian markets, although they used to be under $20, now they are $40 or more. Thats a lot cheaper then the $100-$150 mandolins that don’t even work as well.
Lissa: I seem to recall that Cook’s Illustrated magazine has tested the “Ove-Glove” and found it to be wanting. I’ll see if I can dig up what they suggested instead as a better alternative. If my memory is right, they weren’t impressed, so there’s probably something much better out there.
Lissa: Sorry it took me a couple of days. I’m still dialing through hamsters, and don’t get online every day like every other human on the planet…
The review is in the 2006 companion cookbook to the PBS series “America’s Test Kitchen,” which is done by the same people as Cook’s Illustrated magazine. You can get all kinds of stuff from them at http://www.americastestkitchen.com , including all of their equipment reviews and searchable recipe database if you register.
There’s quite an article about Oven Mitts testing. One of the tests was how long could the testers hold a pan of lasagna cooked at 400 degrees without burning their hands. They attached a thermocouple to monitor the temperatures that the testers were feeling in order to determine how hot it got before they had to set it down. I present the highlights WRT the “Ove-Glove”:
[sub]Bolding mine.[/sub]
They tested nine types of oven mitts for heat protection, ease of manipulation for cooking utensils, and durability.
Their recommendations:
First:
Kool-Tek Protective Apparel: Best, but pricy at $21.95 for a 12 inch and $24.95 for a 15 inch.
Second:
Parvin Flameguard Oven Mitt: $8.40 per pair of 17 inchers. Almost as good as the Kool-Tek, but don’t set on fire.
The “Ove-Glove” placed ninth out of nine: $19.99 per 10 inch mitt.
I’m a Cook’s Illustrated junkie, and I usually think their word is gospel, but they’re wrong on the Ove-Glove. My mother bought one, and I used it at her house and it was so nice I went out and bought a pair.
Maybe some of the other gloves work better - I haven’t tried them all - but I wanted something that replaced potholders and didn’t feel like I was preparing for battle. I use 'em all the time, and can very much recommend them.
When I first combined households, all of our implements of culinariation were cheap black plastic things of the “get 30 pieces for $19.99” variety. They would melt as we used them, and we’d have to sand them down from time to time or pick bits of plastic out of our eggs.
Last Hallmarkian Red Day (Feb 14th) I threw them all into the garden (they make great digging tools) and set a vase upon our counter full of silicone spatule, silicone spoons, and other implements, arranged bouquet-like complete with ribbon.
To differentiate them from the few black plastic implements we kept (useful and not replaceable or not necessary to replace) I got every one of them in fire-red. Now we can tell at a glance what is safe to ‘leave about’ when cooking.
Also got a bunch of green trivets on clearance the other day - finally. And following Alton Brown’s rule of multiuseness, I use them as jar openers, too.