April 2, 2011 - 9:27am
Baking (Rolling) Mat
Does anyone use a baking mat when rolling out dough?
If so, which one? I read so many mixed reviews on this I am not sure what to beleive.
I haven't felt I needed one for pretzels/pizza, but one would come in handy when sizing the dough for Cinnamon Rolls
The Wilton mats are available locally, but they seem a bit small.
Any ideas?
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Yes! I use them all the time. They are super for rolling and shaping dough. I give mine a very light spritz with cooking spray and the dough does not stick at all, even when rolling soft doughs for cinnamon rolls, etc. Mine are not even a name brand and they were in a pack of three for less than $5. They are a bit on the small side, though. I have seen larger ones in cooking stores. I also have a very old Tupperware mat that also works well, but it is a softer plastic and knives will leave cut marks in it.
Many baking mats emphasize "non-stick" to the exclusion of everything else, and so they are are usually fairly small to keep the cost down.
There only seem to be a few "large" ones with printed circles and/or grid so you can size your dough. The Wilton is one of these few, An even nicer one (seemingly larger too) is available from King Arthur Flour; it's rectangular and the shorter dimension is 18" (I couldn't find the size of the Wilton one for comparison).
(Although the silicone is relatively "non-stick", silicone only really fully releases at somewhat higher temperatures, so spraying your mat with a bit of oil seems like a good idea. Get one of those "olive oil sprayers" and put plain old cooking oil [not olive oil] in it; that's what I do and it works fine for me:-)
(Since mats have the same finish on both sides, they have a tendency to "not stick" to the countertop [i.e. slide around]. So try getting part of of a non-skid pad intented to be placed under a runner rug or throw rug, and put it between your work surface and your rolling mat. The non-skid pads I've seen are very thin and are easy to cut with scissors, so I think they'll work under the rolling mat [although I haven't tried it myself:-])
You actually bake on these? I've seen them in my kitchen supply store, but thought they were for simply rolling out dough. It's hard for me to believe that these would not melt at my baking temp of 510 or even 400. Also, what about gassing off of the chemicals used in there composition. I'm also worried that it would melt on my baking stone and destroy it. Are my concerns warranted or have I been living in a cave of late? Thanks for this thread, I've been looking for something like this to educate me.
you will probably notice that his parenthetical mention of a silicone mat's "release" characteristics was just an aside. The mats being discussed are, as you surmise, strictly limited for countertop use, not for the oven.
If you were to talk about a Silpat or similar product which is designed for baking, that would be a different matter. Even then, I'd put it in a sheet pan, not on a naked stone.
So no, you haven't been in a cave, just on a different wavelength.
Paul
You actually bake on these?
Um, no, did I say that? What I tried to say was that for rolling at out-of-the-oven temperatures the "non-stick" isn't perfect and so could use a little bit of help. I'll talk a bit though about what I do cook on (even though it wasn't the focus of this thread).
For baking on, the only possibilities I know are parchment paper (typically silicone) and silicone mats like Silpat. Silicone melts between 450F and 500F (I think 468F). But with a little care the cooking mat doesn't get nearly that hot even though the oven is hotter.
You needn't worry at all about paper used to line the inside of a pan which is then completely covered with dough. Paper used to line the bottom of a sheet pan is probably also okay (cut off the corners round though). Paper on a baking stone directly under baking dough is also okay - it's the edges that stick out that can be a problem; trim the paper to only about 1-1/2 inches from the edge of the loaf all around, and all will be well.
To my mind the best thing about silicone in the oven is it tends not to ignite even if you mess up. I've goofed and had a bit of parchment paper turn completely black while I nearly had heart failure ...but I didn't have an oven fire (nor a "funny taste" anywhere in the bread).
Yes, I did key on "release" but took it to mean release from a pan or baking sheet. I'm not familiar w/ Silpat and will inquire. Thanks for taking me out of the cave and tuning in the right wavelength. I need all the help I can muster and TFL is the best place to look for it.
I've used parchment with no issues. But I had heard about the silicone pads that was intended for baking although the intended and described uses were for low temp items like cookies. Having used silicone in art materials and with all the cautionary tales relating to art materials for the past 20 years, I was surprised to hear that people baked on silicone pads and at high temps. Perhaps it's my own sense of chemical caution or ignorance, but I think I'll stick w/ parchment. Thanks, however, for the explanation, Chuck.
I have a few inexpensive silicone baking mats from the grocery store (pink, used in a promotion for Breast Cancer Awareness week). This is the same material as the silicone baking vessels are made of, not at all like a Sil Pat mat which I understand has some sort of woven fiberglass material in it???
The silicone mats are great for rolling out doughs and don't slide around when used on top of my marble pastry board.
If you have a sticky dough like a pie crust or dough for something you're going to roll up they are nice to have because you can fold and roll the mat with the dough and place the dough exactly where you want it, then gently peel away the silicone mat.
I do bake on them, but only lower temperature items like enriched breads (challah, for example) or cookies. They would not be a nice surface for higher temperature breads, because they result in a less than crisp bottom crust. Nor would I put a silicone mat directly on a baking stone.
It's my understanding that these are safe to bake with at lower temperatures--but then again we thought it was safe to use Teflon coated pans and PBA plastics, too. :o(
I have found white melamine coated hdf board (sort of like dry erase board) to be quite effective and useful as a low-stick rolling mat. It can be purchased in "handy sheet" sizes like 2' X 4" in most big box building material stores. As mentioned above a piece of rubber shelf liner or no skid carpet underliner will keep it in place. Also, just a simple dishtowel (dry or dampened) underneath works just as well. It's a very cheap alternative, and being rigid is effective for transporting. Wipes clean very easily. While it can't be rolled up like a matt, it stores pretty easily. Definitely no baking on this stuff!!! :)
Gary