I’ve mentioned before that I use silicone molds to make homemade gummy vitamins and lotion bars, along with several other household staples.
I’ve gotten one question so often that I decided it deserved its own post:
Is Silicone Safe for Baking?
Unfortunately, this is one of those questions that I usually answer by saying: It depends.
To understand that answer, it is important to understand several often-confused terms:
- Silicon– A natural chemical substance (atomic #14), meaning it can’t be divided into smaller particles without splitting atoms. It is the second most abundant element (after oxygen) and when it bonds with oxygen creates minerals called silicates (like quartz, olivine, micas, thomsonite, jadeite, and prehnite)
- Silica– A compound made of silicon and another element. It is present in the human body in high amounts and emerging research suggests it can be beneficial for health. I’ve mentioned it before when talking about diatomaceous earth and how I consume it in natural form, but it isn’t the same as silicon or silicone bakeware and isn’t relevant when talking about the safety of silicone.
- Silicone– A synthetic polymer created by adding carbon and/or oxygen to silicon. It can exist as a solid, liquid, or gel and is often used in medical devices like pacemakers, joint replacements, and implants. It is generally considered safe for these uses and is now used to make silicone bakeware.
When we are speaking about bakeware, we are referring to silicone, the synthetic polymer. It is considered “FDA approved as a food-safe substance” and is generally considered inert.
Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much research on silicone bakeware or silicone molds so while there isn’t any evidence that it is harmful, there also isn’t much evidence that it is safe.
Testing on Silicone:
The testing that has been done on silicone is on medical-grade silicone without fillers or additives and at body or room temperature. These studies have shown that silicone is safe at these temperatures and long-term follow-up data support this.
Silicone’s safety at high temperatures has not been adequately tested and this is where the controversy emerges.
On paper, silicone bakeware is rated for temperatures below freezing and up to almost 450°F, so on paper it is safe.
Dangers of Silicone in Bakeware?
Again, any dangers are anecdotal at this point and not scientifically backed, but that doesn’t necessarily prove the safety of silicone. Some potential dangers include:
- The potential for leaching at high temperatures
- Fillers used in lower-quality silicone
- Potential odor during high-temperature use
These dangers are not proven and are reported only at high temperature use, but still worth investigating further.
Benefits of Silicone Bakeware
One major advantage of silicone bakeware is that it is considered more non-stick than many traditional types of bakeware, especially with muffin cups and bread pans.
Silicone bake mats and other silicone baking products are often easy to clean and prevent sticking when baking. The flexibility of silicone bakeware and molds makes it easy to get things out of them and makes cleanup easier.
Silicone is also dishwasher safe, petroleum free, and is not supposed to fade or scratch.
The Bottom Line
I hope that we will see updated research on the safety of silicone. Until we do, I feel comfortable using silicone at low temperatures and in the refrigerator or freezer, but try to avoid it in baking or high temperature use.
In any use, I consider silicone much safer than plastic, which I avoid at all costs. If you use silicone molds or bakeware, make sure it is high quality and doesn’t contain fillers or dangerous additives.
I stick to silicone molds for cool-temperature uses like:
These are the silicone molds I have:
- Silicone Bags (to replace plastic bags for fridge use)
- Lego bricks and people molds (great for homemade chocolate)
- Daisy Mini Molds (great for gummy vitamins)
- Mini Loaf Pans (great for soap bars)
- Muffin Cups (for lotion bars)
- Flower and Leaf Molds (for soap and lotion bars)
- Mini heart molds (for chocolate and gummy bears)
- Gingerbread Molds (for meltaways)
For now, I’m sticking to cool-temperature uses for silicone until we know more about its safety at high temperatures.
What is your take on silicone baking molds? How do you use it?
Natural Shimmer Lipstick Recipe
»
To me, silicone is the new plastic. It’s too new. Too synthetic. Food grade? Yea….um….Tupperware was and is considered food grade too which means nothing. It’s still toxic and my guess is that silicone will be proven the same. If we remember correctly, first it was pvcs then phalates then bpa that was found harmful. But prior it was all deemed safe. And lets not forget that the chemical that replaced bpa has a high estrogenoc effect too which is the reason they replaced bpa in the first place. Google it. Our FDA is a joke lol we use natural. Glass and stainless steel etc
Plz let me know ,whether to use silicon containers (ziplt containers)?I should go for it? Or glass container( bormioli Ricco) .thanks ?
Interesting. May I then ask what anyone here uses best for unbleached parchment paper. I believe the non-bleached brands use silicone.
Interesting. May I then ask what anyone here uses best for unbleached parchment paper. I believe the non-bleached brands use silicone.
Ben, I use the Whole Foods 365 brand of unbleached parchment paper.
LFGB silicone is much safer than FDA approved silicone.
I’m glad to see someone bring up this issue. I don’t trust silicone at all. I used a silicone mat to bake some cookies which had no oil in the batter. After they were baked, I removed them from the mat and placed them on a paper towel for cooling. I found an oily residue on the mat, and on the paper towel, so where did it come from if not the mat? Remember, they told us that Teflon was safe to use also. I considered buying some silicone molds and just didn’t like the texture or feel – rubbery and almost slimy. No thanks, I’ll stick with the old-fashioned ways.
The oil comes from the cookie batter
No way!! I was just looking this subject up today. I really couldn’t find much on the web so I decided to ask you. Now I don’t have to ask. lol I will just read your post. Thanks so much Katie!!
It really depends on the quality of silicone. Not all silicone products are the same. Do not buy cheap and research the company making them. Leku makes fabulous, high quality silicone bake ware. Also, professional grade silicone for professional pastry work (usually only found online or mail order) are also fabulous, and very expensive. High quality silicone is 100% food grade silicone and should absolutely not smell! If u have silicone products that smell or are not completely nonstick, then it is not high quality 100% silicone; is a rip off product and should not be used.
Thanks I was needing some great pans for baking bread.
Can one use the cheaper silicone muffin pans for freezer use only??? I do not bake, but want to freeze olives, pesto , etc
Do you use a silicone steamer basket? I’m trying to figure out the best option. We steam a lot of vegetables.
We steam a lot of vegetables too! I use these stainless steel mesh strainers from OXO good grips
Hope this helps!
I haven’t tried using silicone bakeware. I have bought molds to use making lotion bars and such. Personally, I don’t put much faith in the FDA and what they approve of. The last decade has shown they get an awful lot wrong!
Personally my family can not afford a lot of the better options such as stoneware and such. We try to stick with glass but given the choice of silicone or nonstick…. i generally try to go with silicone. Granted not the cheap 1 dollar products but still. I have always wondered if it ever leeched anything or not.
Agreed! Great article.
I’ve always wondered about the safety of silicone, but haven’t taken the time to research it. I do like using silicone spatulas for cooking raw meat since they are dishwasher safe.
I’ve noticed the label on the cookware that you mentioned: “safe up to 450 degrees”, and wondered, “safe for the cookware, or safe for humans?” I’ve doubted ‘they’ really care about leaching at high temperatures.
Thanks for this post and for this blog. I’m a new reader and am enjoying it!
I think when they say “safe up to 450 degrees” they mean it won’t catch on fire or start smoking at temps up to 450. I do NOT think they are saying it won’t leach into food at temps below 450.
What do you personally use for high temperature baking?
I use stoneware like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012UF4KI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wellnessmama-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0012UF4KI
Please be careful putting your essential oils in silicone as you do with your coconut oil pulling chews because EO’s will leach out any form of chemical. And when ingested will distribute said chemicals. If one wears a chemical lotion or perfume and uses EO’s it will push these chemicals deeper into the skin. This info can be found at young living.com. Cinnamon powder, cloves powder would be better mixed in the oil.
Thank you, This was exactly the answer I was searching. Darn…I was hoping on a squeezable alternative to glass, as I add protective blend to my hand lotion and glass is so heavy. Oh Well.
Hi!
Glass bottles are so much cooler though and you can even paint them with pretty designs with glass paint!
Mason jars have a nifty pump you can use instead of squeezing. 🙂
Do you need to grease silicone bakeware