Visit Michael Sautter's column >>

MICHAEL SAUTTERHome Page

"When words are both true and kind, they can change our world." ~ Buddha
Add To Watchlist
Articles Posted: 645; Links Seeded: 5556
Member Since: 3/2006Last Seen: 11/07/2009

Cookie time: Silpat or parchment?

advertisement

Hand-chopped chocolate, freshly roasted nuts, fragrant, just-grated ginger: These are some of the top-quality ingredients that go into this issue's winning cookie recipes. And when friends and family bite into one of these babies, those are the flavors you want them to taste.

What's the best way to prepare baking sheets to give your holiday cookies the best send-off: the old-fashioned way (i.e., buttered or naked, depending on the recipe), using parchment paper or using a silicon pan liner such as Silpat?

Registration required, try www.BugMeNot.com for login info.

Published to:

What's this?
Who's leading the conversation?
This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.
7.8
{"commentId":427010,"authorDomain":"winknut"}

I always use parchment when baking. I tried the slpimat and didn't really care for it. The parchment you can cut to size so it fits all of the cookie sheets that you may possess and for large runs, many dozens, you can prep your cookies out in layers and not have to bother with having 10 or twenty slipmats available, just slide the baked layer off of the sheet and add the raw to the sheet and right back in the oven. They keep the cookies/baked thingy from sticking, but almost as important the clean up is a breeze. Usually, if your baked item doesn't have melt down and go everywhere, I don't even bother. Then you can just toss the parchment sheet, or if you're more environmentally friendly, reuse them until they start to turn a little bit yellow.

And a word of warning from experience... I use parchment a lot for many applications, maybe I'll write an article about all the cool stuff you can do with it, but anyways... don't use in applications over 400F. The parchment WILL burn and leave you a smoky mess and an annoying fire alarm beeping in your ear (500F oven+pizzastone+proofed dough+parchment=having to explain to the local firepersons why you were trying to cook paper at 500F. Clearly I had never read Fahrenheit 454...

{"commentId":427010,"threadId":"60911","contentId":"480657","authorDomain":"winknut"}
  • 4 votes
Reply#1 - Wed Dec 13, 2006 8:45 PM EST
{"commentId":431732,"authorDomain":"LAUHAL63"}

I vote for good old parchment!

{"commentId":431732,"threadId":"60911","contentId":"480657","authorDomain":"LAUHAL63"}
  • 4 votes
#1.1 - Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:46 PM EST
{"commentId":431736,"authorDomain":"marilynl"}

I'm a parchment gal, too!

{"commentId":431736,"threadId":"60911","contentId":"480657","authorDomain":"marilynl"}
  • 3 votes
#1.2 - Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:50 PM EST
Reply
{"commentId":427012,"authorDomain":"winknut"}

BTW- the bugmenot link is great! That should really get spotlighted(lit?) somewhere. Somewhere nice and discrete though...

{"commentId":427012,"threadId":"60911","contentId":"480657","authorDomain":"winknut"}
  • 2 votes
Reply#2 - Wed Dec 13, 2006 8:47 PM EST
{"commentId":432930,"authorDomain":"winknut"}

seems like the title is just screaming to be a poll too...

{"commentId":432930,"threadId":"60911","contentId":"480657","authorDomain":"winknut"}
  • 3 votes
Reply#3 - Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:50 PM EST
{"commentId":437278,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

Here's the poll: Silpat or Parchment Paper?

{"commentId":437278,"threadId":"60911","contentId":"480657","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
  • 1 vote
#3.1 - Wed Dec 20, 2006 1:11 AM EST
Reply
{"canLink":false,"threadId":"60911","isPrivate":false}
Leave a Comment:
You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead.
As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.
{"threadId":"60911","contentId":"480657"}
Start TrackingStart Tracking
Stop TrackingStop Tracking