Can I bake pastry in silicone bakeware?

[Herbsman.]

i've been following the instructions for two different recipes now, and it's *still* coming out really stodgy doughy in the middle

That's odd man,

try making a sponge (with just 1/2tsp yeast, couple of tbsps flour and enough warm water to make it into a sloppy liquidy type thing) first, leaving that to ferment in a warm place for a few hours or even overnight,

then add the sponge and another 1/2tsp yeast to your usual amount of flour, plus additional warm water required to get it to the right consistency.

Rather than kneading, gently stretch and fold the bread (fold top to bottom, botom to top, left to right, righ to left etc as if you were wrapping up a parcel if you see what I mean).

Again leave in a warm place for a few hours so it can rise, overnight if necessary,

shape it then leave to prove in your baking tin or on a baking tray, warm place again, few hours or overnight,

then bake - I do a high temp for the first few mins to increase the CO2 bubble expansion rate (in other words to make it rise quickly) then turn down to the usual temp for the rest of the time

 

[Herbsman.]

Oh and I forgot to add, you want your dough to be as wet as possible while still handleable.

It's fucking annoying and difficult trying to handle very wet dough because it tends to try to stick to your fingers and anything else it touches.

But on the plus side, you will end up with a lighter texture and bigger air bubbles in your bread.

 

[sheothebudworths]

Do you grease silicone or not? I would have thought not...would have imagined it'd damage the silicone somehow (I mean I know there's fat in dough/cake mix...but not quite the same as smearing it on) but I actually have no idea...

I want to make a banana and walnut loaf tomorrow, see.

 

[Herbsman.]

You don't need to grease it as it's non-stick

greasing it ain't gonna damage it though and sometimes cakes do stick to non-stick surfaces

 

[sheothebudworths]

You don't need to grease it as it's non-stick

greasing it ain't gonna damage it though and sometimes cakes do stick to non-stick surfaces

Yes well precisely!

Also I find that with some mixtures the problem isn't turning them out at the end, but that they burn on the outside if the case isn't greased.

But maybe that's less likely anyway with silicone cos it doesn't get to such a scorching heat?

But if you reckon no harm'll come to it, I reckon I'll grease it just in case.

 

[Pip]

I've buttered and floured my silicone hmm and not bothered and there's no difference. Do it if you're nervous but it's not really necessary.

 

[sheothebudworths]

Ok in that case I reckon I just won't bother!