These silicone baking mats have made us ditch aluminum foil for good. Here’s Why You Should Get Them Too | CNN underlined

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Look, there comes a time in everyone’s life when they find themselves transformed into a full-fledged adult. It often happens without warning: one day you’re closing a bar at dawn, the next you’re exchanging tips with your best friend about the best ways to keep your dishwasher clean.

My personal reckoning came when I found myself unable to stop singing the praises of silicone baking mats. I can’t recommend them highly enough, and with that, I’ve come to accept that I’m not at my best anymore.

These mats are available in many different brands, colors, shapes, and sizes, but the MMmat Silicone Baking Mats in Orange are the same product that I have been using for the past two years. I keep them folded in half with my cutting boards and I guess I use them at least five times a week.

So what’s so good about these flimsy little things? I would say their biggest benefit is that they make single use aluminum foil and parchment paper almost useless. Before these mats, I would tear off a new piece of foil almost every time I put something in the oven. From leftover pizza to raw salmon to cookie dough to drizzled greens with olive oil, all foods would have a fresh sheet of aluminum foil to separate them from the baking sheet.

While I’m sure baking sheets need to be cleaned regularly, this isn’t something that happens with reliable certainty in my home. Our sheets are plagued with burn stains and are sometimes sticky with an oily residue even after washing in the dishwasher. Cooking with the silicone baking mats, which, praise the power, are dishwasher safe, gives me confidence that whatever food I’m making won’t be contaminated by whatever’s left on the pan. I can also be sure that the mats will keep the baking sheet from getting dirty.

Silicone sheets can withstand oven temperatures up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and are also freezer safe. They are really non-stick and incredibly easy to clean. I haven’t tried this move yet, but some reviewers say that they use the sheets to line their coolers, they will definitely stay in place, to keep everything spotless.

Buying something new is rarely the best option when it comes to practicing sustainability. But I think these are worth buying because they drastically reduce the need for single-use sheet liners.

As I mentioned above, I’ve had mine for two years now and I see it lasting for many more to come. One way to ensure they last is to avoid cutting directly on top of them, as a sharp knife may cut through the silicone and eventually poke a hole.

While throwing out aluminum foil isn’t our biggest kitchen environmental offense (and, in fact, aluminum foil is recyclable in many municipalities if done correctly), these reusable sheets are a win in our book when it comes to make small changes to reduce waste