# which type of muffin pan and cookie sheet is safe?



## LBMarie9 (Jan 3, 2008)

my muffin tin has rust, is OLD and looks BAD. I also want new cookie sheets becasue I know they are cheap and bad for us. What KIND of muffin tin and cookie sheets are the best and safest? (for metal overload, allergies? I dunno- anything else--endocryne system- non-disruptors, etc)-

I've "heard" stainless steel--but then are there problems with that type? if you can will you link me to what you have/want online?! THANKS


----------



## FairyRae (Feb 21, 2009)

I've *heared* real silicone is good/safe (doesn't turn white when bent)...I'm not sure a/b anything really though...


----------



## paxye (Mar 31, 2005)

I love my stainless steel ware... It is not too expensive, doesn't rust and cleans up easily.

If I had money to spend I would go with the ceramic ones but with the amount of abuse and use my pans go through, it would most likely be a waste of money...


----------



## LBMarie9 (Jan 3, 2008)

WOW I didn'tknow that the "mindfulhome management" sub existed--I better go looking into other categories on mothering...anyways--so are there any problems/ dangers with stainless steel ones people know of?


----------



## miss_sonja (Jun 15, 2003)

I use half-sheet baking sheets from the restaurant supply store, and line them with parchment paper (again, restaurant supply store). Works well. I do NOT put the pans in the dishwasher.

I also scour thrift stores for vintage pans and use those. If a steel pan has held up for 40 years, it'll work for me!

Avoid insulated baking sheets and very dark baking sheets--they don't work well.


----------



## BedHead (Mar 8, 2007)

I covet cast iron bakeware. I don't have any yet though - I use my cheap ss and put parchment paper on.


----------



## lil_miss_understood (Jul 19, 2006)

I don't entirely understand why this got moved to MHM but anyway...
I would avoid silicone if you do both allergen free and allergen cooking/baking, same with cast iron. If all of your cooking and baking is "safe" I'd probably go with *good* cast iron over anything else. Ceramics can leach lead (among others). Clear glass may be another alternative.
I avoid non-stick coatings like the plague (endocrine disruptors, carcinogens- all around bad stuff imo).
I also avoid silicone bc it just doesn't seem "right" to me.















I haven't researched ss bc it's what I use w/ no chance of changing atm so I prefer to keep my head in the sand.


----------



## LBMarie9 (Jan 3, 2008)

I want to know which types are healthy (or safe) in addition to something not burning or ruining my already difficult to cook allergen free foods.

PP why do you put parchment on SS--just to be safe or is it known I should do this? does this mean the parchment paper is always safe?

I do always cook allergen free--however I just made some pinebark on one of my two cookie sheets and no matter howmuch I've washed it-- I'm too scared to ever use it again-
why would i not want to dishwasher wash them? tia


----------



## BedHead (Mar 8, 2007)

I use parchment because I don't trust that it's really safe. I haven't heard anything bad about parchment but there's probably something somewhere that says it's not any good either.


----------



## Pinoikoi (Oct 30, 2003)

I use stoneware for muffin pans AND cookie sheets.


----------



## kdabbler (Feb 19, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Pinoikoi* 
I use stoneware for muffin pans AND cookie sheets.

Amen to that. I







my Pampered Chef stoneware muffin pan and bake pan. I'm not sure what is involved with the manufacturing process and whether they are safe or not.


----------



## Pinoikoi (Oct 30, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kdabbler* 
Amen to that. I







my Pampered Chef stoneware muffin pan and bake pan. I'm not sure what is involved with the manufacturing process and whether they are safe or not.

Well I do know that stoneware absorbs, so if a stoneware cookie sheet has ever been used to bake cookies with nuts in them then I wouldn't use them in the future for nut free cookies because the trace elements would never leave but the stoneware itself (unused or used without nuts for example) is pretty safe.


----------



## Kontessa (Nov 5, 2005)

I love stoneware! No one in my house has food allergies though so it is not a worry. All we use if cast iron, stoneware, glass for cooking. Love it!


----------



## texmama (Jun 4, 2005)

I use stainless steel cookie sheets and muffin pans. I found the muffin pans at the thrift store, all I could find at retail stores were non-stick. FYI - parchment paper is coated with silicone.


----------



## earthnut (Jan 1, 2010)

Mainly, stay away from non-stick and silicone. Those things are simply made of plastic and you don't want to cook in plastic because of hormonal and carcinogenic concerns.

Stainless steel is fine. I know of no health concerns with ss. The best ss sheets have a multi-layer bottom so that they retain and distribute heat better. It's lightweight, non-breakable, and cheap. Aluminum has been blamed for some health problems, but not ss.

Cast iron is nice, it you don't mind the weight and not being able to put it in the dishwasher.

Glass is sure to be non-allergenic. Chemically, it's extremely stable; there's a reason why it's the preferred container material for scientific studies. It is breakable though.

Ceramic should be safe and lead-free, as long as it's relatively new and meant for cooking. I would not buy a ceramic dish of unknown age from the thrift store, because of lead concerns (although if it's unglazed it shouldn't have lead either, it's the glaze that might contain lead). New ceramic ware is required by law not to contain lead. I would also be concerned about weight and breakability of ceramic ware. Glazed stoneware shouldn't absorb any food (especially a high-quality smooth glaze). Glaze is simply glass.

My choice is ss. My ss sheets work great! My second choice would be glass.


----------



## artemis33 (Jan 5, 2006)

Those of you who say you have stainless cookie sheets - are you *sure* they are stainless and not aluminum? I ask because a couple of years ago I was on a mission to find some stainless cookie sheets and muffin tins and no one in the entire Seattle area carried them - not the regular stores, the fancy stores or the restaurant supply stores. Just aluminum. Sometime nice heavy duty half sheet pans, but still, aluminum. The only place I have found them is online, and they aren't all that inexpensive. So what kind of store did you purchase them in if you have them? I'm not trying to be argumentative, please don't get me wrong, just very curious and I admit, a bit skeptical, since Seattle is a major city, known for being green and I haven't been able to find them around here.









I decided to go with cast iron muffin pans (love them!) and my baking dishes are a combo of glass, ceramic and cast iron. I have a stoneware mini loaf pan and pizza stone and love both of those, so I'll probably get a regular loaf pan and large baking dish when I can. For cookie sheets, I have reluctantly settled for aluminum for now, and I use parchment paper or a silicone mat to line them (silicone is not plastic by the way, not that I suggest baking in it - but that is for texture reasons....the mat works well for things like cookies though, and I'd rather my food touch it than the aluminum). I do my best to avoid plastic in the kitchen.


----------



## lil_miss_understood (Jul 19, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *artemis33* 
Those of you who say you have stainless cookie sheets - are you *sure* they are stainless and not aluminum? I ask because a couple of years ago I was on a mission to find some stainless cookie sheets and muffin tins and no one in the entire Seattle area carried them - not the regular stores, the fancy stores or the restaurant supply stores. Just aluminum. Sometime nice heavy duty half sheet pans, but still, aluminum. The only place I have found them is online, and they aren't all that inexpensive. So what kind of store did you purchase them in if you have them? I'm not trying to be argumentative, please don't get me wrong, just very curious and I admit, a bit skeptical, since Seattle is a major city, known for being green and I haven't been able to find them around here.









I decided to go with cast iron muffin pans (love them!) and my baking dishes are a combo of glass, ceramic and cast iron. I have a stoneware mini loaf pan and pizza stone and love both of those, so I'll probably get a regular loaf pan and large baking dish when I can. For cookie sheets, I have reluctantly settled for aluminum for now, and I use parchment paper or a silicone mat to line them (silicone is not plastic by the way, not that I suggest baking in it - but that is for texture reasons....the mat works well for things like cookies though, and I'd rather my food touch it than the aluminum). I do my best to avoid plastic in the kitchen.

The ones I used to have, I know were stainless steel bc I made them in shop class. They got lost when I moved though so...
The one I have now, which I found at a thrift store, has "stainless steel" imprinted on it so I'm assuming that's what it is.


----------



## texmama (Jun 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *artemis33* 
Those of you who say you have stainless cookie sheets - are you *sure* they are stainless and not aluminum? I ask because a couple of years ago I was on a mission to find some stainless cookie sheets and muffin tins and no one in the entire Seattle area carried them - not the regular stores, the fancy stores or the restaurant supply stores. Just aluminum. Sometime nice heavy duty half sheet pans, but still, aluminum. The only place I have found them is online, and they aren't all that inexpensive. So what kind of store did you purchase them in if you have them? I'm not trying to be argumentative, please don't get me wrong, just very curious and I admit, a bit skeptical, since Seattle is a major city, known for being green and I haven't been able to find them around here.









Good point! I'll have to double check mine. But I just did a quick check on Amazon and found several.


----------



## MangoMommy (Oct 20, 2008)

I use PC stoneware too, but we don't have any allergy issues. LOVE my stoneware bar pan!! (I have muffin pans too)


----------



## artemis33 (Jan 5, 2006)

Yes, I've seen them at Amazon and some other places online - they've been on my wish list forever! lol Jacqueline - oh yeah, if they are stamped stainless, I'm sure they are - that's a great thrift find!

And it looks like Sur la Table carries All Clad stainless ones now. They didn't when I was looking before - not even these super expensive ones! (I bet they are really nice though







)

http://www.surlatable.com/product/al...ortby=ourPicks


----------



## earthnut (Jan 1, 2010)

Many ss cookware will have an aluminum layer in them, for heat conduction, but the outer layer of my ss cookware is ss. I live in Seattle and was able to find ss cookware at Seattle Restaurant Supply. Their stock seems to change frequently though so they may have different stuff now than they did when I bought from them.

Silicone IS a type of plastic. All silicone rubber products are plastic, though not all plastics are silicone. Plastics are man-made polymers, and silicones are man-made polymers that contain silicon. I'd rather cook with aluminum than silicone, personally.


----------



## mamadelbosque (Feb 6, 2007)

I have cast iron muffin tins - 2 6-hole lodge and 2 11-hole... cajun cookware? (These: http://www.shopperschoice.com/item_n...m_1463647.html ) Love'm.

My cookie sheets are aluminum by doughmakers as is one pie pan. I honestly thought they were SS when I bought them. Someday I'll get around to replacing them with SS...


----------



## jrabbit (May 10, 2008)

ironically, i just checked my cookie sheets tonight with a magnet and walked away assured they were not aluminum til i read this thread ... just checked: i have williams sonoma aluminum clad ss baking sheets







i use silpats, though.

recently, i just bought tovolo silicone cupcake molds. haven't had a chance to use them. i think surely that's less of a problem than aluminum?

we are planning to live fulltime in an RV, or else i'd buy all cast iron and glass for everything.


----------



## artemis33 (Jan 5, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *earthnut* 
Many ss cookware will have an aluminum layer in them, for heat conduction, but the outer layer of my ss cookware is ss. I live in Seattle and was able to find ss cookware at Seattle Restaurant Supply. Their stock seems to change frequently though so they may have different stuff now than they did when I bought from them.

Yes, Seattle Restaurant Supply is one of the places I looked (along with Sur la Table, Mrs. Cooks, Williams-Sonoma and some other not as upscale stores) and at that time none of them carried SS Cookie Sheets (aluminum core or not). I have plenty of SS cookware, but it was the cookie sheets (and muffin tins) specifically I was trying to find. This was 2 or 3 years ago before the holidays when I was looking everywhere. I do agree their stock changes though.....and isn't it a great place? Love that store.







But when I asked they didn't even know if they could get some.

RE: the silicone....yeah, in looking it up, I think I was confused. I was thinking silicon- sand - glass... Guess it is not a surprise that chemistry was never my best science







Sorry if I sounded snarky before, totally not my intent.


----------

