Silicone started off as an unwanted child. Frederic Stanley Kipping, the man who coined the term ‘silicone’ in 1905 described this material as a “sticky mess with no particular use.” Its prospects were not hopeful, he moaned. Except that now silicone is used in everything from medical implants to hair conditioners to sealants in the construction industry to cookware. In fact, silicone rubber boots were worn by astronauts on the moon, to protect their feet from the moon's extreme temperatures and vacuum. Take that Kipping!
We love using it in the kitchen. Cake molds, spatulas, parchment paper, etc…they all contain silicone. What’s not to love?
High flexibility (silicone spatulas is like having a long tongue that licks the bowl clean unlike rigid metal spatuals),
Chemical inertness when exposed to acidic tomato or tamarind sauces
Water impermeability (it does not soak up water like paper cup molds)
Teflon
Teflon has a surprisingly similar backstory. In 1938, The Dupont Company hired a young chemist, Roy J Plunkett, to invent an efficient refrigerant. He accidentally invented a white-waxy substance instead. Plunkett was disappointed by the results. Noticing a trend here?
Yet, he was curious about this brand new material he just created. It felt extremely slippery and completely non reactive. It did not react with the harshest solvents, alcohols and even the most corrosive acids. It ended up being used in World War II as a sealant for the Manhattan Project’s uranium enrichment plant. From the fire into the frying pan, it went…In 1956 a French engineer, Marc Grigoire, decided to bond the polymer to an aluminium pan. He called his invention Tefal, a blend of the words Teflon and aluminium.
Both these man made compounds had rocky starts, but their non stickiness gave them their superpower.
Non-stickiness
Think of nonstick substances as teenagers that are forced to join a family gathering. They have no interest in bonding with anything around them. In chemical terms, we say that it is chemically inert. Like rigid secret service agents, we only want our cookware to chaperone heat to the food, not develop attachments to it.
Every time my little one grabbed a stainless steel pan to make an omelet, I groaned. ‘That’s adorable, but cleaning’s going to be a mess!’ I sigh. A nonstick pan, on the other hand, develop no attachments to proteins. ‘Get out!’ it seems to almost yell, as the eggs obediently slide right out. Similarly pour out a super sticky jaggery chikki or caramel candy on to a silicone mat and there are no lingering goodbyes. Once it cools, the hardened treat can be peeled off easily. The silicone mat does not care.
Inert = takes a looong time to decompose
A material that is chemically inert is extremely difficult to break down. The bonds that are strong in the face of heat, acid and is hydrophobic; while great in the kitchen, means that it is likely to resist microbial degradation.
These substances start accumulating in oceans, rivers, wildlife and in human bodies. Is that bad? These are questions that are difficult, detailed and beyond the scope of this post. I will say this….having written on science related topics for almost a decade….There are no free lunches on this earth. Every material we use, every swap we make has some impact or the other. The severity of the impact is what ultimately leads to its regulations/bans etc.
Differences
Back to silicone now…Silicone is a lot more flexible that Teflon. The backbone of silicone has alternating silicon and oxygen atoms called siloxane in its main chain. You can attach various chemical groups to the main chain. You can make silicone polymers in the form of fluids, gums, resins or rubbers. It is a chemist’s rubber putty! Fun fact - rubber putty is made of silicone.
One problem for silicone is it’s gas permeability. You see the pores in the silicone items are small enough to keep out water, but large enough to absorb gaseous odors. So, if your cooker is fitted with a sealant that is made from silicone, yesterday’s dal smell might linger when you cook today’s kheer. Washing with soap does not quite get into the pores. The Wirecutter from New York Times recommends baking the silicone item in a low 120C oven for 20 minutes or longer for the smell to disappear. However, before you try this technique, ensure that your item is made from 100% silicone and not a blend of materials.
What is your favorite use of silicone? Post it in the comments below. Mine - hands down, is the silicone ladle. See my Instagram video where I use it to clean idli dosa batter from my blender.
Love this! Why does my kid’s silicone plates and drink ware smell like dish soap? How can I get rid of it?
A food quality silicone grease can be applied (very sparingly) to ice trays (or on anything you want to use to freeze or shape frozen food) and the ice or food pops out leaving nothing behind. An option where Stretch-rite is not a candidate.