Silicone sheet for "cookie" baking

[rfd]

Bill was kind enuf to send me a few silicone sheets to try out in place of the anti-stick foil and I just finished baking a few.

Overall, I like the silicone sheets better than the foil in that there appears to be less powder residue on the silicone surface and that melted resin was relatively easy to flick off and get the sheet ready for the next cook off.

Thank you Bill! 280364

Accurate Molds 418 grain .459 bullets for my .45-70 guns, Eastwood Ford Light Blue powdered, about to got into the oven ...

https://i.imgur.com/RSZpPwP.jpg

... and out of the oven ...

https://i.imgur.com/7163yJ2.jpg

... notice the nice clean bases ... they're now ready for the .459 sizing die ...

https://i.imgur.com/ziKELJl.jpg

Lee 346 grain .459 bullets, Eastwood Gloss Clear, ready for baking ...

https://i.imgur.com/sxWJhDs.jpg

... and 20 minutes later, ready for sizing ...

https://i.imgur.com/JPB3OT4.jpg

[cwlongshot]

Yup MUCH BETTER!! But if the foil had the intigrety of the silicone it would likely be just as good.

PS I now buy mine in the dollar store!!


CW

[Taterhead]

Those look great!

[farmerjim]

I have also switched to the silicone sheets. Non stick foil worked OK, but the silicone is much better.

[GregLaROCHE]

How thick are these silicone sheets and how long do they last? What price range are they in?
Thanks

[BMW Rider]

How thick are these silicone sheets and how long do they last? What price range are they in?
Thanks

I picked up some 12"x16" silicone baking sheets on that giant online retailer site for under $4 each.

[charlie b]

Bed Bath and Beyond has the 'expensive' ones. $15 IIRC. Well worth it for me.

They don't really wear out. They can accumulate some PC blotches. Over time they form little bumps. I've probably cast over 1000 bullets on one mat (standing).

[mortre]

My wife made me some home made silicon "molds" the other day. She pressed some of my cast boolits into them point down to hold them base up. This is for using the ESPC method. I've had issues with getting much better coverage on the noses than bases. We are hoping I will be able to use the molds to hold the bullets upside down and get better coverage on the driving bands.

[charlie b]

My wife made me some home made silicon "molds" the other day. She pressed some of my cast boolits into them point down to hold them base up. This is for using the ESPC method. I've had issues with getting much better coverage on the noses than bases. We are hoping I will be able to use the molds to hold the bullets upside down and get better coverage on the driving bands.Since you are spraying I assume you will put a layer of Al foil down to attach the 'ground' clip.

Sent from my SM-P580 using Tapatalk

[mortre]

Actually we used a hole punch to finish punching through the bottom of the mat/mold. The mold is form fitted to a metal toaster oven tray and we planned to try grounding the tray. We meant to test it today, but we pulled out the chainsaw mill instead after I got off work. Likely can't try tomorrow either. After work I will be taking the chainsaw into the shop, as it pooped the bed today.

[charlie b]

Nice idea. Will be interested in how it works out.

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[trudd]

Has anyone had luck with parchment paper instead of foil/silicone? I've used it I the oven up to 450 and it browns after cooking food but never actually burned.

Thanks,
Terry

[Hossfly]

I used parchment paper for about 1 year and it performed well, wife had some silicone mat that I stole and now that’s all I use, and consider it a permanent fixture in the cookie pan.

[oley55]

for what it's worth if the old cooked on PC bothers you it can be cleaned off with acetone and doesn't seem to cause any deterioration of the silicone surface.

When I was shopping and reading the reviews there were many complaints and pictures of burnt and mostly destroyed matts. In my opinion those product failures were more likely from ovens with hot spots or poor thermometers.

[The Dar]

I have used parchment paper which I was able to get about 4 to 5 uses before it crumbled to pieces. Silicone baking sheets work nice, but after time the paint builds up on them. Not really a problem, can't see the base of the bullet once loaded if you have two colors on them. I recently purchased a 4 pack of these from sprawlmart:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-11-75-x-15-7-Baking-and-Grilling-Mat-Copper-4-Count/928743138

Easily cut with scissors and the bullets slide right off after baking. Can't really give a good review of them yet. I've only had the chance to use them twice. Doesn't seem to be any paint buildup. 4 for $10, price is right.

[Jim22]

I am curious about the silicone sheets with the hex pattern in them. It looks like they would hold boolits erect during baking but I have a couple questions:

1. Are they available in different size openings for different diameter boolits or are they all one size? If one size what is that size?
2. Who sells them?
3. How do you stand the boolits up without wiping powder off?

Thanks in advance.

[plainsman456]

I have gone to using the non stick cake pans from the dollar store.

They fit the Oster oven and hold a lot of boolits from the 90 grain 380 to the 400 grin 45-70.

Best part is no foil to get ripped.

[charlie b]

That's what makes the silicone sheets so nice. They don't rip at all.

Be careful in some of the ovens. The racks in mine were a nice loose fit. When a pan of bullets was put on them the weight caused them to slip out of the 'grooves'. Made quite a mess and caused the creation of some new word combinations. :)

The hex pattern sheets are made as trivets (things to put hot bowls/pans on). You can find different sizes but it is a crap shoot where to find the size you want. Problem is on places like Amazon they don't tell you the size of the grid so you have to shop around. Look around any store that sells kitchen stuff.

When standing bullets you just place them on the silicone sheet. The powder does not get rubbed off. I don't like to have powder on the bases of my gas checked bullets so I wipe the bases on a paper towel before placing them on the pan.

[oley55]

Be careful in some of the ovens. The racks in mine were a nice loose fit. When a pan of bullets was put on them the weight caused them to slip out of the 'grooves'. Made quite a mess and caused the creation of some new word combinations.

I found this to only be an issue if I were sliding the oven rack in and out. I made hardware cloth baskets to move bullets into and out of the oven with the bottoms lined with silicone baking sheets.