Can You Put Silicone In The Microwave? Is It Safe?

Silicone has become a popular material for all kinds of kitchen products from baking, to cooking, and food preparation and serving. But if you’re health conscience like us, you might want to take a few moments to find the answer to the question, can you put silicone in the microwave oven.

We don’t want to risk harmful chemicals spilling into our food from the use of silicone, and neither do you.

What is Silicone?

Silicone is a man-made material that comes from silica beach sand. It’s a non-reactive rubbery material and synthetic polymer, meaning it doesn’t interact with other chemicals negatively.

Silicone rubber is used to make a variety of kitchen tools and silicone kitchenware.

Benefits of Silicone

Food grade silicone has many benefits and can be used for baking and cooking. Rather than using a cookie sheet or a metal pan, you might like to reach for silicone items instead.

Here are the benefits of silicone.

Tolerates Extreme Temperature Fluctuations

Once of the biggest benefits of using silicone in the kitchen is that is tolerates extreme temperatures from -76 degrees Fahrenheit to 446 degrees Fahrenheit as a maximum temperature, without breaking or compromising quality.

You can literally use a silicone baking pan straight from the freezer and place it in a heated oven temperature on the oven rack. It can go from cold to higher temperatures because it tolerates temperature changes well.

Flexible Material

Another great thing about silicone synthetic rubber is that it is a somewhat flexible material. You can manipulate the bake ware to accommodate various functions.

This, however, can be a downside as well if you’re using a silicone item for something that you don’t want to spill. The flexibility in the material can allow it to be floppy enough in some cases that the contents spill out, depending on the situation.

Non-Toxic

The fact that silicone is a non-toxic material makes it a great alternative, unlike plastic, and that it won’t melt or leech poisonous chemicals into your food is an important factor when considering whether it’s safe to use silicone in the microwave.

Durable

Many people like that silicone is durable. Because it doesn’t break with extreme temperatures like glass does, it’s a heat-resistant material, and it’s flexible as well as a non-scratch surface, makes it a durable product that will last for years under proper care and usage.

Variety of Colors

Did you know that silicone comes in a variety of colors? When shopping for silicone kitchen products you’ll notice that they come in almost every color of the rainbow.

These can be a great option and fun for coordination with your other kitchen décor.

Non-Stick Properties

Silicone is known for its non-stick properties. You don’t have to drown it with chemical laden non-stick cooking spray before adding the food because it naturally doesn’t stick. It’s great for that aspect too.

Non-Scratch

The final aspect that we want to point out as far as the benefits of using silicone are concerned is that it doesn’t scratch naturally.

Take for example, the regular daily use of a metal cookie sheet and how it becomes scratched over time, that doesn’t happen with silicone. But we do recommend that you don’t use abrasive materials to scrub or clean it if you want it to look nice for a long time.

Is Silicone Safe for Food?

Knowing whether your silicone is safe for food is an important factor in using it for cooking and baking.

To ensure that your silicone is safe for food, be sure to buy a high-quality silicone that has a label stating it’s safe for food.

Food safe silicone can withstand high temperatures, is made with inert materials and includes no fillers, and it’s non-toxic.

How Does Silicone Compare to Plastic?

If you’ve studied plastic kitchen products, you’ll know that some of them have labels indicating that they’re microwave safe.

The only thing that label means is that the item won’t melt when you put it in the microwave. It doesn’t mean the item is safe to put food in or anything else.

In fact, we never recommend using plastic in the microwave, even plastic that’s labeled microwave safe. When heated, plastic will leech harmful chemicals into your food that are consumed when the food is eaten.

Silicone products, on the other hand, are non-toxic and are microwave safe up to 446 degrees Fahrenheit. High grade, food-safe silicone is safe to use for cooking purposes and has many benefits.

Can You Microwave Silicone?

Yes, you can microwave silicone products with food in them if they’re a high-grade food safe silicone.

Will silicone melt? Silicone can withstand temperatures up to 446 degrees Fahrenheit, if the temperature is higher than that it will begin to melt.

Other Kitchen Uses for Silicone

There are so many uses for silicone in the kitchen today. You can buy food-grade silicone molds for making candy and chocolates.

Silicone pans, cake pans, and silicone muffin pans or silicone muffin cups can be purchased for making cakes, cupcakes, muffins, cookies, and casseroles.

Silicone utensils, such as a silicone spatula, are popular for baking and cooking a variety of foods, serving dishes, and scraping bowls.

Do you have leftovers? Use a silicone container to store your leftovers in the refrigerator. And there are many options for silicone lids to match and make an airtight storage space.

Silicone products go beyond the food preparation side of things and extend into serving products as well. Use a silicone bowl for serving up your favorite kind of soup.

Use silicone dishes and silicone cups for daily meals. And if you have children in the home, you’ll like the fact that they’re not breakable.

How to Clean Silicone Bakeware

The best way to wash silicone bakeware is to use soap that cuts through grease along with hot water.

Do not use an abrasive object that will scratch the surface, but rather use a soft washcloth to scrub the surface.

Rinse the silicone dish and lay it out to dry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Following are frequently asked questions that relate to the question can you put silicone in the microwave. If you have a question that’s not answered here, feel free to drop it to us in the comments box below and we’ll be happy to respond.

Is silicone safer than plastic in microwave?

Scientists believe that silicone is safer than using plastic in the microwave because it doesn’t leech plastic and other harmful chemicals into foods like plastic does.

Can silicone cupcake molds go in the microwave?

Yes, food grade silicone cupcake molds can go in the microwave, and they’ve been proven to not leech poisonous chemicals into foods like plastic does.

Many silicone molds are labeled as microwave safe, but the microwave safe label has been applied to plastics too. And that simply means they won’t melt in the case of plastics.

Silicone can tolerate high temperatures such as are encountered in the microwave or oven, but they can also tolerate low temperatures like what’s in the freezer.

Can you microwave a silicone hot pad?

Before microwaving a silicone hot pad, check out its heat resistant index and tolerance as you’ll want to be sure it can tolerate high eat that the microwave gives off.

Can you put rubber in a microwave?

We don’t recommend putting any old rubber in the microwave as it is at risk of melting and emitting harmful chemicals.

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