Welcome to My Baking Station...

This post will undoubtedly be the epitome of boring for those of you who do not get in to the kitchen often. Suffice it to say, I am a "culinary geek" and this little mat has revolutionized a corner of my kitchen where bread doughs are rolled, biscuits are cut, and pate a choux piped. I am so smitten with this gizmo, I am compelled to blog about it.

The table top of my baking station is solid untreated hard wood which has been good for many baking applications including pasta rolling. The 6 ft. butcher block counter already included many baking staples such as my KitchenAid professional mixer, French rolling pin, Zojirushi bread machine and all of my favorite go to baking books. That being said, it's never felt as complete until the arrival of this nifty silicone pastry mat. It's 24" x 18", non stick, oven safe, non-slip and dishwasher safe. When I roll out pastries and wet doughs such as ciabatta on this this mat, no matter how sticky, it practically repels the dough from it. As soon as I got it I put it to the test by baking a free form plum crostata on it. After rolling filling and shaping the crostata dough on said mat, I simply lifted the whole thing on to a commercial baking sheet and threw it in to the oven. The mat worked magnificently at browning the bottom of the crostata and once cool, it slid off effortlessly - no flour- no cooking spray! Even the caramelized, gooey plum filling that had leaked out here and there peeled right off the surface - bellissimo! Here's the only catch... it's not cheap. You'd think a flimsy piece of silicone less than 2'x2' would be an inexpensive little trinket, but not so. I will say this however, it's worth every penny I spent on it. I love it better than any pastry surface I've worked on including my marble pastry board. I would highly recommend this for the serious or even casual baker.