Silicone Kitchenware, A New Environmentally Friendly Choice For Kitchen And Home

In China, people may not have much contact or understanding of the silicone industry and its products, but in fact, the global silicone industry has a long history of development. From the invention of silicone tubes in the 18th century, which marked the beginning of the development of the silicone industry, the silicone industry has been booming.

Compared with foreign countries, China's silica gel industry started relatively late, but based on China's huge consumption time and raw material supply market, China has become the main production market of silica gel in the world. Market tracking data released by Global Market Insights shows that the global organic silicone market size was US$15.3 billion in 2016. In 2019, the global organic silicone market size has increased to US$18.5 billion, with an average annual compound growth rate of 6.5%.

Against this background, silicone products have actually quietly entered our daily family life. I believe many people will notice when watching short food baking videos that the baking spatulas, oil brushes, etc. used by many food creative bloggers are no longer traditional plastic, wood or metal products, but are replaced by silicone kitchen utensils..​ There are businesses and brands that focus on the research and development and production of silicone products when there are people in need. For example, Suan Houseware specializes in the research and development of silicone products. Its products include many silicone tongs and spatulas, silicone cake molds and other kitchen utensils, and even silicone collapsible cups, silicone painting mats...

Why do food bloggers and brands abandon traditional material products and choose silicone kitchenware when it comes to the choice of kitchenware materials? There are roughly the following three points.

Derived from nature, the material is environmentally friendly.​

In order to be lightweight and cheap, many kitchen utensils are more or less made of plastic. However, the white pollution caused by plastics has caused serious harm to water quality, soil, resources, and the environment. With the continuous innovation of the ecological civilization system, green development has become a social consensus. Silica gel is a green and environmentally friendly material. Its main component is silica that is common in nature and will not cause harm or burden to the environment and human body.

Material properties, health protection

Consumers who have used plastic kitchenware should know that most plastic products may be able to hold boiling water, but they should never be used for frying. Even for better-quality plastics, most of the maximum temperature resistance is around 120°C, and the frying temperature can generally reach around 200°C.

Silicone is flexible and has a strong advantage in thermal stability (temperature resistance range -40℃~230℃). Even after being baked and burned by a high-temperature open flame, the decomposed substances are non-toxic and odorless white smoke and white dust. This characteristic makes silicone much safer and more stable than food-grade plastic materials, making it more reassuring in kitchenware applications.

Antibacterial and antifungal, easy to clean

In addition to plastic, metal is also a common traditional kitchenware material. However, because metal has high thermal conductivity and can easily cause burns, wood products also play an extremely important role among traditional materials. However, wooden products also have a fatal pain point, that is, after being soaked for a long time or in a humid environment or season, mold can easily grow, posing a greater safety hazard to the body.

Silicone benefits from the microporous structure of macromolecules and is insoluble in water or any solvent. It is a highly active adsorption material. Silica gel is often used as an adsorbent or desiccant in practical applications. Therefore, silicone kitchenware cannot be absorbed by liquid after use and can be air-dried immediately, making it less likely to breed mold. It is not easily corroded by oil, salt, and vinegar in cooking environments with high levels of fat, salt, and vinegar.

To sum up, compared with kitchenware made of traditional materials, silicone kitchenware has the characteristics of long service life, good stability, not easy to corrode, temperature-resistant and non-toxic. More importantly, it will not cause harm or burden to the environment and human body. It is a new choice for kitchen and home furnishings for people who pay attention to health and environmental protection.