Last Updated on February 2, 2018
My youngest child likes to help me in the kitchen. I often let her pick recipes from cookbooks or from Pinterest, and she tends to pick things I might not choose on my own, like homemade bread dough pockets stuffed with ham and cheese. While kneading and rolling out the dough, I realized we needed a better work surface.
Enter Aldi’s Crofton Silicone Pastry Mat.
This mat is a Special Buy (ALDI Find). It measures 25 by 18 inches (63.5 by 45.7 centimeters), is BPA free, and features a metric and imperial side, with a “nonstick surface for easy kneading, rolling and cleaning. It also rolls up so it can be stored easily in a cabinet or drawer.
The mat has a chart for approximate metric weight equivalents, converting ounces to grams. It also has approximate metric volume equivalents converting teaspoons and cups to milliliters, cups to liters, and gallons to quarts. It converts inches to centimeters and has approximate U.S. measurement equivalents for teaspoons, tablespoons, and cups. Finally, it features several circles to help get your dough or pie crust to exactly the right size, ranging from four inches to 18 inches in diameter. It also has inch and centimeter measurements along the perimeter of the mat.
Making some homemade dough.
If you care about reading the measurements, I recommend using this mat on a white or light-colored counter or table. The mat’s inner layer is a woven, white checkered-type of material that shows under the printed measurements and makes them especially difficult to read on brown, black, or other dark-colored surfaces.
Honestly, while the measurements are cool, I am mostly interested in the work surface this mat provides. I can easily look up measurements and equivalents online, so any difficulty reading them on the mat doesn’t bother me much.
Instructions inside the packaging recommend washing the new mat with warm soapy water, rinsing, and drying with a towel before use. It also recommends removing items from the mat before cutting them because cutting the mat will expose its fiberglass core. Also, do not use your mat in the oven (obviously), and do not use steel wool, metal scouring pads, or abrasive cleaners.
The packaging says the mat is dishwasher safe, but the mat itself is printed with a warning saying not to put it in the dishwasher and to hand wash only. Regardless of how you wash it, be sure to dry it thoroughly before rolling it up and storing it.
The Verdict:
Aldi’s Crofton Silicone Pastry Mat provides a good, large work surface when working with pastry or dough. Some of the printed measurements may be hard to read depending on whether your counter is light- or dark-colored (it’s easier to read on a white counter). Overall, this isn’t bad for the price.
I know you said do not use in the oven but I’m curious. So many of the silicon mats I see online are also good in the oven as baking mats. Are you certain this one is not oven safe? I can’t seem to find anything on it online except this review of yours. Thank you!
On the right side of this mat in fairly large letters it says “Not oven safe.” I know there are silicone mats for use as oven liners, but this one is made for pastry and working with dough on a counter top.
I’m curious, but hesitant about using it for making candy, since it says not to use it in the oven. I would be pouring 300 degree candy on the mat. Has anyone tried it with success?
We couldn’t say for certain, but we would be very hesitant about pouring hot candy on that mat. We would be afraid of damaging the silicone and would also be afraid of the silicone somehow getting into the candy.
From the research I did, it should be able to withstand temps to 400 f. Nevertheless, I used buttered parchment paper & it worked like a dream. Thanks for your input.
Sure thing. We use parchment paper all the time in our oven, so it probably makes a natural fit for a project like this one.