Silicone molds with their own ukami

The invention of silicone has become a real godsend for the hostesses. After all, this material produces excellent kitchen tools, potholders, brushes and a host of other useful devices like rugs for ovens that perfectly replace parchment paper for baking. However, most appreciated today's needlewomen silicone molds, with which you can easily create figures for decorating cakes, barrel soap, candles. What is the peculiarity of molds? What are the different types? Can I make them myself?

Molds of silicone: what is it

Silicone molds are special forms for obtaining the necessary impressions from various materials. Outwardly they resemble molds from children's sets. Thanks to the strength and plasticity of silicone, with their help not only flat bas-reliefs, but also three-dimensional three-dimensional figures are obtained.

In cooking, silicone molds for mastic, marzipans, jelly, caramel and chocolate are most often used. In addition, molds are used for making candles, figured soap, gypsum figurines, products made of epoxy resin and polymer clay.

Types of silicone molds

Due to its versatility and simplicity in production, today silicone molds of almost any shape are available for purchase. However, they differ in only a few parameters.

First of all, molds differ in the material from which they are made. In their production, both food silicone and non-food are used. Forms of food material are always more expensive. The scope of their application is almost unlimited: they can be used not only for making chocolate figures, but also figured soap. But cheaper molds (from industrial silicone) are intended only for work with non-food materials.

Moldes are used in the manufacture of both single-sided figures and three-dimensional products.

Silicone molds are also divided into solid and demountable (consisting of several, interconnected elements).

Also there is a special kind of molds - Weiner. These forms are made of a harder silicone, similar to rubber. Their purpose is to create textures. As a rule, Vainers consist of two parts, between which a sheet of mastic or foamiran is clamped to give it the necessary texture.

Advantages of molds made of silicone over other forms

In addition to silicone molds, there are a lot of other interesting devices on the confectionery market. Namely: plastic plungers, metal forms for biscuits or dough, pastry syringes with specialized nozzles, plastic or wooden rolling pins to give texture to mastic and so on.

Despite the convenience of all these tools, silicone molds for mastic are superior in most parameters.

The fact is that unlike other tools, silicone is not afraid of cold, heat, does not break down, does not rust, it is easy to clean, transport well and take up little space in the kitchen. Due to its softness, it is easy to get ready products from it.

How to use silicone molds

Despite the variety of forms for silicone prints, the way of using them is unchanged:

1. Before use, you need to make sure that the mold is clean and dry, since if there is moisture in it, voids may form in its place and then the resulting impression will be defective.
2. Before use, the inner surface of the mold should be lubricated to make it easier to get the finished impression. If mold is used to make food products - as a lubricant fats food. Vaseralin is used for inedible materials. If the Weiner is used when working with Fonamir, it is not necessary to lubricate it.
3. The residence time of the substance in the form depends on its type. If it's mastic, then the mold should be placed with it for 5-15 minutes in the freezer to allow the impression to stiffen. After a while, carefully take out the finished product and continue working with it. If you use chocolate molds to make chocolate figurines, candles, epoxy or gypsum products, it takes several hours for the impression to solidify. The pour time of each material is separately indicated on the accompanying instructions to it.

Silicone molds with their own hands: what can they be made of

Since in their free time, as a rule, creative people are engaged in needlework, at some point they will necessarily want not only to use ready-made molds, but to create an original form for the imprint.

For such cases on sale there is a special silicone paste which can be used for making molds. For the manufacture of food molds, dental silicone pastes for molds are also used. Unfortunately, all these materials are quite expensive, so many needlewomen try to make shapes from improvised means.

The main component, from which folk craftsmen make molds, is a technical silicone sealant, sold in construction shops. In some cases, instead of it, one of the types of polymer clay is taken.

Molds obtained from such materials are, of course, worse than factory molds, but they are great for making molds. At the same time, everyone should remember that it is impossible to do silicone molds by hand for mastic from technical silicone or polymer clay: these materials are toxic.

The only non-specialized material that you can try to use for culinary molds is gelatin. It is mixed in equal parts with glycerin and cooked this mass in a water bath, after which it is poured with the desired object. The resulting gelatin mold is very plastic, and it can be used for food products. However, unlike silicone and clay forms, gelatin is afraid of rising temperatures and begins to melt.

Silicone molds with their own hands: a master class from improvised means

After it became clear which materials are most often created by molds with their own hands, it is worthwhile to see how this is done.

In order to make a mold at home, you need a package of technical silicone, starch (potato or corn) and objects that will serve as a template for the future mold.

1. The first step is preparing a place of work. It should be clean, smooth, dry surface. For example, a table descended from a film or parchment paper.
2. The necessary amount of starch is poured onto the table. Further, the same amount of silicone is added to it.
3. Of these two components, you need to knead the silicone "dough". This will take 10-15 minutes. The process of kneading should not be delayed, since silicone quickly hardens, coming in contact with air, especially warm.
4. Ready "dough" you need to roll out, but not very thin. In the rolled circles, the objects for impressions are pressed and are left in this form for several hours. Better for the whole night.
5. At the end of this period, the required items are carefully extracted from the blanks and the mold is ready. Directly in the same water, a blank is molded from silicone. She is taken out of the water and pressed silicone into the object for the imprint. Then leave for a few hours - and then on the above scenario. American manufacturers, manufacturing silicone molds, the material is treated in a different way. Instead of mixing the "dough" with starch, the silicone is squeezed into the water with a glycerol-containing detergent, which is abundantly dissolved in it.

Having considered various ways of creating molds, you can now use the knowledge gained in practice, choosing for yourself the method at your discretion.