I adore cakes and love to make them. My baking trays ( sponge cakes, loaf tin, fairy cakes,muffin etc) need to be replaced.
I am considering buying silicone ones but notice on TV cookery shows that the metal ones are usually used.

What are the pros and cons of silicone that I should know before I replace my metal ones?

no idea but silicone breasts are quite good...

Pros: you can squeeze stubborn muffins out of them with an ease unthinkable with metal cake tins.

Cons: there's something indefinably erotic about them. This may impede your progress in the kitchen.

The silicone moulds are floppy and tricky to hold - not a good thing when you need to get them in and out of a hot oven. You need to use a metal tray to put them on - that kind of defeats the purpose - you need to wash up 2 things

Friends that have made formed birthday cakes using silicone moulds compain about some of the cake getting stuck inside - a problem you never have with metal tins and baking paper.

Just line the tins with baking paper instead of buying new tins or get new ones from Ikea - better imo than the floppy silicone ones.

If they're made by PIP, then don't touch 'em ....... they leak.

Like I said... oh, never mind...

I got a couple last year and do really like them (possibly because they are bright pink!)

I agree that it is annoying that they are so flimsy and you have to put them on a metal tray to move them (and I usually forget until after I have poured the mixture in ). However they are easy to get things out of and to clean. I will probably replace the rest of my baking tins quite soon with other silicon ones.

use the old cake tins with ready made wax liners from Lakeland, perfect.

I love my silicon baking moulds and would never go back to using my old ones.
You do have to put them on a metal baking sheet fir transferring them to the oven but I never have to wash the baking sheets just the moulds. The only time I wash them is if the cake spills over but then if there wasn't a baking sheet under them I'd have to clean the oven which in my eyes is infinitely worse.
I would recommend getting good quality ones though as I don't think some of the cheaper ones are very good. I have a tefal loaf 'tin' in silicon which has a metal insert in the top which means it holds the shape very well and isn't at all floppy.

I tried a silicon cake mold, and wasn't happy - in addition to the floppy thing the cake stuck to the mold, couldn't get it out in once piece. Now - I only used it once, so perhaps that wasn't a fair trial.

I prefer spring form pans - the kind with the clasp. When done and cooled, unclasp and the outer ring comes easily off, leaving your cake (or tart or loaf or whatever) nicely formed. I have round spring form pans, square ones, rectangle ones, even a bunt mold.

Pop in to your local Lakeland store- they have many special offers at the mo.

Did you prep it like you would a metal one? I have had no problems with the one I have, but it is more like a bundt cake pan so maybe more stable due to the height and the middle thingy*

*technical term

I don't personally like them as primarily, cakes don't brown well in them, but they're also flimsy and often tear which is sub-obtimal. I didn't have a problem with sticking as others have mentioned though. Metal is tried and true.

With a name like 'poptart' you must truly be the expert

They are cool and work perfectly fine!

Why, because I brown so beautifully in a toaster without a need for silly baking pans?

I have a set (and a half) of silicone cupcake molds that fit into slots in a metal tin, all from Migros. Some are regular round cupcake shapes, the other six are mini bundt (guggelhopf) shapes. The bundt ones stick a little, but it's more a matter of being a bit fiddly to get them coated in butter well than any fault of the mold itself.

I don't have any for regular cakes though, as usually my baking pans do double duty for desserts and meats alike, I'm unsure how the silicone would hold up to hot fat from baking bbq pork roasts. IF I had the space to get separate baking "pans" (ooohhhh aaahhhh the start of a dream kitchen), I'd get a few silicone ones for thicker battered cakes and bars, but some of the more liquid batters I wouldn't chance in the silicone (I'm simply that clumsy).

Yes, me too. I put them in the regular muffin/cupcake pan. Easy to get them out without breaking them and they do look nice because they are different in color. Have been thinking about buying slicone pans for normal cakes too, but I always thought they were quite expensive. (Then again, what isn't)Somehow I have not been willing to spend all that money on baking pans, especially since mine are still in good condition (I always use them with baking paper)

have you tried a cooking/oil spray? That is much easier than trying to smear butter around...

I haven't used sprays lately at all, I'll have to try them again. The last time I used them was quite a long time ago, and they had an odd taste to them AND the parts of the pans that were sprayed but higher than the level of the baked goodies was sticky and hard to clean.

Hopefully some improvements have come along in the past 15 years or so.