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Hi gasrtosurf, I have been informed that we are going to get visitors soon (daughter and family) so my cradle will have to wait. I will bot be able to do anything for about two weeks now. Will let you know when I am back to normal.

Glad to hear that someone likes the idea Kamila.

A couple of suggestions that might help - begin by making a template from thin card - a large cereal box should do the job just fine.

When you make your folds in the template, allow a couple of millimetres over the size of the base of your silicon mould - when it gets hot the mould will expand and take up any slack.

When you bend the cake stand, don't try to form the angles in full straight away, rather, just start each fold and take each one to about a quarter of what the final angle needs to be - once you have all of the angles started, it should be easy enough to pull the frame into the final shape.

I'd love to hear how you get on - I was tempted to make one myself, but I don't have any silicone moulds.

If you go into production, I'll settle for 10% ..lol

Good luck!

gastrosurf, what a fantastic idea. I will certainly have a go at making the frame.
I have tried a liner but it wasn't suitable, I only have an oblong one and it created creases. I am not in UK so can't pop in to Lidl's or Lakeland. Our offers in Lidl's are different to UK ones.

This shows the idea described above:-

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I would think such a frame would withstand the pressure, but if it had a tendency to spread, then it would need some ties at the base, or, standing the frame in a flat baking tray (as smaller image) would make it stronger.

Interesting problem - I wonder if anyone makes a silicone bread tray with a reinforced wall - looks like there could be a gap in the market for such a product.

It seems a pity to have to use a metal tin as well, plus, presumably you need to match the sizes up.

I would have thought putting a silicone mould into a bread tin would have reduced the thermal efficiency - but having never tried it, I don't actually know.

It sounds as if a mesh metal cradle would do the job ok - if you feel a bit adventurous, I would suggest buying a cheap metal mesh cake-stand (the sort of thing you use for cooling cakes on) and bend it into the shape of a cradle. Use a table or a worktop with a nice square edge and make your folds using the edge of the table as a former - i.e. with the mesh laid flat on the table just push downwards so that the material bends over the table edge. At a guess I would think the ends are not such a problem, so perhaps an open ended cradle would do the job - much easier to form up.

I use ordinary non-stick bread trays and they don't seem to stick - the walls slope outwards and the corners are rounded which seems to help.

If you are looking to buy some new trays, I recommend TK Maxx - they sell good quality trays at very reasonable prices.

These posts have put me off using silicone bread trays, because quite honestly I can't see the point.

If sticking is a problem then I would have thought adding a home made silicone liner would be cheaper and probably better - lidl's had sheets of silicone in their offers last week - they will probably still have some, can't remember the exact price but it was very cheap.

Also, Lakeland do a custom built liner, but a little more expensive - although they say they are reusable.

Thanks for your replys. Unfortunately I threw out my old loaf tins when I bought the silicone ones. I'll just have to go out and buy some more !!!
I agree, the loaves come out much easier from the silicone moulds anyway.

Hi cj32,
I have the same problem as you. And I have put my silicon mould in to an ordinary bread mold to keep a shape. The only benefit of using silicon mould is that I can get the bread out easy, no sticking. I only have a cheap bread mold and it was difficult to get the bread out.

Hi CJ,

I agree with your comments. The problem seems to be that the mass of the dough is too great for the strength of the mould. I was given some to try and found them very good for small items, but loaf size is as you say.

David