There are plenty of tips on how to clean pastry brushes. Dip them in a bowl of salt. Wash with soap and lemon juice. “Lather, rinse, repeat,” offered one message board posting. I tried various things and then gave up and bought silicone brushes.
Silicone has been insinuating itself into all sorts of kitchen gear, and lately I’ve seen various articles debating the merits of particular pieces, including a treatise by Marian Burros in the New York Times. The brushes I’d been using were almost great. Their only fault is that they just don’t hold liquid like the natural-hair brushes too–especially if the liquid is water- rather than oil-based.
Good Grips to the rescue. The Good Grips silicone brushes, which are available in two sizes, have these hole-punched flaps in the middle that pick up liquid. They work about 95 percent as well as the non-silicone, and they’re dishwasher safe or easy to hand wash.
While brushing some butter onto Iris’s waffle the other day, I realized that this isn’t the first time I’ve been delighted to dump an all-too-natural utensil. It’s been years since I replaced my wooden spoons with Matfer Exoglass spoons, and I’ve never missed the wood. Pretty soon I’ll be preparing seasonal organic produce using nothing but synthetic tools created by eggheads in lab coats.
Interesting. I’ll have to check that one out. So far, the only thing I have found the silicone brushes good for is brushing butter on phyllo dough. The bristles are so flimsy ( in a good way) that I never tear the sheets like I used to with a natural bristle brush. However, barbecue sauce demands a natural bristle brush.