Vinyl Mat, Fondant Sticking

Decorating By majormichel Updated 20 Aug 2012 , 6:58pm by BlakesCakes

majormichel Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
majormichel Posted 19 Aug 2012 , 1:20pm
post #1 of 14

I purchased a piece of vinyl mat to roll out fondant. After positioning the vinyl with fondant attached to the cake I proceed in peeling the fondant off, the fondant stick to the vinyl and tear. How do I prevent this from happening? Should I have greased it with shortening first? Any thoughts?

13 replies
fcakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
fcakes Posted 19 Aug 2012 , 2:08pm
post #2 of 14

Vinyl that you purchase from craft stores is not food safe...it is treated with chemicals. Please dont use it to roll fondant!

'The Mat' from Sweetwise is the only food safe vinyl mat. It costs under $20 with shipping, and is worth the peace of mind.

missmikey Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
missmikey Posted 19 Aug 2012 , 2:32pm
post #3 of 14

I have a blue mat I bought from some baking supply place that I use for fondant. I am not home or I would look in the pantry for the name but I heard about it here. It works great I don't have an problems with it. It may be silicon though and not vinyl. The one I got is huge like 2 ft buy 3 feet.

MsGF Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
MsGF Posted 19 Aug 2012 , 3:46pm
post #4 of 14

I see you are in Ontario too. I bought a Danesco Pastry Mat at Home Outfitters for $8.99. I love it so much I bought another one. I use Satin Ice and it never sticks. I love it. It is about 61 cm x 45 cm or 24" x 18".

I have also used it to roll Gluten Free Pastry (which is very soft) and had no problems.

Good Luck

dantherex Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
dantherex Posted 19 Aug 2012 , 4:17pm
post #5 of 14

I don't think regular vinyl is exchangeable with roll out mats.

I've heard very bad reviews from The Mat.
I recommend you order an Ateco silicone mat from Amazon, they are really cheap and you get free shipping.

woozy Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
woozy Posted 19 Aug 2012 , 5:13pm
post #6 of 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by fcakes



'The Mat' from Sweetwise is the only food safe vinyl mat. It costs under $20 with shipping, and is worth the peace of mind.




Sorry, but you've been watching infomercials. icon_biggrin.gif

There is nothing special about vinyl. It's just another one of many cheap plastics. There are scores of mat choices, including polyethylenes and silicones.

majormichel Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
majormichel Posted 19 Aug 2012 , 6:27pm
post #7 of 14

Thanks everyone for responding. At present, I am covering dummie cakes not real cake.
I will check out Home outfitters first, if no success I will order the item from Amazon.

Jenise Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
Jenise Posted 19 Aug 2012 , 7:13pm
post #8 of 14

To answer your original question, yes, if you will spread shortening on the vinyl, you will have no problems getting the fondant off the mat. That is what I do with no problems!

BlakesCakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BlakesCakes Posted 19 Aug 2012 , 9:48pm
post #9 of 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by woozy



Sorry, but you've been watching infomercials. icon_biggrin.gif

There is nothing special about vinyl. It's just another one of many cheap plastics. There are scores of mat choices, including polyethylenes and silicones.




WRONG! This is a specially formulated product that went thru plenty of R&D to make sure that it IS FOOD SAFE.

You can read more about it here:
http://sweetwise.com/the-pro-mat-pre-order-now.html

It happens to be a wonderful product--and I am in no way affiliated with Sweetwise. I'm just a very happy customer.

Rae

BlakesCakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BlakesCakes Posted 19 Aug 2012 , 10:01pm
post #10 of 14

The Danesco mat mentioned is a silicone mat, but it isn't very large.

I have several types of silicone mats & I find them to be giant static and dust magnets.

One advantage to The Mat is that it comes as 2 huge pieces--30x30, I believe. I only roll on one piece and I find that with a little bit of care, it will last a full year. I'm careful not to cut with anything sharp directly on it.

You can find some good youtube videos, too:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sweetwise+mat&oq=sweetwise&gs_l=youtube.1.3.0i10j0l4.11316.13376.0.17262.9.8.0.1.1.0.184.893.4j4.8.0...0.0...1ac.wM5UO5TmHMg

Rae

pbuder Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
pbuder Posted 20 Aug 2012 , 12:14am
post #11 of 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by dantherex

I've heard very bad reviews from The Mat.




For as many 'bad reviews' as their are for 'The Mat', there are at least as many good reviews. If you haven't tried it for yourself then please don't discount something you have no experience with.

I have not tried the mat you suggested but I will say The Mat worked for me better then the Wilton Fondant mat. My fondant stuck to the Wilton mat and my table no matter how much powder sugar I used to try and prevent sticking. I even tried using Crisco to see if that worked but it didn't work for me. The only thing that I have found to work for me is The Mat.

If you really don't want to spend money on one without knowing if it will work, contact a local cake club and see if anyone has one and can show it too you. You can ask the cake club in general what are the different options that have worked as no one option will work for everyone.

woozy Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
woozy Posted 20 Aug 2012 , 6:45am
post #12 of 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlakesCakes



WRONG! This is a specially formulated product that went thru plenty of R&D to make sure that it IS FOOD SAFE.


Rae




I don't understand. Are you saying that none of the other hundreds of food service mats (including vinyl) in the industry are not food safe?

If the others are not food-safe (as Sweetwise seems to infer) I'd like to hear it on better authority than from the company that profits from saying it.

pbuder Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
pbuder Posted 20 Aug 2012 , 4:54pm
post #13 of 14

I think she means vinyl bought from your local fabric store or the clear vinyl shower curtains some folks have said they bought to use like 'The Mat' is not food safe. Other types of mats that are sold as food prep products will be food safe (at least I would hope they are).

BlakesCakes Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
BlakesCakes Posted 20 Aug 2012 , 6:58pm
post #14 of 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by pbuder

I think she means vinyl bought from your local fabric store or the clear vinyl shower curtains some folks have said they bought to use like 'The Mat' is not food safe. Other types of mats that are sold as food prep products will be food safe (at least I would hope they are).




EXACTLY!

No one has ever implied that the various silicone, plastic, or rubber mats marketed to the food service industry are not food safe. No one else markets a FOOD SAFE vinyl other than Sweetwise.

It is, as even YOU, woozy, said, the vinyl from the fabric that is NOT food safe. It has phthalates in it and may have been made from recycled sources. It can contain trace metals, as well as other contaminants.
Is it going to make someone sick from the incidental contact with fondant--NO, but if there is a food safe alternative available, it should be used.

If doubting the company makes you happy................that's up to you.

Rae

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%