Nami Coated Baking Dish Test

My husband is every bit the foodie that I am so that makes things a bit interesting around here.  He is just as likely to spot a new kitchen gadget or bring home a new kitchen item as I am.  What I find most interesting about this is neither of us are into gimmicky kitchen items.  The things we buy for the kitchen tend to fit specific and mainly utilitarian needs.  This is a good thing because it helps to keep kitchen clutter to a minimum.  A few years ago when silicone bakeware became the range I bought 2 pieces, a loaf pan and a round cake pan.  It immediately became apparent that a baking sheet was needed in order to use either.  Still I was not head over hills in love with the silicone bakeware.  I later added a silicone muffin pan with rack.  The rack stabilized the muffin pan eliminating the need for using a baking sheet.  Then I discovered silicone baking sheets.  My first one was from Canadian Tire.  It was a bright neon green and stained horribly the first use.  I had better luck with Silpat® silicone baking sheets that so far haven't stained.  Well, my husband spotted a non-stick glass baking dish when we were grocery shopping so we bought it ($14.99).

I wrote a longer article about this baking dish on my homemaking blog.  The Nami coating is silicon-based, environmentally friendly and has anti-bacterial properties.  The coating give a frosted appearance to the glass.  The downside is the baking dish has to be hand washed and metal utensils will scratch the coating affecting the appearance but not performance of the dish.  I decided to test this baking dish with homemade shake & bake chicken. I normally cook the coated chicken on a silicone baking sheet in a sided metal baking sheet. The chicken is precisely what caused the horrible staining on my first silicone baking sheet so I thought it would be a good test as to this baking dish performance. 

I coated the chicken as per normal then placed the pieces into the baking pan.  Unlike using the Silpat® where the juices from the chicken get in between the baking sheet and silicone sheet the juices stayed in the baking dish.  The juices were very much like au jus so my husband used this on his baked potato.  As far as performance this non-stick glass baking dish gets two thumbs up.  It gives the best of silicone without the downsides of silicone bakeware.  Clean-up was actually less of a mess than using the Silpat® lined baking sheet.  Unlike regular glass bakeware this baking dish required only a light scrapping with a spatula then washing in hot, soapy water with no soaking at all!  There was no discolouration of the coating either.  The next test for this baking dish will be scalloped potatoes.  Anytime I make scalloped potatoes the baking dish has to be soaked before washing so this will be another good test.  I'll report back on the results.