Hi, Cea. Silicone is a much more efficient insulator than glass; it really interferes with the transfer of heat. When it first came out, we tested almost a dozen silicone loaf pans, and they were all, without fail, a disaster. There's a very good reason there are no silicone loaf pans out there anymore, except at yard sales. Ditto for an 8" square pan, and those are the recipes I needed to show to make the point about heat transfer. Silicone is nonstick, and there are some very specific applications in the kitchen where it is a champion. It's excellent for high sugar applications like florentines; it's insulating properties help sugar to caramelize evenly, and the bake time there is short enough that overcooking isn't a risk. Silicone is also excellent for custards, which bake at a low temperature and where slow heat transfer is an asset. I also use silicone for frozen items in unusual shapes. The flexibility of the material makes it a breeze to release them from the mold. Susan

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