Why this baking mat earns its place
Purple is the allergen colour, and that is the whole point of this mat. Free-from baking is the one area of a kitchen where being careful is not enough on its own — the control has to be visible, so that anyone walking past the bench can see at a glance which surface the gluten-free batch is on. A purple mat gives you that without a conversation and without anyone having to remember a rule. It goes into the tray, the free-from batch goes on it, and nothing else touches it.
At 62 × 42 cm this is the large end of the bench formats, which is where it earns its keep: a full batch of free-from items goes down in one pass rather than being split across two runs, and on the bench it marks out a generously sized zone for rolling, portioning or cutting. Measure the internal base of your tray before you order — a mat wants to sit flat inside the lip rather than ride up the sides. The 0.7 mm section gives it enough body to lie flat and stay put under a scraper, while still rolling up for storage or for travelling to a site.
Silicone is a release surface, so it does the job greaseproof paper does but comes back and does it again, which takes a recurring consumable out of the free-from routine. Wash it thoroughly and dry it fully before it is put away — silicone will hold a smell if it goes into storage damp or with fat left on it. Store it rolled or laid flat rather than folded, since a hard crease stays in it, and keep it separate from the general trays so it cannot be picked up for a standard bake.
