If a bakery bakes and then freezes products in pans, it would be better off choosing fluoropolymer coatings rather than silicone elastomers, according to Steve Schwartz, president of Bakeware Coating Systems (BCS), Camden, NJ. These coatings can withstand these wide temperature fluctuations better, he said.

A drawback of silicone rubber trays, often used on baguette lines, is that the elastomers mechanically attached to the pan undergo a lot of stress in the bakery, especially in a bake/freeze application, Mr. Schwartz said. “BCS systems are thermally stable at 550°F but they are also equally thermally stable at -100°F, so you don’t have any stress or cracking that would occur from rapid heat fluctuations,” he added.