Silicone Pastry Brush – Silicone transformed the pastry brush. The old-fashioned type with natural or nylon bristles not only shed but also held onto flavors and colors. If you used one for BBQ sauce or a strong curry, forget using it for a delicate apricot glaze the next day, even after thorough washing. Silicone brushes clean up perfectly in the dishwasher with no residual trace of flavors or pigment and they don’t shed! They come in various sizes, but for the pastry kitchen, look for ones with delicate “bristles” such as the one shown.