Metal vs. Glass vs. Ceramic for baking

[snowangel]

I have a mismash of baking pans (9 x 9's, pie pans, 8 x 8's, etc.) that I've been given or inherited.

What's the advantage of one over the other? Think pies, cakes, bars...

[Lisa Shock]

Metal heats faster but also cools faster. In a traditional oven, with heat on the bottom this can mean that the bottom of something will cook/burn before the top gets up to temperature. (if the oven is not preheated) It's probably not microwave safe. It may be teflon coated, and, not suitable for high heat applications. If the teflon is scrached, toss the pan out -you don't want to eat that.

Dark materials cook things faster than clear/light materials. I recall seeing some study back in the 1970's showing that smoked glass cooked a casserole 15 minutes faster than a clear casserole pan.

Glass and ceramic hold heat better meaning that they work well for long and slow cooked applications. I prefer them for pies, they don't burn as readily. These pans also help a lot if your oven has cold/hot spots or any uneveness issues. They are also possibly microwave safe -check the bottom to see or run a quick test.

Clear glass is pretty for showing off a finished product at a potluck. Multi-layer dips, gelatin delights, layered salads, etc, all get a bigger wow factor in a clear pan.

[MelissaH]

When I'm baking something like brownies or bar cookies, I like to use a metal pan, lined with parchment. My glass pans all have rounded corners and edges, so anything not from the middle gets "shorted." My metal pans have vertical sides and square corners.

MelissaH

[baroness]

As Lisa explained, glass is great for baking pies. Glass and ceramic are especially attractive when the item is to be served directly.

The glass corners may be more rounded than *some* metal pans, but I am not that concerned about smaller corner pieces - it's an excuse to have another piece as well

[takadi]

Earthenware has extremely poor heat conductivity which makes it heat up very slowly but by the same token it also loses heat very slowly. Heavy earthenware/clay cookware thus has superior heat retention that makes it efficient over very long cook times. Some say that since clay is also porous so it holds in moisture better but this probably doesn't apply to glass or enamel glazed earthenware. But from the sounds of it, earthenware is probably just an historically authentic component of traditional clafoutis and isn't really necessary...nothing a heavy baking dish or cast iron won't be able to accomplish

Edited December 13, 2013 by takadi (log)

[Norm Matthews]

The article made a mistake in one instance calling them terracotta and in another sentence referring to them as stoneware. One isn't the same as the other. The picture showed unglazed terracotta. Perhaps its characteristics of being porous and heat retention ability both of which are unique from any other material will make a desirable difference.

[annabelle]

Unglazed terracotta needs to be soaked in water first. This is good for roasting birds and baking breads.

I'm not sure about something like clafoutis.

[Shel_B]

Unglazed terracotta needs to be soaked in water first. This is good for roasting birds and baking breads.

I'm not sure about something like clafoutis.

The terra cotta pans I'm referencing are a little different than others, certainly different than the other terra cotta pan I have.

http://tuftyceramics.com/ and http://tuftyceramics.com/history.html to give you some general idea about the pans.

I don't know if the manufacturing technique would be considered glazed or not. What I do know for certain is that I have been using one of their loaf pans for almost 30-years and have never found a need to soak it in water. While not having made a clafoutis in the pan, I have used the one pan for bread, sweet, dessert bread, vegetable and meat terrines, meat loaf, and probably some other dishes as well. It's one swell pan, and I like it so much I just bought three more after looking for the pans for many years.

Edited December 18, 2013 by Shel_B (log)

[annabelle]

I was thinking it was more like one of these Romertopf pans that were popular in the 70s.

I've never seen a terracotta loaf pan before. Interesting idea.

[Shel_B]

I was thinking it was more like one of these Romertopf pans that were popular in the 70s.

I've never seen a terracotta loaf pan before. Interesting idea.

Yeah, Romertopf - that's the other terra cotta pan I have. There is really no comparison between the Tufty ceramics terra cotta and the Romertopf - they are worlds apart.

[Norm Matthews]

These were described as formed under pressure and no mention of firing. If that is correct, and dry formed, it is different from any pottery than with which I am familiar They are supposed to heat evenly and have a very smooth surface and be pretty stick resistant. The mention of collaboration with Alfred University lends some credence to the efficacy of these pieces. Alfred has a long and illustrious history with ceramics. The kind of pottery that is soaked in water is for covered earthenware and is a different kind of pottery than these seem to be.

Edited December 18, 2013 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Norm Matthews]

Yes, it was not clear whether it was fired or not, but I have heard of some new space age ceramic materials that are formed under very high pressure. I don't really know much about them. Early space capsules had a ceramic heat shield that looked to me like shredded fiberglass. It's become quite technical. I don't think Kyocera knives are made from wet clay either.

Edited December 18, 2013 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Norm Matthews]

After thinking about it for a while, I am pretty sure that clay formed under high pressure would have to be dry. Water would resist pressure but that does not mean it couldn't be fired afterward.