All About Baking Pans (Cake, Sheet, Muffin)

[bripastryguy]

Elyse,

It depends where and what you are using them for. All metal will warp if it gets hot enough and has nothing on it to keep it flat (IMO that has happened). I just picked up 20 relatively flat sheet pans the really heavy weight ones, black. They need a real cleaning, actually I have to power wash them, but they will last forever. I am going to purchase 20 brand new flat aluminum ones at Restaurant Depot for 6.50 each (full size)

[elyse]

Oh, forgot one thing. Do they actually allow the word "crap" in the convent...

They don't read eGullet. I hope.

[elyse]

I found a couple of places who sell full sheets, 18 guage, for $5.00. I'm only using them for cookies and maybe under loaf pans or pies. Nothing too heavy, and only around 350 degrees.

[bripastryguy]

Where did you find them for $5.00????

[elyse]

Roger & Sons at 268-280 Bowery quoted me $5.00 for new, 3.95 for scratched. I didn't get a look at those. $5.95 at Sang Kung - 110 Bow, and Bowery Discount - 183 Bow. There was another place for 5, but I don't have it with me. Want it?

[bripastryguy]

TO SAVE $1.50 I CANT MAKE IT INTO THE CITY.....

[elyse]

Okay, I won't twist your arm!

[Toliver]

Thanks to my ongoing culinary education via eGullet, I am in the market to buy round cake layer pans and pie tins. I tried looking in my local stores (Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc) but all they had were non-stick pans and dark-colored ones at that, which I'd rather not get.

I've found an online source for the pans but now I need to know what size to buy.

What is the "normal" size of pie pan? Is it 8" or 9"? I have the same question for the round cake pans. Should they be 8" or 9"?

And often a recipe (especially older recipes) won't specify a size of pan for a pie or for the cake layers. What's the best guess in a case like that?

Also, are aluminum pans better to use than stainless steel pans?

I nearly has a stroke when I stumbled on a web site selling All Clad pie pans for $80!

[Anna N]

Speaking from experience-- whichever size you get the very next recipe you try will call for the other one!

Anna N

[bloviatrix]

I have both 8" and 9" rounds and use them with equal frequency. But diameter isn't the only thing to consider, there's also the height of the pan. If you're making layer cakes, you'll most likely want a shallower pan than for a single cake.

For pie plates, I would suggest 9" and 10". The same would apply to tart rings.

[browniebaker]

Light-colored uncoated heavy-gauge aluminum is best. Stainless steel does not conduct heat as well or as evenly.

Light-colored pans give you even, flat-topped cakes with pale sides and bottoms; dark-colored pans give you domed cakes with darker-crusted sides and bottoms .

Peruse recipes in cookbooks and you will find about half call for 8" pans and the other half call for 9," natch. I don't find any norm. You can get away with 8" or 9" in just about any recipe, though, if you are comfortable not following the recipe to the letter and if you are willing to be vigilant about checking for doneness.

I said, oh bother, and bought 8" and 9", each in triplicate (not to mention 10"!). Aluminum pans are not that expensive, and I like being ready for whatever recipe I want to try. Plus, I am a confessed bakeware-addict.

[alanamoana]

if you're making layers...like for a wedding cake, it seems to me the norm is 8", 10", 12" etc. but i guess if they make them 9", 11", 13" too, it doesn't matter, just be consistent if you're ever going to do tiered cakes.

[sherribabee]

What is the "normal" size of pie pan?  Is it 8" or 9"?

Most pie recipes I've seen call for a 9" pan. And as far a pie pans go, I think Pyrex is the only way to go, the crust browns nice and evenly all over.

[Toliver]

...And as far a pie pans go, I think Pyrex is the only way to go, the crust browns nice and evenly all over.

I'm assuming you mean Pyrex glass pie pans?

[sherribabee]

...And as far a pie pans go, I think Pyrex is the only way to go, the crust browns nice and evenly all over.

I'm assuming you mean Pyrex glass pie pans?

Yes.

[slkinsey]

Professional pans like these (there are many pages, see navigation at the bottom) are cheap enough.

[Mottmott]

And as far a pie pans go, I think Pyrex is the only way to go, the crust browns nice and evenly all over.

I like pyrex too.

That said, I've recently taken to at least starting off my pies and tarts directly on the baking stone on the bottom of my oven. It does wonders for the bottom of the crust.

I'm afraid to do so with the glass. I compromised by either using metal or putting the glass dish on a baking sheet that then goes on the stone.

[elyse]

PYREX!

[rickster]

I use a metal or ceramic dish directly on a pizza stone with no problem. I have heard that pyrex is very good because you can see the crust browning through the dish and insure that it is properly done.

[slkinsey]

The problem with using Pyrex or a ceramic on a baking stone is that they are horrible conductors of heat. If you want to get a blast of heat on the underside of the crust, you want to use a metal pan. The advantage of Pyrex, I understand, is that it allows you to monitor the "doneness" of the crust visually and also allows more radiant heat to get in there.

[sherribabee]

I keep a baking stone at the bottom of my oven at all times. I've never put a Pyrex diretly on top of it, so I have no idea how that might turn out. But using a Pyrex on a rack about 6 inches above it, seems to yield perfect results.

Even when I'm baking cookies on another baking stone, I still keep the other one in the oven. It's black by now.

[skmcdade]

Anyone tried silicone cake pans? I've seen them but haven't bought any yet.

[Kim WB]

Anyone tried silicone cake pans?  I've seen them but haven't bought any yet.

I had a few bad experiences with the kitchenaid ones..everything stuck to it, and boht cakes and muffins were undercooked in the center, even after "adjusting" the baking times. ( Which they tell you to do, but not in which direction, less time or more. I threw $35 worth of silicone pans away yesterday! Plus, they are very wobbly.

[browniebaker]

I, too, use only glass pie pans, for the superior browning.

I used to use Pyrex but now prefer Anchor-Hocking, which I chanced upon in a housewares store when I had to replace a broken Pyrex. The rim on the Anchor-Hocking pie plate is level so that the edge of the pie crust does not slide inward as much during baking as when I used a Pyrex, which has a rim that slants down toward the interior of the plate. The slant of the rim makes a difference especially when pre-baking the crust blind.

[mamster]

"Anchor-Hocking" is also so much fun to say. I highly recommend the Magic Line pans that slkinsey linked to. I have no idea whether Magic Line makes pie pans--we use Pyrex.