What’s in a Pan?
Happy Wednesday!
I'm so excited to see the new recipes being added to the Cheesecake of Year gallery every day. Each creation is so delectable! There's still time to enter your recipe into the contest for your chance to win $5,000 and the title of Cheesecake of the Year. Plus, we’re giving away two more KitchenAid® Stand Mixers in this week’s random draw! You have until Sunday, Sept. 2., 11:59 pm ET to enter.
There is much debate over how much your choice of baking pans will impact your results. Today, I'm sharing the basic choices, along with the darts and laurels.
Metal - This family of pan materials (aluminized steel, stainless steel, aluminum, non-stick and other coated metal) is the most commonly available, and is often quite affordable. The heavier the gauge of the pan, the slower it is to heat up in the oven and the longer to cool coming out. Typically you must keep in mind that the metal does conduct heat, so items will brown, a desirable feature in many coffee cakes and squares. Being the most commonly available, most of my recipes in my Back to Baking book are tested using this style of pan. Non-stick pans make for easier removal of baked goods and quicker clean-up, but be sure not to scratch the finish, or rust can develop.
Glass - Glass baking dishes can make oven-to-table presentations nicer and cleaning and maintenance are simple, but keep in mind that glass conducts the heat moderately faster than metal, so does not suit recipes like fruit crisps and crumbles. Because of this I prefer baking pies using a glass pie plate so that the crusts brown nicely but also so I can check the bottom of the crust to see that it has baked through. Glass dishes usually have rounded corners, so this can make awkward corner or edge portions of brownies or squares as you may have to trim part of the square to make them all the same.
Ceramic - Ceramic dishes are comparable, as they absorb and conduct heat more slowly than metal or glass. You may find coffee cakes or anything with leavening takes longer to bake and bakes inconsistently. That said, the slower conduction makes ceramic a great choice for custard desserts and for cobblers and crisps, to cook the custard or fruit filling gently (standard ramekins are a prime example). Ceramic chips more easily than glass, so do wash and store them carefully.
Silicone - The most recent in baking pan options, silicone takes the most getting used to. Silicone does not conduct the heat at all, so does not promote browning at all. Items like muffins can be unexpectedly soft and even seem steamed, a case where a bit of a crust on the outside of the muffins to keep them from falling apart might be desired. Silicone pans are good for other recipes for that same reason. For bundt cakes that have to spend 60 to 80 minutes in the oven, a silicone pan ensures it won’t over-color, and since silicone does not stick at all and is so flexible, it makes for cakes easy to remove from the pan -- simply peel the pan off.
Ultimately, any pan can be used for virtually any purpose, and the difference between the materials is not so great as to have to adjust oven temperature or baking time in a recipe. The ingredients in the recipe and the formula of that recipe have a greater impact on how the treats bake. Regardless of which baking pans you prefer to bake with, use parchment paper to line your pans. This ensures that your baked goods are easy to remove from the pan, and clean up is a snap.
Excerpted from my latest cookbook, Back to Baking.
Happy baking, everyone!
Anna
4 comments
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I'll have to try out some other pans in the future. I've yet to use silicone and only baked with my ceramic bakeware a few times. I'd love to expand my pan selection, but the problem for me is finding space to store them all! -
I've seen online, spring-form pans with glass bottoms. I think that is a great idea as it would look better for serving and you wouldn't get that taste that I notice from some Non-stainless pans. Quite affordable too (about $14 I think). I will order myself one soon. -
I have a silicone loaf pan which is wonderful for banana bread. The banana bread cooks for a long while in the oven and is a brown color anyway so it turns out well. I also have a silicone pie pan that I used to make a large peanut butter cup for the boys.
If anyone can find a large pizza pan, please tell me. I can only find the medium sized ones in the stores. Recently, I bought a medium sized pizza pan with holes underneath and a handle for the grill or barbecue. I am looking forward to using it.
I love large ceramic casserole pans for my 'giant lasagna'. Be careful though, the last time I placed it in the oven, I pulled my lower back, because they are heavy especially with the lasagna in it.
In general, I enjoy buying new baking pans. Do you? -
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