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  Enjoy
information about kitchen stuff !! You don't have
to spend a lot to obtain any of these
items; many can be purchased at the grocery or cookware store. For
Detailed Descriptions, click letter below:
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MORE INFORMATION:
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Also, look at the
Cook's Thesaurus.
It is a cooking encyclopedia that covers thousands of
ingredients and kitchen tools. |
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Sources:
MY FAVORITE PLACES TO GET Ingredients & KITCHEN STUFF |
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A BEGINNER'S LIST OF BAKING PANS:
A great base set of home baking pans could include. Try to find
light-colored, heavy aluminum pans except for pie pans which should be
Pyrex. Pan measurements vary so try and find them close to the list, below.
By the way, grocery store pans work really well:
 | One jelly roll (baking sheet) pan - see sizes |
| Two shiny aluminum, non insulated cookie sheets - 12- x
14-inch or 16- x 14-inch or two medium baking sheet pans -15½- x 10- x
5/8-inch |
| Two 8-inch or 9-inch round (1½- to 2-inch high)
cake pans |
| Two 8-inch or 9-inch square (1½- to 2-inch high)
cake pans |
| One 9- x 13- x 2-inch baking pan |
| Two 8½- x 4½- x 2½-inch loaf pans |
| Two 9- x 5- x 3-inch loaf pans
One 10-cup capacity Bundt or tube pan - I find a tube pan to be more
versatile. |
| One or two 12-cup muffin tins (2½ inches across the cup
is standard) |
| One 9-inch pie plate - Pyrex |
| One large cooling rack or two smaller ones with ¾- to
1-inch feet |
| One 12¾-inch to 16-inch pizza pan (optional) |
| One 9-inch springform pan (optional) |
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 My
favorite baking pans are made by Chicago Metallic. They can be
purchased from Williams-Sonoma:
round,
square,
rectangular. I ALWAYS bake cakes
in their brushed, aluminum coated, heavy NOT nonstick pans, giving my cakes
light, tender crusts. I also use their loaf pans and muffin tins which are
sold in their stores. I never have problems with recipes sticking to the
pans. I know the pans are expensive--but, the results I get are exceptional.
(I bake my cheesecakes in the round
pans and the results are wonderful). I do NOT get a commission for
referring anyone to them.
Doughmakers make
pans from a heavy gauge aluminum with a unique surface to prevent sticking. |
There are many options in bakeware
today: steel, aluminum, non-metallic, insulated (they are made with two sheets
of aluminum with an air pocket sealed between them), non-insulated, coated,
non-coated, and various others. How do you know what to buy? The answer is it
depends what you are trying to bake.
MATERIAL
The choice of glass or
metal, dark or shiny, affects cooking times and crustiness. For baking, I
exclusively use shiny heavy aluminum baking pans (pies are in glass pie plates).
If you use dark metal, watch your baking time carefully because dark conducts
the heat more than light pans. You may need to reduce the oven temperature by 25
degrees F when using. For insulated bakeware, your baking time may be
more. Glass manufacturers recommend reducing the oven temperature by 25 degrees
F when using their products. The material it's made of will affect both
the baking time and the color of your breads, pies, cakes, and brownies. Avoid
flimsy metal pans, which often bake unevenly, warp and hot spot.
 For
the Cranberry filling, it says to be sure to use a non-reactive pan to cook
the cranberries. What type of pan should I use?
Reactive Pan - is
one made from a material that reacts chemically with other foods, such as
aluminum, copper and cast iron. The materials react with acidic foods,
imparting a metallic taste and will sometimes discolor light colored soups
and sauces a light green or gray! Anodized aluminum has a hard,
corrosion-resistant surface that helps prevent discoloration, so it is ok
to use. Also, avoid stirring light-colored sauces and soups with an
non-anodized aluminum metal spoon or whisk.
Most copper pots and pans are lined with tin to prevent
reaction. However, tin is a very soft metal and can scratch easily,
exposing the food to the copper underneath. Make sure your copper pots are
well tinned before using.
Do not store acidic foods in reactive materials.
Non-Reactive Pan:
When a recipe calls for a non-reactive cookware, use stainless steel, tin
lined copper, non-anodized aluminum, clay, enamel, glass, or plastic.
Stainless steel is the most common non-reactive cookware
available. Since it does not conduct or retain heat well, stainless steel
frequently has aluminum or copper bonded to it or it is layered between
these materials that conduct the heat well.
Enamelware is non-reactive as long as the enamel is not
scratched or chipped, exposing the iron beneath.
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ALUMINUM
Heavy aluminum (not the flimsy ones in the grocery store) is even better than
tinned steel for heat conductivity and does not get hot spots. Most commercial
bakers use aluminum because it can withstand rough handling and will not rust.
Chicago
Metallic and Calaphon is a popular aluminum bakeware. Its baking sheets are made
of heavy-gauge aluminum that quickly absorbs the heat and spreads it quickly
from the center of the pans to their edges, its 'multi-coated nonstick baking
surfaces allow cookies that slide off easily, and has reinforced steel edges to
prevent warping.
Insulated
aluminum baking sheets slow down the browning process provided they are not
black (in color). Cookies will take longer to brown on these sheets than regular
light colored baking sheets.
STAINLESS
STEEL
Stainless steel is not a good conductor of heat by itself. You will notice that
stainless steel pots and pans often have a copper bottom or a core of copper
and/or aluminum to distribute heat evenly.
STEEL
Since steel is not a good conductor of heat by itself, steel bakeware sets are
usually coated with a layer of tin (tinned steel). Tinned steel bakeware will
darken over time and is subject to rust if not kept dry.
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To season a
cast-iron pan, use Crisco shortening. I drop a small spoonful of
it into the skillet and stick it in a 350-degree oven until the shortening
melts. Carefully remove skillet from the oven with a hot mitt, and use a
paper towel to smear the fat all over the pan, handle and everything. Return
it to the 350-degree oven for an hour. Turn the oven off, let the pan cool
down and remove from the oven. Wipe off the excess oil and put it away. |
GLASS
Ovenproof glass (Pyrex) makes a great pie plate. The glass pie plate is see
through so you can easily look through it to check on the browning of the crust.
The wide rim on glass pie plates also supports fluted edges. Ovenproof glass
conducts heat well and retains it evenly. It is non-reactive to acidic foods,
like fruits and will not scratch like nonstick pans when you cut up the pie.
SILICONE
A newer addition to bakeware, silicone baking molds are flexible and bendable.
They can withstand freezing and baking temperatures from minus 90 degrees to 580
degrees F. I have never used this type of bakeware material but reports on these
silicone baking molds are mixed. Cakes tend to stick in them and some people
report that food baked in them has a faint rubbery taste.
WEIGHT
One sure indicator of a pans durability is how sturdy it is. If your bakeware
pans are lightweight and flimsy they can warp under high temperature and can
bake unevenly. Sure you may have paid less money for them, but in the long run
may spend more replacing them when they don't hold up not to mention having to
put up with less than excellent results.
When you look
at some of the better bakeware you will find they are heavier and also have rims
and edges to aid in holding onto and lifting hot pans.
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To
clean aluminum or stainless steel pans, such as baking sheets and baking
pans, I use a fine powder cleanser such as "Bar Keepers Friend" "Wenol",
"Twinkle", "Cameo" or "Bon Ami" available from the grocery store; they all
work really well. To use, form into a paste and apply using a soft cloth.
Rub the paste in a circular motion spiraling from the center outward. Wash
again in hot soapy water, and dry immediately. DO NOT USE OVEN CLEANERS OR
CLEANSERS WITH CHLORINE BLEACH. DO NOT USE STEEL WOOL. Nylon scrubbing pads
are safe to use. |
COLOR
Did you ever notice some recipes call for less baking time if you are baking in
a dark colored pan? That's because the darker color causes the surface to absorb
and retain more heat. This in turn causes faster cooking time.
In general
lighter color pans are best and are my favorite, especially when baking cakes
and cookies. They don't conduct the heat as much as darker pans do. You don't
want these items to over brown and a lighter color pan helps prevent this.
FINISH
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How do I
clean my cast iron skillet? It is all rusty.
Use sandpaper or steel wool to remove all rust.
Wash & dry well. Rub the skillet all over using mineral oil & bake in
your oven which you set on "self clean" for the normal cleaning cycle or on
low. When cooled, wash using a bristle brush & dry as normal then place on
top of the stove & heat well, cool & store. |
The next
consideration is whether your pan has a nonstick finish or not. Baking sheets
that are shiny or lighter in color are preferable. The nonstick sheets are
darker and therefore absorb more heat, which can cause a problem with over
browning and burning, unless you reduce the oven's heat by 25 degrees F. I like
nonstick to ensure easy release and offer a deep brown crust, which is
preferable in corn muffins. I
If you are concerned about
removing a cake from a pan that does not have a non-stick finish, just use a
piece of parchment paper to line the bottom for easy removal.
PREPARE PANS:
If a recipe calls for you to "grease" or
"prepare" your baking pan, whether you have a regular or non-stick pan
for best results, grease pans with a non-stick vegetable spray, solid shortening
and dust with flour. Optionally line the pan with wax paper or preferably with
parchment paper, and grease again. (Do not line pans if it has a non-stick
finish.) Butter or margarine can often be absorbed into the batter, but some
prefer to use it for its taste. All are available in the grocery store:
| When
baking with a non-stick cooking spray, be sure pans are washed well. After
you are finished baking, make sure the baking pan is washed well – any
cooking spray left on the pan will become sticky and can cause the baked
goods to stick the next time you bake with it. However, you can
clean them.
The use of parchment
or waxed paper as a pan liner works well. When using, spray or lightly
grease the pan, then place the parchment or waxed paper in the pan.
Finally, lightly spray or grease the waxed paper. When making cookies,
parchment paper helps save time and energy. (I don't like to use when
baking cookies because it has the tendency to burn). The parchment paper
will prevent the cookies from sticking and while you have one batch of
cookies baking, you can portion out the next batch on a sheet of parchment
or wax paper. Then when you remove the cooked batch from the oven, you can
slide the parchment paper with the cooked cookies off the sheet and slide
the parchment paper with the raw cookies onto the baking sheet. This
method also speeds cleanup.
When using aluminum
foil, turn the pan upside down and "mold" a piece of foil around the pan.
Remove "mold" from pan and turn pan right-side up. Place the foil mold
into the pan and lightly grease the aluminum foil with a no-stick cooking
spray or solid shortening.
Sometimes a
foil "sling" lines a pan,
making it easier to remove bar cookies.
Depending upon the
recipe or the age and condition of the baking pan, even recipes baked in
nonstick pans can occasionally stick. It eventually scrapes or wears-off.
In any case, if the recipe calls for it, spray pan with a no-stick cooking
spray or grease with shortening. |
SHAPE AND SIZE:
Always use the size and type specified in a recipe.
In some
cases, if you don't have a pan size, you can
substitute one for another.
Other examples
are: For example a delicate cheesecake or torte is easier to remove from a
springform pan since the side separates from the bottom. Or, in the case of
cakes that are made with very heavy batters, a tube pan allows for even cooking
throughout the cake.
Some of the basic shapes are: Suggested uses for these baking pans does not
preclude using them for other items as cooks may find handy. For instance I
often use a loaf pan for making meatloaf and sometimes use pans to heat up and
brown frozen French fries and pieces of pizza. A tube pan could be used for a
large Jell-O mold, etc.
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MUFFIN:
Used for cupcakes, muffins (duh), some specialty recipes like
miniature pecan pie tarts. |
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RECTANGULAR:
Used for large birthday cakes, and other odd assortment of
duties. |
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SQUARE:
Used for brownies, cakes, corn bread etc. |
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ROUND:
Used for layer cakes |
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LOAF:
Used for breads |
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JELLY ROLL:
Used for cookies, sheet cakes, & jelly rolls |
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SPRINGFORM:
Used for cheesecakes and tortes. |
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PIE PLATE:
Used for, what else, pies. |
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TUBE PAN:
Used for cakes that have heavy batters like pound and nut cakes. The hollow
central tube lets heat get into the center of the cake allowing for even
cooking so the entire cake bakes completely. |
Bread
Pans:
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Two,
9x5x3 inch heavy metal loaf pans
(minimum). If you can't find, use pans that are 8x4-1/2x3-inches. |
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Pizza
stone (optional) |
Cake Pans:
For complete information about cake pan sizes, servings, batter amounts, etc.
click here.
 Angel
Food Cake Pan -
A round, high-sided pan with a hollow cylinder in the
center that provides the traditional angel food cake shape. It's typically
two-piece with a removable bottom for convenient cake removal. Standard size is
10 inches diameter and 4 inches deep, just right for a mix. Smaller pans (4-inch
and 7-inch diameter) are also available. These pans are also great for chiffon
cakes, quick breads and gelatin molds.
Use a light colored aluminum pan called an "Angel
Food" Cake pan. DO NOT use a non stick pan. Do not grease the pan. Many stores
still call the pan a "tube" pan because of the tube in the center, but be sure
to purchase a pan with a removable bottom. You need it
to ensure the cake will come out smoothly.
Bundt®
Pan
- This
on-piece pan also bakes a cake with a hole in the center but is distinguished by
fancy, fluted indentations. Use it for pound cakes, fruit cakes and mousses.
For the Bundtlette (1-cup capacity) use ¾ cup batter. For the mini-loaf (1-½-cup
capacity) use 1-¼ cups batter. For the Bundt cupcake (1/2-cup capacity) use ¼
cup batter. And for the Angelette (1-cup capacity) use ¾ cup batter.
Cake Pan-Standard
- Cake pans
can have sides that are at least 2 inches high; the taller
sides result in taller cakes. However, I do have some 1-1/2 inch high pans; they
are fine to use interchangeably in a recipe. Round, square and rectangular
shapes are typical, and hundreds of shaped pans are also available. Some recipes
call for 9-inch pans, which are hard to find. Use the 8-inch ones, instead.
Coffee Cans
- I remembered my mother baking pumpkin bread and
zucchini bread in coffee cans and then giving them as gifts. To do: instead of a
9-inch loaf pan, thoroughly clean 2, 1-pound coffee cans. Grease and flour. Pour
in batter that bakes well in loaf pans - pumpkin bread batter and the sturdier
pound cake batters are excellent. Fill cans half full and bake. Test cake or
bread for doneness with a toothpick inserted in center, about half-way-through
the recipe's suggested baking time It should come out clean when done.
Remove cans from oven and let rest on rack for 20 minutes, then run a sharp
knife around the edges and invert onto a rack to finish cooling. Wrap the bread
or cake in plastic to store, and wrap a ribbon around it if this is a gift.
 Sheet
Pan / Jelly Roll Pan
- Made
from heavy gauge aluminum, a sheet pan is a large and rectangular pan with
shallow rims. Its size varies depending on the lip. It
is designed to make sheet cakes or sponge cakes for
jelly rolls. Today, the pan is commonly used for baking cookies, rolls and
pizzas. I also place a piece of waxed or parchment paper to line it and catch
fruit pie drips during baking, or to set a wire cake rack in to elevate a cake
when pouring chocolate ganache
-- I have several and use mine all the time.
Sheet Pan Sizes:
Jelly Roll/ Sheet Pan - Home Sizes
10-1/2 x 15 -1/2 x 1
12-1/2 x 17 -1/2 x 1
Jelly Roll/ Sheet Pan - Commercial
Sizes
Full sheet pan
Standard 26x18 or 24x16x2 - serves 60 to 96
Half sheet pan Standard 18x13 or 16x12x2 - approx.
12 cups - serves 30 to 48
Quarter sheet pan Standard 13x9 or 12x8x2 or
10-1/2 x 15-1/2x2 - approx. 10 cups - serves 12 to 20
Springform Pan -
A round pan with high, straight sides (2-1/2 to
3 inches) that expand with the aid of a spring or clamp. The bottom of the pan
can be removed from the sides when the clamp is released-this allows cakes,
tortes or cheesecakes to be easily removed from the pan.
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Tube Pan
- Question: I’m so confused. What’s the difference
between a tube pan and an Angel Food Cake pan?
Answer: They are
the same pan. A tube pan, also called an angel food cake pan, is a round pan
with deep sides and a hollow center tube, which promotes even baking for the
center of the cake. The tube provides another surface for foam cakes with
delicate structures to cling to so they don’t collapse in the middle as they
rise from the heat of the oven during baking.
The pans come in
two types, made from a solid piece of metal pan or as two pieces of metal
consisting of a side and a flat round bottom with an attached inner core
that is removable.
Sometimes the removable flat bottom is formed in a decorative shape,* also
known as a “fancy tube pan”. Tube
pans come in different sizes. They are measured according to “cup” capacity;
that is how many cups of batter they hold and/or how large they are as
measured across their rim.
Some pans have cooling legs or tabs attached
at the rim of the pan. They are used when making foam-type cakes such as an
Angel Food Cake, which need to be inverted immediately after caking to
cool. The tabs serve as legs providing enough room for air to circulate
between the countertop and the top of the cake.
*NOTE: There is a
pan called a Bundt®
Pan which is a solid,
heavy walled decorative pan. It is used for butter-type firm cakes known as
bundt cakes. The cake bakes in the decorative shape of the pan. This recipe
is not a good candidate for this pan because it is so moist. |
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Question: Many
recipes simply call for a tube pan. Which type do I use?
Answer:
The rule of thumb I recommend is:
Two-part tube pans:
Angel Food Cakes and foam-type cakes must be baked in a two-part pan. They
require un-greased pans and do not slide from the pans when it is inverted
the way butter cakes do. They must be “cut” from their pans to un-mold
and the only way to do it is to use a two-part pan.
Solid tube pans:
When you have a recipe that has a batter, such as a cake, use a solid tube
pan because it will leak from a two-part pan all over the oven during baking
and make a big mess – “been there – done that!” Yeast breads are best baked
in a solid pan because the pressure from the yeast rising will push a
two-part pan apart during baking. |
Measure: When a recipe calls for a 10-inch tube
pan it means the distance across the inside edge of the top rim. Measure
with a ruler.
Non-Stick Tube Pans: Avoid non-stick pans when
making Angel food cakes; they will collapse when baked because the batter needs
a non-slippery surface to cling to when they bake.
Dull Light versus Dark Pans: I prefer to use dull
aluminum (silver colored) pans versus dark pans. You’ll get a lighter cake crust
if you do. This is because dark pans retain more oven heat darkening the outside
of the cake.
Preparing a tube pan:
There are various ways to prepare tube pans. Follow the recipe’s instructions.
Do not grease when baking Angel food, sponge, chiffon and other foam cakes; fat
deflates the egg white foams contained in the batter. Butter cakes, genoise or
cake mixes bake in greased pans. Use vegetable oil spray, butter, shortening,
baker’s grease (equal parts shortening, oil and all-purpose flour).
Cookie sheets (also known as baking sheets and vice
versa): A flat pan
with one edge (and sometimes two or three) slightly curved for ease in handling.
Usually 12x18x1-inch.
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 Baking
Sheet Test:
When I was invited to tour Land O'Lakes'
Headquarters in Minneapolis, I witnessed their Test Kitchen baking
chocolate chip cookies. The goal was to test three different types of
cookie sheets, shiny insulated, shiny non-insulated and dark, to find out
which one was the best for baking cookies on.
WINNER:
Non-insulated, shiny aluminum pans (light in
color) with one, two or three sides, preferably non-stick.
I witnessed with my own eyes that these
pans bake cookies the best and evenly:
the cookies were lightly and evenly browned
around its edges, a hint of browning on top, experienced less spread and
baked the fastest. The detailed
findings and conclusions are:
| Insulated pans are not necessary.
When cookies are baked on them, they tend not
to get hot enough, so the cookies do not brown evenly. Instead,
they spread and took longer to
bake. |
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| The color of the cookie sheet
affects the browning of the cookie; shiny aluminum cookie sheets
heat much more evenly than dark colored ones. They should be
at least two inches narrower and shorter than the oven.
The aluminum also reflect
the heat better, baking the cookies the best way. Dark colored pans
absorb more heat and the cookies burn faster;
watch carefully for browning.
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| Cookie sheets may be
open on one, two, or three sides. Those with rims
all the way around actually lengthen the baking time of the cookies
because heat is reflected off the sides of the pan and thus, you may
find that they do not brown the cookies well or evenly.
However, if you have them, you might find that
if you turn them over and use their flat undersides as the cookie
sheet, the cookies will bake better. I never bother to.
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| Non stick pans are preferable, but
if you can't find them, use parchment lined baking sheets for the
best results. The paper also keeps the bottom of the cookies from
over-browning. Parchment paper can be reused several times, both
front and back. |
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| Do not grease the cookie sheet unless the recipe
states to do so. If you do it, be
aware that cookies will spread more if you do. I prefer to lightly
spray mine with vegetable oil, if the recipe calls for greased
cookie sheets. |
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| Always place cookie dough on cool cookie sheets.
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How cookies bake with other pans:
| Medium dark pans:
cookies bake
with medium colored brown edges, which also color a portion of the
tops of the cookie in the same color, which is not preferable
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| Dark pans:
Cookies bake with dark brown edges, with almost
all of their tops the same. This is not preferable.
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NOTE: If you like to
use insulated ones and can't buy them, double pan your current pans--put
one on top of another to create enough "padding" against the oven heat. Be
careful when taking the top sheet out of the oven--leave the bottom one in
the oven and just take out the top one holding the cookies. |
Muffin tins: Most
come in nonstick 12-cup varieties, but if you can find them use 2, 6-cup tins. I
prefer them because that way, I can bake a larger or smaller amount. If one of
the tin cavities is empty, fill half-way with water before baking so it doesn't
smoke in the oven. The three most common sizes of muffin tins are: Mini -
1 3/4 x 1 inch (small),
Standard - 2 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches (medium) or Jumbo - 3 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches (large)
Pie & tart pans 101:
Pies:
There are both 8- and 9-inch pie pans, the 9-inch
one being more common. You can interchange one for another. There are also deep
dish pie plates, which should be used exclusively for those types of pies. The
reason: a pie pan will hold
a certain amount of crust dough and filling; the deep dish one has more of both
than a regular pie.
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Glass
is best: Ovenproof
glass pie plates win hands down. They conduct heat very well, brown bottom
crusts evenly, enable you to see the progress of the pie while baking, and
clean easily. Some like to bake with ceramic pie plates.
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Dull
metal is okay:
If you are using a
metal pan, the best are those made with Aluminite which have a dull satin
finish. They retain heat better than pans with shinier surfaces.
Commercial bakers often use these pans rather than glass because breakage
is not an issue. The drawback with them is that you can't see
whether or not the pie's bottom has sufficiently baked as you can with
glass pans. |
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| Nonstick pans work well, if
you...: Lower the oven's heat by 25 degrees F. |
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Avoid
flimsy aluminum:
While handy, disposable aluminum pans do not conduct heat well. If you are
baking a pie in a disposable aluminum pan, place it inside a glass pan or
on a preheated cookie sheet to aid browning of the bottom crust.
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Pottery doesn't work as well:
Albeit attractive,
porcelain and pottery pie plates generally conduct the heat well enough to
brown a bottom crust, but I find when removing a piece of pie that the it
sticks easily to the pan, kind-of messing up the piece. The
drawback with them is that you can't see whether or not the pie's bottom
has sufficiently baked as you can with glass pans.
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Dark
metal: They conduct the heat well, however sometimes too
fast; watch for burning or the crust becoming too dark. Reduce the oven
heat by 25 degrees F when using them. The drawback with them is that you
can't see whether or not the pie's bottom has sufficiently baked as you
can with glass pans. |
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Pizza Pan:
Click to view and purchase pizza making equipment.
Quick-breads:
Coffee
Cans
Tarts:
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Tart Pans: Tarts are usually baked
in a 9- or 10-inch straight, short-sided pan with a removable bottom and
(about 1 inch) fluted sides, the pan being half the depth of a pie pan.
Various shapes and sizes are available. Tart pans can
I prefer the tin-plated metal
pans, instead of the black steel ones, readily
available in grocery
and cookware shops. They are easier to maintain and do not rust. Make sure
the tart pan has a removable bottom.
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Removing the tart ring & bottom from a baked tart:
Set the cooled tart pan on a
stable base that's at least 3-inchs high -- a coffee can is great. The
outer ring will slip away from the crust, and fall to the countertop. To
remove the bottom, set the tart on a flat surface and carefully slide a
long, thin metal spatula (an offset ones works best) between the shell and
the pan bottom. |
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