As this lineup of cakes shows, reaching for glass or metal or stoneware will change the way the cake bakes. Pound cake is a high-sugar, high-fat formula that takes more than an hour to cook all the way through. The outside edge of this brownie is much crunchier and harder than brownies from the stoneware or metal pans. The glass pan shows the most dramatic difference between the top and bottom dimensions, but the curve you see at the back of the brownie is on display, as well as the downhill slope toward the brownie's inner corner. The stoneware pans' sides are slightly sloped, and the dimensions are more like 8 1/2' square, so the batter is spread a little thinner. The hotter edge causes the batter to climb higher and cook further than the batter in the other pans.īrownie lineup, left to right: corner pieces baked in metal, stoneware, and glass.Īs you can see, the different shapes and dimensions of the pans give some distinct differences when you line them up.Īll three brownies have nice, shiny tops. Once the glass is hot, it holds on to the heat instead of transmitting it inward. See the edge of the glass pan batch climbing up and curling inward? The glass heats up more slowly than metal, melting the sugar in the batter. We make several batches of our Fudge Brownie recipe, and bake them side by side in the same oven for the same amount of time. The amount of minerals and metals in the clay itself also determines the rate at which heat can move through the pan. A hand-thrown plate is likely to have more air pockets in it, which will slow down heat transfer.

Hand-thrown pie plates will bake differently than a stoneware pan made from liquid slip poured into a mold.

With this kind of pan, it's all about the composition of the clay, and in some cases, how it's made. Stoneware: the wild cardĪfter doing some research, I learned why I've had such inconsistent results with stoneware. You can see through it, which is great for pie crusts just peek underneath! And once glass heats up, it will do a good job of making sure bottom crusts get crisp and golden. What's good about glass? It's non-reactive, which means it won't corrode from the acid in your lemon cake, or change the flavor of anything you bake in it. By the time the center finishes, the glass is acting like a heat sink, and the outer edges of your brownies are getting very tall and probably pretty hard. At the same time, it's easier to over-bake brownies in a glass pan, because it takes longer for the center to cook. Then the glass retains heat far longer than metal will.īecause of these properties, batter baked in glass often takes longer. Glass slows the flow of heat between the oven's air and your batter, until the glass itself heats up. Glass pans are extremely common – and they have advantages of their own – but be aware that they are insulators. (Read more about pan colors and their effect on baking.)Īluminum is the material that most professionals reach for. The ideal vessel for baking in most cases is a light-colored pan made from a metal that's an efficient heat conductor. Leaveners are activated, things rise and are eventually set in their finished form, all while the kitchen smells heavenly. As the ingredients warm up, the magic happens. When you put something in the oven to bake, the ideal scenario is for a smooth, even transfer of the oven's heat from the air around your pan through its sides and in turn, through the batter or dough within. Glass or metal pan? It's all about heat transfer Let's explore how the pan you're baking in can change your results.

Stoneware, another common material in bakers' kitchens, has its own set of behaviors. What might surprise you is that your results can be dramatically different, depending on whether you've baked your recipe in a glass or metal pan. If your recipe calls for a 9' x 5' loaf pan, you grab the one in your cupboard and fill 'er up. When it's time to bake, you reach for the pan you have, often without thinking about what it's made of.

Radium glass loaf pan