Baking Pans

Baking pans. © CooksInfo / 2020

The term “baking pans” is a very broad category. It can be any shape of pan, made of any material, designed to hold any type of food stuff, sweet or savoury, solid or liquid. The common factor they will have is that they are dry-heat safe for baking food in an oven.

Some are designed only for baking in. Some are “fancy enough” that they can be used for serving out of as well.

Some will have handles, some will not; some will have rims or rolled edges, some not.

Some food writers limit the definition of baking pans to mean just “cookie sheets with edges.”

Most cooks find that they need at least a few different types of baking pans.

If an item is called a “baking dish”, it tends to be made out of ceramic or glass, and have mid-height walls. “Generally speaking, baking dishes are used for lower temperatures and slower cooking times.” ^[1] Baking dishes & roasting trays. In: Healthy Cooking Made Easy with BBC Good Food. BBC Good Food. Micro course. Step 4.9. Accessed August 2021 at https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/healthy-cooking-made-easy-with-bbc-good-food/2/steps/1224913

History

In her book, Vintage Kitchenalia, Emma Kay notes the evolution of the usage “baking pan” into “baking tin”:

“The phrase bread tin, or loaf tin, was not commonly in use until the mid-1800s, although Elizabeth David notes that Eliza Rundell’s 1807 edition of ‘A New System of Domestic Cookery’ is one of the earliest references to be found… The phrase ‘patty pan’ comes from the French word paté, meaning paste, plus pan. Early ones were made from tinned steel and came in a variety of shapes and sizes and were used to make tartlets and small cakes… Once tin had become the popular metal of choice in manufacturing, the word pan began to disappear, to be replaced with tin. It was certainly a word in common use by the 1920s. According to a story that appeared in the Dundee Evening Telegraph of 1921, a little German girl was travelling by train alone in a compartment and having realised the train had gone past her stop, opened the carriage door and held out a large ‘cake tin’ she had been carrying to break her fall as the train pulled away at some twenty miles an hour. She survived, despite serious injuries and shock.

One of the most prolific makers of baking tins during the early twentieth century, including the basic flan, tart, sponge finger and early sandwich varieties, was H.J. Green & Co. Ltd., based in Brighton and established around 1910; it traded until 1948.” — Kay, Emma. Vintage Kitchenalia. Gloucestershire, England: Amberley Publishing. 2017. Google Ebook edition.

Types of baking pans

Baking Pan Conversions

Tips for baking pan conversions by dimension and volume, and a discussion of factors to take into account.

Baking Pans by Dimension

This is a chart of typical baking pan physical dimensions, with their equivalent volume sizes. The measurements of a baking pan are determined by measuring inside the pan, from edge to edge. Depth is measured inside as well.

Baking Pans by Volume

This is a chart of typical baking pan volumes. Using a pan with the correct volume can be especially critical when you are baking something that may rise and otherwise overflow.

Baking Trays

A baking tray (aka baking sheet, cookie sheet, sheet pan) is a flat sheet of metal designed for baking or roasting food on in an oven. A baking tray is often one of the unsung workhorses of a kitchen, taken for granted when present but sorely missed when...

Bread Pans

Bread pans are pans primarily used for baking bread in. They are typically in a rectangular shape. They can also be used for quick breads such as banana breads, or for meatloaf.

Cake Pans

A cake pan is a pan designed to bake a cake in, in an oven.  It can be made of metal, enamelled metal, silicone, heat-proof glass, ceramic or terracotta. Most metal ones made now have non-stick surfaces.

Casserole dish sizes

Casserole dishes are usually made of glass, cast iron, enamelled cast iron, or earthenware. They come in varying sizes and shapes, round or square or oblong. They have deep sides and close-fitting covers. There will be handles on the sides of the casserole...

Meatloaf Pans

Meatloaf pans are special baking pans sold for baking meatloaf in. Most are loaf-shaped, and have an insert that raises the meatloaf above the bottom of the pan, allowing a space for the fat to drain off into below. 

Pie Plates

A pie plate is a dish used for making savoury or sweet pies in. Generally, all are oven safe, though they may be used for pies that are no-bake as well.

Quiche Pans

Quiche pans are specially designed, straight-sided pans for making quiches in. They can be metal or ceramic.