The 4 Greatest Baking Pans of 2024, Examined & Reviewed

There are a great deal of recipes that use an 8- by 8-inch baking pan, like our brownies, blondies, and lemon bars. However do you know recipes developed for a 9- by 13-inch pan can be halved and baked on this smaller dish with minimal tweaking? And in the event you’re like my husband, who’s an enormous fan of crispy, caramelized corners, baking a 9- by 13-inch recipe in two 8- by 8-inch pans means double the perimeters (and pleasure).

To search out the most effective sq. baking pans, I examined 12 of them—making blondies and cake and evaluating their sturdiness. Shock, shock: Not all of them baked correctly and others weren’t truly eight-inch squares, resulting in inaccurate prepare dinner instances.

The Winners, at a Look

The Nordic Ware 8- by 8-inch pan is manufactured from heavy gauge aluminum and was sturdy, with a rolled edge that was straightforward to carry and transfer out and in of the oven. Muffins baked evenly, with gentle brown edges and the pan’s clean, rounded corners that have been straightforward to scrub.

Sharper corners make for aesthetically pleasing baked items. If that’s necessary to you, that is the pan to get. Constructed from heavy gauge aluminized metal that baked evenly and persistently, the Williams Sonoma pan’s desserts and blondies had crisp 90-degree corners. Each sq. and slice was picture-perfect.

If you happen to favor a nonstick pan, I discovered the USA pan to be the best choice. In contrast to different nonstick fashions I examined, which had darker coatings that led to overbrowning, the USA pan is gentle in shade. This yielded constant, even outcomes just like that of uncoated pans.

Sometimes, I don’t recommend glass and ceramic baking pans, as the fabric heats in another way than steel, which is what most baking recipes are developed for. However the tinted glass of the Pyrex compensated for this, and I used to be pleasantly stunned to search out that desserts and blondies baked up practically in addition to in my favourite steel pans.

The Exams

• Yellow Cake Check: I baked half a field of yellow cake mix in every pan (evenly greasing them first with a three-second burst of cooking spray) to see how evenly the cake rose and baked.
• Sturdiness Check: I took a butter knife and scratched every pan 10 to 12 instances, as if I have been slicing squares of brownies, to see how sturdy it was.
• Blondies Check (Winners Solely): I tailored this brown butter blondies recipe, including in chocolate and butterscotch chips, to see how a dense dough would bake within the profitable pans. After baking, I reduce the blondies with a butter knife immediately within the pan, in search of additional scratching.
• Cleanup and Usability Exams: After each take a look at, I washed every pan by hand. All through testing, I evaluated how straightforward the pans have been to carry, transfer, and unmold baked items from.

What We Discovered

Metallic Baking Pans Have been Usually Higher

As a recipe developer and cookbook creator, I’ve at all times beneficial light-colored steel for baking pans, particularly ones which are used for desserts, brownies, blondies, and bread. It is because darker pans warmth up quicker, resulting in overbrowning on the perimeters and bottoms. Additionally, most professionally developed recipes are designed utilizing uncoated, light-colored steel pans, with the baking instances and outcomes optimized for this materials. 

Of the steel pans, those created from heavy gauge steel—like my favorites by Nordic Ware, Williams Sonoma, and USA Pan—baked essentially the most evenly. Muffins rose solely barely within the center and blondies have been golden brown from edge to middle. Pans just like the Wilton Performance and the Fat Daddio have been manufactured from thinner steel that baked faster, leading to overdone, darkish edges and bottoms.

Go for a Lighter Coloured Pan (Until It’s Glass)

One of many many points with nonstick-coated pans is the colour of the coating. The darker shade of nonstick coating can take in warmth quicker, yielding uneven bakes. This was evident within the Good Cook, Wilton Perfect, and All-Clad baking pans. Their desserts have been overly brown and had low sides (as these set rapidly) and dramatically risen facilities (as the remainder of the cake caught up in temperature).

Nevertheless, when it got here to glass, a darker shade was truly welcome. In contrast to the clear Anchor Hocking pan, the Pyrex was a smoky grey, which absorbed warmth quicker. Glass is a refractory materials, which heats up slower than steel however retains warmth longer, even when faraway from the oven. That is why the Anchor Hocking pan underbaked cake, however the Pyrex carried out nearly in addition to the steel choices.

Ceramic Baking Pans Struggled With Standardized Sizing 

A lot of the steel pans I examined have been near eight inches in measurement. However, inexplicably, the 2 ceramic pans I examined have been off, with the Great Jones measuring 7.5 inches and the Made In pan 10.5 inches.

Smaller and bigger pans resulted in thicker and thinner baked items and ran the danger of overbaking or underbaking with out recipe time changes.

Corners Have been Good, However Tougher to Clear

I personally love the polished look of baked items with sharp corners. Nevertheless, pans with squared-off corners (like those from Williams Sonoma and USA Pan) are more durable to scrub. The small gaps of their corners lure bits of meals, and also you’ll often must seize a toothpick or wooden skewer to dig crumbs out. If you happen to’re trying to keep away from this, there are pans created from one molded piece of steel and with rounded corners, like my favourite from Nordic Ware.

The Standards: What to Search for in a Baking Pan

If choosing a steel baking pan, select one which’s created from a heavy gauge materials and lightweight in shade, which is able to assist distribute warmth evenly. For glass, go for a baking pan that’s darker-hued, which is able to assist compensate for the fabric taking longer to warmth up. Lastly, in the event you prioritize ease of cleansing, decide a pan with out sharp edges. However in the event you favor the aesthetic of sharper, 90-degree corners—nice! Simply know they’ll require extra attentive cleanup.

Our Favourite 8- by 8-Inch Baking Pans

What we favored: Nordic Ware’s baking pan is molded from one piece of aluminum, with a rolled edge that has a stainless-steel rod within it, including stability and stopping warping. Whereas a small pan might not warp like a bigger half-sheet pan, the rolled edge can be simpler to seize and transfer out and in of the oven. 

The pan’s heavy gauge steel evenly distributed warmth. Cake rose gently from the perimeters to the middle, with even browning throughout the highest. Blondies baked up golden brown, with none overcooked or underbaked areas. I discovered a little bit of cooking spray was sufficient to forestall baked items from sticking and the pan’s sloped, crevice-free corners made for simple cleanup. 

What we didn’t like: The aluminum pan did scratch throughout my sturdiness take a look at. That mentioned, the scratches didn’t influence efficiency, because the pan isn’t nonstick.

Key Specs

• Materials: Aluminum
• Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 2.2 inches
• Care directions: Hand-wash; not dishwasher-safe
• Deal with measurement: None
• Most oven temperature: 500°F 

What we favored: The Williams Sonoma pan was heavy-duty, evenly distributed warmth, and had sharp corners, making each cake slice and blondie sq. look picture-perfect. The pan’s rolled rim, just like the Nordic Ware’s, was straightforward to seize. In my exams, desserts baked up even and blondies have been golden brown. 

What we didn’t like: The sharp corners of the pan trapped crumbs. Just like the Nordic Ware, it additionally confirmed some minor scratches, however they didn’t influence efficiency.

Key Specs

• Materials: Aluminized metal
• Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 2.25 inches
• Care directions: Hand-wash; not dishwasher-safe
• Deal with measurement: None
• Most oven temperature: 450°F 

What we favored: If you happen to favor a nonstick pan, the USA Pan was the most effective one I examined. Its proprietary nonstick, silicone coating known as Americoat and is evident. This implies the pan performs like one which’s uncoated, with out the recent spots or uneven baking that occurred with dark-colored nonstick fashions. It additionally featured rolled edges that have been good to grip and baked cake and blondies superbly.

What we didn’t like: Just like the Williams Sonoma pan, the USA Pan’s sharp corners create stunning baked items however are tougher to scrub.

Key Specs

• Materials: Aluminized metal with silicone nonstick coating
• Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 2.25 inches
• Care directions: Hand-wash; not dishwasher-safe
• Deal with measurement: None
• Most oven temperature: 450°F 

What we favored: I sometimes don’t advocate glass baking dishes. Nevertheless, this tinted Pyrex carried out surprisingly nicely. The grey glass heated quicker and held onto warmth, so desserts baked up pretty evenly—extra so than the dark-colored nonstick choices I examined. Whereas the Pyrex’s blondies weren’t fairly nearly as good as my favourite steel pans (with the perimeters extra brown than the middle), they have been nonetheless acceptable, particularly for folk preferring crispy edges and corners. 

What we didn’t like: Glass is extra fragile than steel, takes longer to warmth up, and retains warmth readily. This results in extra uneven baking.

Key Specs

• Materials: Tempered glass
• Dimensions: 8.25 x 8.25 x 2.25 inches
• Care directions: Dishwasher-safe
• Deal with measurement: 0.75 x 5 inches
• Most oven temperature: 425°F 

The Competitors

FAQs

How do you clear baking pans?

Most baking pans needs to be washed by hand with a comfortable sponge and dish detergent. Some pans could be cleaned within the dishwasher, comparable to ones created from glass. It’s best to at all times examine the producer’s directions to see in case your pan is dishwasher-safe.

Are silicone baking pans secure?

Although no silicone baking pans have been examined for this text, they’re permitted by the FDA and regarded food-safe. Sometimes, silicone baking pans are rated as much as 425°F.  Nevertheless, take into account that although silicone pans are handy attributable to their versatile nature, permitting for simple launch of baked items, the fabric doesn’t get sizzling and gained’t brown as nicely.

What baking pans do professionals use?

Most baking professionals use a commercial-grade heavy gauge steel pan that’s sturdy and uncoated. This enables them to make use of the pan again and again, with out having to fret in regards to the coating scratching or flaking off. Thicker, heavy gauge steel pans not solely bake higher by distributing warmth evenly however are extra sturdy and may face up to the fixed use of a industrial surroundings.

Why We’re the Specialists

• Irvin Lin is a cookbook creator, recipe developer, meals author, photographer, and ceramicist. He wrote the cookbook Marbled, Swirled, and Layered, which was picked by the New York Instances as among the best baking cookbooks of 2016. Irvin additionally runs a weblog known as Eat the Love, the place he’s developed, photographed, and written recipes since 2010. 
• He’s product examined and reviewed tons of of kitchen objects together with stand mixers and digital thermometers.
• For this evaluate, Irvin examined 12 8- by 8-inch baking pans. He made field cake combine, scratched them with a knife to emulate put on over time, and baked blondies to see how they fared with a dense dough.