Metal or Glass Baking Pans: Which is Better?

[jesslane94]

Has anyone noticed a difference at all? I know the darkness of metal pans can affect the rate of cooking, but I was wondering if anyone saw a difference in the quality or ease of baking cakes or whatever. :] Thanks!

 

[ACSAPA]

I personally find that my cakes stick to glass pans, but that could be an error on my part. I personally have an easier time getting cakes to release all in one piece from a metal pan.

 

[LindaKay]

I prefer metal pans for my cakes as well. I use my glass baking dishes for casseroles and such.

 

[OhioTom76]

I prefer glass personally. I think they heat more evenly since they are thicker. Also, I like that I can see how the cake looks around the edges, to help tell when it is done or not and prevent it from getting burnt. Also, glass can take more of a beating when it comes to cleaning it. With metal, which is usually non-stick, I end up scraping too much of the coating off when scrubbing them, but also when I am cutting the cake in the pan as well.

With glass, usually if I just let them soak with some hot soapy water, almost everything just falls right off of them.

The only issue I've had with glass, is that sometimes it unexpectedly shatters. I know this can somewhat have to do with changing temperatures too quickly, but apparently it's also a common problem with Pyrex dishes these days too.

 

[Dough Girl]

I love using glass when baking also. I spray them with Pam and cleaning never seems to be an issue. Pam even makes a combination oil/flour spray that works perfectly. Glass just makes it easier to see what you are baking and how well its cooked or browned.

 

[Tina Nord]

I prefer to use metal non stick pans for baking cakes, brownies, and bread. If I have a good non stick pan, the baked goods practically fall out when I go to take them out of the pans, and this has not been the case when I use glass, no matter how much greasing I do. If it is an item that is going to stay in the pan, I will use glass because I can put the glass pan in the refrigerator to store the leftovers.

 

[DancingLady]

I really haven't noticed much of a difference in how things turn out. Glass is my first choice always because I know for sure it will not leach anything into the food. With metal, unless you can get stainless which is hard to find, you are usually stuck with non-stick or aluminum. Both of these options have some significant hazards unless you also use parchment paper so your food is not in direct contact with the metal.

 

[Winterybella]

Well I have a single glass pan and used it recently to bake two breads on separate ocassions. I recall I had read something about adjusting the time or temperature and right now cannot find the article. However I found a video which reminded me of how to proceed when baking in a glass pan. Here goes.

 

[connie]

I have certain dishes that work better in glass and certain baked goods that work better in metal so I switch between then according to whatever it is I am cooking at the time.
So for instance, my vegetable lasagne works best in a glass dish similar to above just much bigger. I can't conceive of cooking it in say a 2lb tin loaf. But I would only even cook a sponge cake in a metal sponge cake tin. Similarly my black bean brownies are only ever cooked in a tinfoil container (for easier extraction and just happens to be a better size). I did at one time try using a silicon sponge cake tin and it was a miserable failure.

 

[ThatNewMommy]

I also do the metal for cakes and glass for the other baking. I DID try a glass bowl for this one bowl bread and it came out good. Actually it's the only bread I havent messed up. But it was one of those throw it in the bowl easy breads.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

I do always use a glass pans in my cooking and baking like what I said in my thread similar to this one. I am comfortable when using it and I can always see whats happening already to my dish because I can see it right away because it is s glass.

 

[Trellum]

For pies and everything else I prefer glass! For cakes and brownies I prefer metal, but I wonder if it's possible to get good results when baking brownies using a glass pan? I might give it a try, my squared metal pan for brownies is too old, and all I got now is crystal ones...

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

I use a metal pan for baking cakes and other pastries. While for baking my lasagna and baked macaroni I use a glass pan. I had both of these kind of pans and they are very useful to me in my baking needs.

 

[Diane Lane]

I don't have any glass pans suitable for baking cakes or breads in. I've never had much of an issue getting the items out, or getting the pans cleaned afterwards, but now that I think of it, glass probably would be easier to clean. I tend to stick with metal since I sometimes drop things, but maybe I'll look into getting one or two glass cake pans in the future.

 

[Trellum]

@Diane Lane I used a squared glass pan to bake my Brownies last time, and let me tell you it seems they were done sooner that I expected. Which is ok because I rarely guide myself by the times, I just checked them and they were done (a bit raw, but it's ok because they continue cooking after you take them out). Baking in a glass pan is not as difficult and tricky as some make it sound.

 

[Diane Lane]

@Diane Lane I used a squared glass pan to bake my Brownies last time, and let me tell you it seems they were done sooner that I expected. Which is ok because I rarely guide myself by the times, I just checked them and they were done (a bit raw, but it's ok because they continue cooking after you take them out). Baking in a glass pan is not as difficult and tricky as some make it sound.

I have an odd sized pan that I use for pretty much everything, other than breads. It's I think 12" x 8" or 9", and is enameled. For some reason, it's the one my hand always grabs, even though I do have a larger one. I don't seem to have a 9" x 13", which is what a lot of recipes call for, I have the one mentioned, then a larger one, so I'm always having to adjust the cooking times and lengths, but it always seems to work out well in the end.