Loaf pans are traditionally used for easy, quick cake or bread recipes, like a Madeira cake or banana bread. The humble loaf pan, often overlooked for its plain design, is definitely an indispensable item in the kitchen. Just as every woman’s closet should have a chic little black dress, every kitchen should have a loaf pan to bake a variety of sweet or savoury recipes – from meatloaf and lasagne to ice-cream and cheesecake! A loaf pan also comes in very handy when you need to bake a smaller portion of a recipe or are cooking for one or two.
Whether you’re an avid home baker or just an occasional one, a good set of bakeware – in a few shapes and sizes – will help you turn out better and more beautiful baked goods every time. Bakeware, no matter what the shape or size, should be sturdy and resistant to denting. A loaf pan is in the shape of a narrow rectangle, a convenient form which enables uniform slicing. The shape of the corners on loaf pans can vary – some are rounded, some are sharp. Sharp corners look more professional, but it can be hard to clean crumbs from their crevices. Round corners are easier to clean and to butter, but they can be shallower than the rest of the pan, leaving you with a dry piece of cake or a burnt brownie. A good pan should release a cake effortlessly, and clean up easily. I definitely prefer non-stick pans because they release cakes and breads like a charm and can easily wiped clean. Good quality rust-proof aluminium pans are a good choice. They are available from most groceries stores as well as from speciality bakeware stores.
Loaf pans come in a variety of sizes. The most used sizes are:
- small loaf pan = 23 cm with a volume of 1 liter
- medium loaf pan = 26 cm with a volume of 1,75 liters
- large loaf pan = 28 cm with a volume of 2.25 liters
There are of course also bigger and smaller loaf pans than the three above.
Back in the day, home-cooks used one “standard” size of loaf pan: it was approximately 23 cm long, 8 cm wide and 6,5 cm high. This is why heirloom recipes and vintage cookbooks are often vague about the size of the pan. Nowadays, well-written cookbooks and blogs are specific about the size of a pan because using the correct pan size is one of the reasons a recipe can either succeed or fail.
Different size loaf pans have different volumes of batters. This must be taken into account when substituting one pan size for another in a recipe. To determine if a loaf pan is suitable for a specific recipe, always measure the dimensions on the inside edge of the pan so that you do not include the thickness of the pan or the rim in your measurement. To measure the depth, place your ruler straight up from the bottom of the pan (do not slant the ruler). See the image below. To determine the loaf pan’s volume (how much batter or dough it will hold), pour pre-measured water by the cupful into the loaf pan until it is filled to the brim.
Baking tins should correspond as far as possible with the specifications of the recipe and should be large enough to allow for expansion during baking, yet small enough to support the product. If you use a larger pan than asked for in a recipe this will change the depth of the batter (shallower) and therefore the batter will bake much more quickly. Likewise, if you use a smaller pan than asked for in a recipe this will also change the depth of the batter (deeper) and therefore the batter will take longer to bake.
Loaf pans are made from different materials ranging from clear glass and ceramic to metal, aluminum or silicone. Some are even made from paper! Disposable paper loaf pans require no pre-greasing and can be placed directly on the rack of the oven or on a cookie sheet. The decorative designs means your baked item can go straight from the oven to table … or into someone’s special hands as a gift! Disposable loaf pans have so many more uses besides baking … serve popcorn or candy in them or use them as the base to wrap up a special gift! See the image of a Festive-themed disposable loaf pan below.
A pastry brush is an essential kitchen tool to have for greasing the insides of the pans with melted butter or glazing bread loaves before baking. A silicon pastry brush is a good choice seeing that doesn’t keep smells. A pastry brush is also essential when working with phyllo pastry. See my post Fun With Phyllo for more info on this delicate pastry.
