The very best bakeware?

I know that many of you are very much in touch with your feminine side because you like the Miata, so I'll ask for a bakeware recommendation.

Looking to score a nice 13" x 9" baking pan.  Primary use will probably be brownies.   I'm inclined to avoid aluminum, but I do appreciate it's tendency to not rust. 

What's good?

I like Pyrex for baking. Never rusts, cleans easy.

Glass and metal pans bake differently and you'll need to adjust baking times depending on which way you go. The go to last forever has to be a Pyrex. You can make anything in them, cut things with any knife you want to, and they last forever. They do require (or want very badly) some sort of non-stick to make them non stick depending on what you're baking. The flip side is something like the Avalon non stick pans. They're coated in magic and baked goods basically jump out of them. Good if you need to remove delicate cakes for making layer cakes or for muffin tins when baking things that don't require papers. The downside is that the finish, like all non-stick finishes, is not super duper durable. Better than non-stick was 15 years ago, but you still have to be careful and if you're married to someone like my wife, you need to use a non-scratch knife in them in order to remain married. 

I like Pyrex as well.

Clarification:  Gotta be metal.  I do own and frequently use my Pyrex bakeware for stuff like meatloaves and lasagna, but I find that I cannot get good results with cakes and brownies and stuff like that.  Throws the baking time out the window.  The glass pan takes a great deal longer.

So, made of metal, made in USA strongly preferred.  Made in Canada would be okay as long as the pan didn't try to impart a socialist ideology on my brownies.

Pyrex followed by Mirro aluminum. Avoid at all costs silicone bakeware, unless you like soggy, vaguely plastic-tasting goods. 

Margie

I really like the copper pans I've been getting lately. I would hit up a flea market or some yard sales to get some old steel stuff though, and probably will be in the near future. 

I like pyrex when cooking meat, but the only time I've had scalloped potatoes or brownies come out badly they've been in pyrex dishes. 

I find cooks illustrated reviews consistently accurate

mazdeuce - Seth said:

Glass and metal pans bake differently and you'll need to adjust baking times depending on which way you go. The go to last forever has to be a Pyrex. You can make anything in them, cut things with any knife you want to, and they last forever. They do require (or want very badly) some sort of non-stick to make them non stick depending on what you're baking. The flip side is something like the Avalon non stick pans. They're coated in magic and baked goods basically jump out of them. Good if you need to remove delicate cakes for making layer cakes or for muffin tins when baking things that don't require papers. The downside is that the finish, like all non-stick finishes, is not super duper durable. Better than non-stick was 15 years ago, but you still have to be careful and if you're married to someone like my wife, you need to use a non-scratch knife in them in order to remain married. 

Anolon*

I currently have a set of their stuff in my kitchen. The rounded, 3qt sauce pan warped almost immediately. It was OK for the price and I needed it NOW. And the anodized coating scratches very easily, doesn't seem to effect the non-stick, but it looks crummy.

I'll likely buy some Caphalon to replace them in year or two. 

Cast iron.

Carbon fiber? :)

Oh sweet, I can throw a borosilicate vs soda lime glass grenade.

We mostly do Pyrex and cast iron for baking stuff.

I have some cheapo steel pans that I put parchment paper on if it's not going under the broiler and I don't have enough Pyrex. They get recycled every 4 or 5 years and I don't think I'm going to replace the current set.

For cakes pans I just use the GoodCook nonstick ones. As long as you use a plastic/silicon spatula on them they seem to last forever.

Jumper K Balls (Trent) said:

I find cooks illustrated reviews consistently accurate

Thank you!  That is quite timely.  And they agree that sometimes you just need a metal pan!

I like baking in my cast iron pans. Beyond that, Pyrex, nordicware, and whatever commerical stuff I can get. 

Just for clarity's sake, for you people baking in cast iron:  Do you use cast iron to bake stuff like cakes, breads, and brownies?  Those are the things that I'm looking for a new metal pan to bake in.  I find that any recipe with a leavening agent does best in a metal pan.  About the only exception I have to this "rule" is that I do use my cast iron skillet, preheated in the oven with perhaps a tablespoon of oil, to make cornbread, which comes out fantastic.  Preheating tends to help brown up the outside nicely and compensates for the delay in coming up to temperature due to the  thickness of the iron. 

My aunt bakes bread in a cast iron dutch oven. So there is that. 

I have pyrex and love it.... as long as I don't need to turn something out like a cake.  Its hard to get it to not stick.  I know you said "must be metal" but have you considered stoneware?  I don't normally advocate for things you buy in multi-level-marketing, but the Pampered Chef stoneware pans are life changing.

So, in the metal category, I find one of the worst to be any of the coated stamped steel pans.  I never had a problem with rust, but they bend, warp, and don't distribute heat as evenly.  In an oven it isn't as important since the heat completely surrounds things... it's not like a stovetop pan that takes a single heat source, transfers it to a pan and then transfers it to the food.

Aluminum is best to be avoided until they figure out how much it causes Alzheimers.  But theoretically, a coated aluminum pan would not have that problem.  My Bundt pan is cast aluminum and coated with Teflon.  Works great.

On the subject of Teflon, it's fine if you keep things under 400 degrees.  Above 400, they say it starts giving off nasty stuff.  When I used to own bird pets, it was a known thing that cooking at high heat with PTFE pans can kill the birds.  I switched to ceramic pans and it makes me very happy.

I wish they did a ceramic coated cast iron bakeware.  All the awesomeness of cast iron without the sticking part.

Yes, anything i put in the oven goes into or on top of cast iron except for pizza, that goes on a pizza stone.

Curtis said:

I know you said "must be metal" but have you considered stoneware?  I don't normally advocate for things you buy in multi-level-marketing, but the Pampered Chef stoneware pans are life changing.

She only has one sheet pan, but GF absolutely loves her Pampered Chef stoneware. Can't make brownies or cake in it, but it roasts vegetables so much better than steel or aluminum does. 

Curtis said:

I wish they did a ceramic coated cast iron bakeware.  All the awesomeness of cast iron without the sticking part.

They do, it's just expensive. 

https://www.lecreuset.com/bakeware/bakeware-sets

EDIT: I take that back. I didn't realize their bakeware is stoneware unlike the coated cast iron for the dutch ovens and skillets.

I like Staub for enameled cast iron--black coating inside stays way nicer looking than Le Creuset's white interiors.

For baking brownies in Pyrex toss the pan I the oven to preheat while mixing the batter, and shoot it with some Pam when you fill it and they should bake more evenly.

1988RedT2 said:

I know that many of you are very much in touch with your feminine side 

 

For the record, according to my ex wife, I'm 60% masculine.  When it comes to cookware, fashion, dance, and decorating, the 40% doesn't just gently open the closet door and sashay out, she comes straight through the door leaving it in splinters.  My 40% feminine is clearly a bull dike.

You mentioned "bakeware" and now I need a new closet door again.

In reply to Curtis :

LOL!

1988RedT2 said:

Just for clarity's sake, for you people baking in cast iron:  Do you use cast iron to bake stuff like cakes, breads, and brownies?  Those are the things that I'm looking for a new metal pan to bake in.  I find that any recipe with a leavening agent does best in a metal pan.  About the only exception I have to this "rule" is that I do use my cast iron skillet, preheated in the oven with perhaps a tablespoon of oil, to make cornbread, which comes out fantastic.  Preheating tends to help brown up the outside nicely and compensates for the delay in coming up to temperature due to the  thickness of the iron. 

My biscuits went "next level" when I started using a pre-heated cast-iron skillet.