Baking Utensils

Foods consisting of a mixture of flour or meal, with a liquid and some "raising" material, such as eggs, yeast, baking powder, or soda, may be in the form of:

Dough (biscuits, bread, pie crust); Thick batter (muffins, cakes); Thin batter (popovers, waffles, pancakes).

The lightness of foods made from batter depends upon the amount of gas or air enclosed. This is derived from the eggs, yeast, baking powder, or soda enclosed by beating. Heat causes the gas to escape and as the bubbles rise the food rises with it. The moisture contained in the food is changed into steam and the food becomes dry.

The utensils used for baking are:

Baking pans; Angel-cake or tubed pans; Bread pans; Pudding dishes; Pie plates; Patty pans; Layer-cake pans; Bean pots; Loaf-cake pans; Casseroles; Muffin pans; Ramekins.

Bread pans are made of Russia iron, aluminum, tinware, enameled ware, or glass. Those which have the top edge wired are stronger. If the bottom is slightly rounded they are not so difficult to keep clean. They are usually sold in sets of two or three. They may also be used as loaf-cake pans.

Double bread pans are provided with a cover which catches, and the pans thus entirely enclose the loaf. These are made of sheet steel and of tinned ware.

Pie plates, usually plain, but sometimes scalloped for fancy pastry, vary in depth from very shallow to deep. The average size is 10 inches in diameter. They are made of enameled ware, tinned ware, aluminum, glass, or earthenware. Those of enameled ware have been found especially good for baking juicy pies.

Layer-cake pans are shallow pans, either round, square, or oblong with straighter sides than pie plates. They are made of tinned or enameled ware. The lighter weight of tinned ware is preferable to other materials for cake-making, because the heavier materials retain too much heat and cause the cake to burn easily.

The very shallow styles are often called jelly-cake pans, because these cakes must be thin to roll well.

Some layer-cake pans have removable bottoms, so that the cake may be taken from the pans with less danger of crumbling.

Loaf-cake pans are rather deep pans made of tinned ware, enameled ware, aluminum, or glass. They are round, square, oval, or oblong, plain or scalloped. Oblong loaves of cake can sometimes be cut to better advantage in serving, but many cooks maintain that it is more difficult to obtain a well-baked oblong loaf than a round or square one, where the "pull" between the batter and the sides of the pan is equally strong at all points. Loaf-cake pans should be used for pound cake.

Muffin pans come in groups of six, eight, nine, or twelve cups on a frame. The cups are plain or scalloped and vary in size. They are sometimes sold separately and unmounted. They are made of cast iron, aluminum, enameled, and tinned ware. The cast iron ones are often long and trough-shaped instead of cup-shaped. These pans are used for small cakes and pop-overs also. The size of the family usually determines the number of cups, but often when other food is being cooked in the oven at the same time two six-cup pans will be found more convenient to arrange than one twelve-cup pan.

Pans of a special shape are maae for baking lady fingers.

Angel-cake or tubed-cake pans are deep, round, plain or scalloped pans with tubes in the center through which the heat of the oven rises and expands the air bubbles in the batter at the middle of the cake. They produce a very level, evenly baked cake, because the heat reaches the center of the cake as soon as any other part and because the " pull " between the metal and the batter is more even than in any other style of pan.

Pudding pans or baking pans come in various sizes and depths, both oval and round. They are made of tinned ware, aluminum, enameled ware, and glass.

Patty pans, for baking fancy cakes, or for use as molds, are made in a great variety of shapes, round, oval and fancy, of tinned, enameled, or aluminum ware.

Casseroles are unsurpassed for baking various kinds of food to be served from the cooking dish. They are made of earthenware in brown, blue, green or yellow; vitrified china, glass, or aluminum. Glass is very attractive and may be used for baking either bread or cake. Earthenware is the most popular material. Aluminum ones are attractive, but it is impossible to cook slowly in them.

The requirements of all casseroles are that they have a tight-fitting cover for long cooking in a slow oven, and that the material does not crack or craze. If the surface glaze is broken, food lodges in the tiny cracks and the casserole is no longer fit to use.

Pottery, glass, or china casseroles, before they are used for the first time, should be soaked in cold water and then boiled. This toughens and hardens them. The risk of breakage declines with use. They should not be placed on the stove or in the oven without having water or fat in them. They should not be placed in cold water, or on cold surfaces, such as a wet sink, while hot, because they are likely to crack.