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Forum -> Household Management -> Kosher Kitchen
Best loaf pans to bake small challahs in??



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amother
OP


 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 1:44 pm
What are all my options? What are pros and cons of different materials?
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 2:40 pm
I use disposables. I think I use the size you want. IIRC it's called one lb. or 7 inch. It's just one step down IME from a smaller loaf pan (8X4).

Pros:
Cheap
Stack well unlike real pans, and I use 12 at a time (I make a recipe that uses about 6 lbs. flour)

Cons:
Some people find disposables don't brown easily. I do fine. I make a water challah and bake at 370 or 375 for 35-38 minutes.
Aluminum. But real might be too. I use parchment paper a lot. I should start for challah.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 3:23 pm
Be environmentally responsible and buy reusable loaf pans. The kind that are slightly tapered are better than straight-sided because a. they nest into each other just like the throw-away kind and b. the loaves come out more easily. You can get super-cheap tinned steel pans in the dollar store --they work just fine but if you scour them, the tin comes off and they're prone to rust. Aluminum is better for those who like to scour; tinned steel does the trick for those who don't lust after bright shiny pans.

Stay away from non-stick-coated pans. They are a health hazard if you use high heat, can kill your pet birds even if the heat is not high, will eventually stick even if they don't at first, and can't be scoured because scouring will damage the coating.

BTW, how do you define "small" challah? Mini-loaf pans hold about 4 ounces of dough. The pans sold in the dollar stores have about a 1-lb. capacity.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 3:24 pm
PinkFridge wrote:

Aluminum. But real might be too. I use parchment paper a lot. I should start for challah.


Say WHAT?
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 4:12 pm
zaq wrote:
Say WHAT?


Disposable pans are made of aluminum. A lot of people minimize their food contact with aluminum.
Now I'm wondering why they're more environmentally friendly as per your previous post.
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amother
OP


 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 4:12 pm
Small like this - I use 5 lb of flour & get 9 challahs.

I dont even know what size loaf pan I would need but now I am just using cookie sheets and they spread somewhat flat.
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 4:19 pm
I should mention these are ovals.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 5:36 pm
PinkFridge wrote:
Disposable pans are made of aluminum. A lot of people minimize their food contact with aluminum.
Now I'm wondering why they're more environmentally friendly as per your previous post.


Ah, I see we're not speaking the same language. When I say an aluminum loaf pan, I don't mean a pan made of aluminum foil that most people use once and discard. I would call that a foil pan, because when I refer to an aluminum pan I mean a rigid pan--what you would call a "real" pan-- such as the ones made by Bake King, Mirro, Wilton, Daddy-O and Wearever (some of these companies may be defunct, as some of my bakeware is 60 years old) and is expected to last for decades if not several lifetimes, unless you're a real maniac and use an wire brush on a drill to shine it up every time you use it. (That can eventually wear a hole in even the thickest pan.) One can use parchment paper with real aluminum pans just as one can use it with foil pans. A decades-long-life-expectancy "real" pan uses only a tiny fraction of the aluminum that regular use of disposables consumes.

There are some firms that sell stainless baking pans--and they're pretty pricey--but stainless steel is generally not recommended for baking because it doesn't conduct heat evenly and results in hot spots. Maybe the stainless baking pans are meant to be used in a convection oven.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 5:39 pm
PF, if you use a real baking sheet under the disposable pans, it helps conduct heat.

I use Nordic loaf pans but bigger for bigger challos, 2 or 3 lb... So I guess 1 lb is right.
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 5:52 pm
HY, I find that they come out nicely even without a sheet underneath. But good to know.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 6:17 pm
I use a baking sheet under my pans simply because it's so much easier to handle a sheet than multiple pans or even a single pan. Any tempering of heat is icing on the cake (sorry!).
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amother
Sapphire


 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 6:36 pm
Why use a baking pan at all why not just braid it and place on a baking sheet?
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 7:06 pm
amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:
Why use a baking pan at all why not just braid it and place on a baking sheet?


because on a baking sheet it spreads out and you get a low, wide challah. Most people like a taller loaf--if nothing else, taller slices are better for sandwiches--and a loaf pan forces the dough to rise up, not out.
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jun 29 2020, 7:51 pm
zaq wrote:
I use a baking sheet under my pans simply because it's so much easier to handle a sheet than multiple pans or even a single pan. Any tempering of heat is icing on the cake (sorry!).


My oven's big enough to fit 8 in at a time. So the baking sheet wouldn't work.
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