- High-quality loaf pans cook your baked goods evenly, release them with little fuss, and are made of heavy-duty materials.
- The Wilton Recipe Right Bread Loaf Baking Pan is our top pick because it features a non-stick coating that helps food pop right out, it's the most cost-effective option in our guide, and the wide lip makes the pan easy to rotate.
If you like to bake bread in the oven or meatloaf is one of your go-to meals, a top-quality loaf pan is a must. These pans are generally 9 inches long, 5 inches wide, and 2.5 inches deep, though the exact measurements vary brand-to-brand. Since the breads, cakes, and other baked goods are so thick, it's crucial that the loaf pan cooks slowly and evenly without burning.
Stainless steel, aluminized steel, and glass bread pans all do an excellent job of baking slowly. If you are looking for a lighter exterior to your bread, choose a lighter-colored material.
If the appearance of the bread you produce means a lot to you, then you need to pay close attention to the size of the loaf pan you use and how much flour your recipe calls for. A good rule of thumb is to use an 8.5-by-4.5-inch pan for recipes that call for three cups of flour or less (although you can expect some trial and error). If the recipe calls for 3.5 cups, then an 8.5-by-4.5-inch or 9-by-5-inch pan will do. Anything over 3.75 cups, will work best in a 9-by-5-inch pan. However, a pain de mie pan, also known as a Pullman loaf pan, is ideal for recipes with more than four cups of flour.
While researching the best loaf pans, we examined hundreds of buyer and expert ratings and reviews of dozens of models. Our guide features pans that have a strong track record of performance, durability, and versatility.
Here are our picks for the best loaf pans you can buy:
Updated on 10/29/2019 by Caitlin Petreycik: Updated prices, links, and formatting. Added related guides.
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