# Baking Pans, Pizza Stones & Ovenware

Start with what you are baking: cakes, pies, casseroles and pizza each want different pans. Then pick the material: metal browns fast, glass and ceramic heat slowly and hold heat, and a steel beats a stone for pizza. Compare inside measurements, not labels, read the maker's oven rating, and keep glass away from the broiler.

## How it works

A pan moves oven heat into food three ways: conduction through its body, radiant heat absorbed by its surface, and heat it stores and releases. Aluminum and steel conduct quickly, so batter sets evenly and crusts brown on schedule; recipes are tested in light metal pans. Glass and ceramic are insulators: they warm slowly, then hold heat, so sugary batters get hard edges and bakers lower the oven 25°F for glass. Dark or matte surfaces absorb more radiant heat than shiny ones and brown faster. Pizza and hearth bread need a heavy slab preheated for about an hour; a steel pushes heat into the crust faster than a stone of cordierite (a heat-proof ceramic), which is lighter but cracks if heated wet. Glass has one more limit: ordinary toughened glass, used for much US pyrex, tolerates a smaller sudden temperature change than borosilicate, a glass made with boron. [2] [1] [4] [10] [9] [6] [12] [13] [14]

| Family | What it is | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Light metal | Bare aluminum, anodized aluminum (given a hard oxide skin) and aluminized steel (steel coated with aluminum) in silver or light grey; fast, even heat and the pans recipes are tested in. | Layer cakes, sweet loaves, muffins, bars, angel food. |
| Dark or nonstick-coated metal | Steel or aluminum with a dark finish or a release coating; browns faster and releases easily. Read the maker's oven rating: USA Pan and Pyrex rate theirs to 450°F. | Lean bread, pie crust, popovers, Bundt cakes, pizza pans. |
| Glass | Tempered soda-lime or borosilicate glass; slow to heat, holds heat, see-through, never under the broiler (the top element) or on a stovetop. | Casseroles, bread pudding, pies where you want to check the bottom crust. |
| Ceramic and stoneware | Glazed clay or porcelain; slowest to heat and longest to hold it, usually broiler-safe, made to go from oven to table. | Gratins, lasagna, casseroles, quiche and pie dishes for serving. |
| Pizza slabs | Carbon-steel plates or cordierite stones preheated for about an hour to act as a hot hearth. | Pizza, flatbread, crusty hearth loaves. |
| Silicone | Flexible and naturally nonstick, but browns only sugary bakes and needs a sheet pan underneath. | Muffins and cakes that must pop out cleanly. |

## How an expert narrows the choice

```mermaid
timeline
  section 1 · What you are baking
    cakes, muffins and loaf pans : ask Pan type, Labelled size, Depth, Finish colour, Removable base or sides : skip Pizza surface, Slab thickness, Slab weight
    pies and tarts : ask Inside measurement, Depth, Removable base or sides
    casseroles, gratins and roasts : ask Capacity, Broiler-safe : skip Pizza surface, Slab thickness, Slab weight
    pizza and crusty bread : ask Pizza surface, Slab weight, Slab thickness : skip Glass type
  section 2 · Body material
    glass : ask Glass type, Broiler-safe : skip Coating
    ceramic or stoneware : ask Glaze made for food use, Broiler-safe : skip Coating, Glass type
    bare aluminum / anodized aluminum / aluminized or carbon steel / cast iron : ask Finish colour : skip Glass type, Glaze made for food use
    silicone : skip Coating
  section 3 · Coating
    PTFE nonstick / silicone-based coating / nonstick, type not stated : ask Oven-safe temperature
```

1. **What you are baking.** Cakes and loaf pans, pies, casseroles, or pizza and crusty bread?
   Cakes, pies, casseroles and pizza share almost no pans, so the answer removes most of the catalog and decides which facts come next: size and depth for cakes, capacity and broiler use for casseroles, surface and weight for pizza.
   If cakes, muffins and loaf pans: ask Pan type, Labelled size, Depth, Finish colour, Removable base or sides; skip Pizza surface, Slab thickness, Slab weight.
   If pies and tarts: ask Inside measurement, Depth, Removable base or sides.
   If casseroles, gratins and roasts: ask Capacity, Broiler-safe; skip Pizza surface, Slab thickness, Slab weight.
   If pizza and crusty bread: ask Pizza surface, Slab weight, Slab thickness; skip Glass type.
   Skip if already known: a query naming the pan (loaf pan, pie plate, pizza stone, casserole dish), the recipe the user said they are baking.

2. **Body material.** Metal pan, glass dish, ceramic dish, or silicone pan?
   Material changes how a recipe bakes, so it cuts next. 'Metal' maps to bare or anodized aluminum, aluminized or carbon steel, and cast iron. A glass or ceramic answer removes coatings from the question.
   If glass: ask Glass type, Broiler-safe; skip Coating.
   If ceramic or stoneware: ask Glaze made for food use, Broiler-safe; skip Coating, Glass type.
   If bare aluminum or anodized aluminum or aluminized or carbon steel or cast iron: ask Finish colour; skip Glass type, Glaze made for food use.
   If silicone: skip Coating.
   Skip if already known: a query naming the material (glass dish, stoneware, cast iron), a pizza_surface answer, which already names the material.

3. **Coating.** Teflon-type nonstick, PFAS-free nonstick, or bare metal?
   Only metal pans carry coatings. 'Teflon-type' maps to PTFE nonstick, 'PFAS-free' to ceramic or silicone-based, 'bare metal' to uncoated, and a plain 'nonstick' to nonstick, type not stated. Enamel is filtered on, not asked.
   If PTFE nonstick or silicone-based coating or nonstick, type not stated: ask Oven-safe temperature.
   Skip if already known: memory that the user avoids Teflon or PFAS, an earlier answer of glass, ceramic or silicone.

## What to surface

### What you are baking

The job the pan does: cakes, muffins and loaf pans; pies and tarts; casseroles, gratins and roasts; or pizza and crusty bread, which covers slabs, pizza pans and covered bread bakers. It decides which other facts matter. Cake and loaf pans are judged on true size, depth and colour; pie plates on how they brown the bottom crust; casserole dishes on capacity and whether they can go under the broiler; pizza surfaces on material, weight and preheat. King Arthur tests its recipes in metal pans, so the job also tells you which material a recipe assumes. [1] [2] [8] [9] [28]

Values: cakes, muffins and loaf pans, pies and tarts, casseroles, gratins and roasts, pizza and crusty bread.
Question to ask: Cakes and loaf pans, pies, casseroles, or pizza and crusty bread?

Used as: top-level split, filter. Data: on the listing, backfill cost low. Look for it as: The pan type is in nearly every title: cake pan, loaf pan, muffin pan, pie plate, baking dish, casserole, pizza stone, pizza steel. Roll the type up to the four jobs.
Map title words to jobs: loaf and Pullman pans to cakes, covered clay or stone bread bakers to pizza and crusty bread, roasting pans and ramekins to casseroles. Dutch ovens and combo cookers go to saucepans and cast-iron skillets to frying-pans, even when sold for bread. A bakeware set takes the job most of its pieces share.

### Body material

What the pan itself is made of; in the question, metal means aluminum, aluminized or carbon steel, or cast iron. Material sets how fast heat reaches the food. Metal browns quickly and evenly; glass and ceramic heat slowly, then hold heat, so sugary batters get hard edges and glass needs the oven 25°F lower. Glass shows a pie's bottom crust, ceramic keeps a casserole warm at the table, bare aluminum reacts with acidic food while anodized does not, and silicone releases easily but browns only sweet bakes. [2] [1] [10] [11] [8] [19] [29]

Values: bare aluminum, anodized aluminum, aluminized or carbon steel, cast iron, glass, ceramic or stoneware, silicone.
Question to ask: Metal pan, glass dish, ceramic dish, or silicone pan?

Used as: top-level split, filter. Data: on the listing, backfill cost low. Look for it as: Amazon's Material row (Aluminum, Alloy Steel, Glass, Porcelain) and most titles. Anodized and aluminized appear in the title or first bullet.
Alloy Steel on Amazon usually means aluminized or carbon steel; porcelain, stoneware and ceramic map to ceramic or stoneware. Enamelled iron or steel takes its base metal here and enamel under coating. Cast iron covers only pans this leaf owns: pizza, cornbread, muffin and loaf pans.
Chart: Heat-transfer scale.

### Coating

The layer on the cooking surface, if any: PTFE nonstick, ceramic nonstick made from silica by a sol-gel process, a silicone-based release coat, enamel, or none. Coated pans release cleanly but scratch if you cut in them. PTFE, the Teflon-type plastic, starts to break down around 500°F. PTFE is a PFAS, one of the fluorinated 'forever chemicals', so 'PFOA-free' does not mean PFAS-free. Minnesota has banned selling cookware with intentionally added PFAS since January 2025, and other states followed. King Arthur wants angel food pans uncoated so batter climbs the walls. [17] [8] [18] [15] [24] [25] [1] [28]

Values: PTFE nonstick, ceramic (sol-gel) nonstick, silicone-based coating, enamel, uncoated, nonstick, type not stated.
Question to ask: Teflon-type nonstick, PFAS-free nonstick, or bare metal?

Used as: top-level split, filter. Data: needs research, backfill cost medium. Look for it as: Titles say Nonstick, Uncoated, Bare, or 'made without PFAS/PTFE', so coated or not is on the listing. The chemistry often is not; record 'nonstick, type not stated' rather than guess PTFE.
Brand use-and-care pages name the coating (USA Pan: silicone-based Americoat). Backfill the chemistry for the top N nonstick pans; leave the rest as type not stated.

### Pan type

The specific pan within a job, such as a round cake pan, loaf pan, muffin pan, Bundt pan, springform, pie plate or pizza steel. Within a job, the pan's shape decides which recipes fit. King Arthur treats loaf and quick-bread pans of similar size as not interchangeable, says no standard round can stand in for a springform, and wants angel food pans uncoated. Joy of Baking lists capacity by shape for the same reason. [1] [3] [23] [28]

Values: round cake, square or rectangular cake, loaf or Pullman, muffin, Bundt or tube, angel food, springform, pie plate, tart or quiche, baking or casserole dish, roasting pan, ramekin or gratin, covered bread baker, pizza stone or steel, pizza pan, bakeware set, other.
Question to ask: Round, square, loaf, muffin, Bundt, or springform?

Used as: filter. Data: on the listing, backfill cost low. Look for it as: Nearly every title names the type (loaf pan, Bundt pan, springform, pie plate, pizza steel).
Read the title, not the photo: photos confuse loaf with Pullman, tube with angel food, and pie with tart.

### Labelled size

The size the pan is sold as, such as 9 x 13 in, 9 in round or 8.5 x 4.5 in loaf. Recipes are written for a pan size, and the wrong one changes batter depth, bake time and whether it overflows. An 8 in square and a 9 in round have nearly the same area and swap freely; 8.5 x 4.5 in and 9 x 5 in loaf pans do not. The label is a nominal size, so read it with the inside measurement. [3] [23] [1] [31]

Question to ask: What pan size does the recipe call for?

Used as: filter. Data: on the listing, backfill cost none. Look for it as: Title and Amazon's Size row (9 x 13, 9 by 13 by 2-Inch).
Chart: Pan footprint overlay.

### Broiler-safe

Whether the maker allows the dish under the broiler, the oven's top heating element. Gratins, casseroles and anything with a browned top go under the broiler. Glass must never go there, and Pyrex bars its metal bakeware from it too. Ceramic and stoneware are almost always broiler-safe, says America's Test Kitchen, which tested only dishes their makers label that way; check the label rather than assume. [8] [15] [22]

Question to ask: Browning the top under the broiler?

Used as: filter. Data: needs research, backfill cost low. Look for it as: Ceramic listings and brand descriptions say 'broiler safe' (Emile Henry); glass and coated-pan care pages say not to broil.
Set glass to no by rule. Check ceramic makers' care pages; coated metal is no unless the maker says otherwise.

### Pizza surface

What the pizza bakes on: a carbon-steel plate, a cordierite or ceramic stone, cast iron, or a metal pizza pan. America's Test Kitchen found steels beat every stone: steel pushes heat into the crust faster, so pizza rises higher and browns sooner. Stones brown more gradually and are lighter, but crack if heated wet or dropped; steels last a lifetime but rust if left wet and can overbrown loaf bottoms. King Arthur sets thin perforated pizza pans on a preheated stone rather than using them alone. [9] [6] [1] [20] [33]

Values: steel plate, cordierite or ceramic stone, cast iron, metal pizza pan (thin or deep-dish).
Question to ask: Steel (faster, heavy) or stone (lighter, can crack)?

Used as: filter. Data: on the listing, backfill cost none. Look for it as: Titles say Pizza Steel, Carbon Steel, Cordierite, Ceramic or Pizza Pan.
Chart: Heat-transfer scale.

### Slab weight

How much the steel or stone weighs. Weight is thermal mass, the heat a slab can store, and also the reason people stop using them. A 1/4 in steel 16 x 14 in weighs about 15 to 16 lb, hard to lift onto a rack, so many owners leave it in the oven. Cordierite stones and tile sets are lighter and easier to move but store less heat. [9] [20] [7]

Question to ask: Fine lifting 15 pounds, or keep it light?

Used as: shown on the card, filter, sortable. Data: on the listing, backfill cost low. Look for it as: Amazon's Item Weight row; brand spec lists.
Chart: position on a weight scale with a mark at 15 lb.

### Removable base or sides

Whether the base or sides come away so a cake or tart leaves the pan upright: a springform ring or a tart pan's loose base. Cheesecakes, tortes and fluted tarts cannot be turned out, so they need one, and a springform's extra depth means a plain round cannot replace it. Cheap springforms leak, so King Arthur checks how tightly the ring locks to the base before buying. [1] [3] [19]

Question to ask: Cheesecake or tart that must come out upright?

Used as: filter. Data: on the listing, backfill cost none. Look for it as: Titles say Springform or Removable Bottom.

### Muffin well size

For a muffin pan, the size class of its wells, read alongside the number of wells. A muffin recipe fits by well size, not count alone. King Arthur says a pan whose wells are much smaller than standard will not hold a standard recipe, which instead fills more mini wells or fewer jumbo ones. Joy of Baking's chart lists muffin cups by width and volume. Listings say '12-cup', which counts wells, not volume. [1] [23]

Values: mini, standard, jumbo.
Question to ask: Mini, standard, or jumbo muffins?

Used as: filter, shown on the card. Data: on the listing, backfill cost low. Look for it as: Titles say Mini, Standard or Jumbo and give the well count (12-cup, 24-cup, 6-cup); some bullets give the well width.
Store the well count beside the size class. Only for pans whose pan_type is muffin.

### Capacity

How much the pan or dish holds filled to the brim, in cups (4 cups to a quart). Capacity is how casserole dishes and Bundt pans are compared. America's Test Kitchen's 13 x 9 dishes held 12 to 17 cups, and the listings we checked ran 12 to 18, so a full recipe can mound over or look sparse. ATK preferred dishes in the middle of its range. A Bundt pan's listed capacity is to the brim; King Arthur fills it with much less batter. [8] [28] [30] [3] [23] [29]


Used as: filter, sortable. Data: on the listing, backfill cost low. Look for it as: Glass and ceramic dish titles and Amazon's Capacity row (4.4QT, 4.2 liters), and Bundt titles (10-cup, 12-cup). On metal-pan listings the row is unreliable (Nordic Ware's 9 x 13: 'Capacity 4.5 pounds'), and '12-cup' on a muffin pan counts wells.
Take capacity only for dishes and Bundt or tube pans, normalising quarts and liters to cups. Never read a muffin pan's cup count as volume. Where only dimensions are given, leave it empty; sloped sides make the arithmetic unreliable.
Chart: bar length, with the recipe's batter volume marked.

### Depth

How deep the pan is inside, from base to rim. Depth decides whether a recipe fits. Fat Daddio's notes a cake that bakes 3 in tall will not fit a 2 in pan, and King Arthur wants layer-cake pans at least 2 in deep. Springform pans run about 2.5 to 3 in so cheesecakes fit, which is why an ordinary round cannot stand in for one. [19] [1] [3] [23] [29]


Used as: filter, shown on the card. Data: on the listing, backfill cost medium. Look for it as: A stated inside depth in the bullets, or the third number in the title (9 x 13 x 2). Amazon's Item Dimensions H is an outside figure and can include a lid: Nordic Ware's 9 x 13 lists 3.3 in H against 2.5 in inside.
Record whether each depth is inside or outside, never assume. Prefer a stated inside depth from the bullets or the brand page.

### Inside measurement

The length and width, or diameter, across the inside top edge, which is what a recipe's pan size means. Labels often give the outside. King Arthur warns that many 9 in pans are about 8.75 in inside, and Nordic Ware's 9 x 13 measures 12.1 x 8.8 in inside. Pie pans are the exception: Fat Daddio's says the trade sizes them across the outside rim, so its 10 in pie pan bakes a 9 in pie. Glass dishes have sloped sides and vary most. [1] [2] [19] [23] [29]


Used as: shown on the card, filter. Data: needs research, backfill cost medium. Look for it as: Sometimes in a bullet as 'interior dimensions' (Nordic Ware on Amazon). Usually only the outside or nominal size is given.
Brand spec pages for the top N per size; otherwise mark the size as nominal. Record whether a figure is inside or outside, never assume.
Chart: Pan footprint overlay.

### Finish colour

How light or dark the cooking surface is, from shiny silver to black. Dark and matte surfaces absorb more oven heat and brown faster, which suits lean bread, pie crust, pizza and popovers but overbrowns sweet bakes. Cakes and sweet loaves want light aluminum. Most nonstick coatings are dark. King Arthur found only near-black pans need a lower oven; lighter grey ones just need checking earlier. [4] [1] [11] [10]

Values: light or shiny, mid grey, dark or black.

Used as: shown on the card, filter. Data: derived from listing fields, backfill cost low. Look for it as: The product photo, counted here as a listing field, and Amazon's Color row, which often names a material (Aluminized Steel) rather than a shade.
The image pipeline answers this better than the text; nonstick without a colour usually means dark.
Chart: Heat-transfer scale.

### Oven-safe temperature

The highest oven temperature the maker rates the pan for. It matters for hot bakes such as bread, pizza and roasting, and only the maker's care page gives it. USA Pan rates its silicone-coated and uncoated pans alike to 450°F, Pyrex its nonstick metal pans to 450°F, and Fat Daddio's its bare aluminum to 550°F; PTFE itself starts to break down near 500°F. Home ovens top out at 500 to 550°F, so stone ratings like 1,450°F add little in an oven. [17] [8] [18] [15] [9] [21] [33] [31] [19]


Used as: filter, shown on the card. Data: needs research, backfill cost low. Look for it as: Amazon's Upper Temperature Rating row on some listings (USA Pan: 450 °F); many show only 'Oven Safe'. Reliably on the maker's use-and-care page.
One care page covers a whole brand line. Draw the bar up to 550°F and show any higher stated rating as text.
Chart: Oven ceiling bar.

### Glass type

Whether a glass dish is borosilicate or tempered soda-lime glass, which decides how well it survives sudden temperature changes. Three calculations gathered in a 2012 materials paper put un-strengthened soda-lime glass's safe sudden temperature change at about a third of borosilicate's: 29 to 144°F against 97 to 436°F. Pyrex calls the difference slight. Much US pyrex (lowercase) and Anchor Hocking are tempered soda-lime; European PYREX (uppercase) is borosilicate. Either way, preheat the oven, never set hot glass on a wet or cold surface, never broil. [12] [13] [14] [16] [15] [30]

Values: borosilicate, tempered soda-lime, not stated.

Used as: shown on the card, filter. Data: needs research, backfill cost medium. Look for it as: Some titles say Tempered Glass or Borosilicate Glass; most, including Pyrex's own US listings, say only Glass.
Anchor Hocking is tempered soda-lime and uppercase PYREX from International Cookware is borosilicate. US Pyrex says it makes both glasses, so check each pyrex line's page. For other brands use the brand page, else leave not stated.

### Glaze made for food use

Whether a ceramic dish comes from a commercial maker that states its glaze is lead-free and meant for food. Lead in a badly fired glaze leaches into food, and no washing removes it. FDA sets action levels for lead leaching from ceramic foodware and names the risky kinds: handmade with a crude finish, antique, worn, from flea markets or street vendors, or bright orange, red or yellow. Factory-made everyday ceramics are much less likely to have problems. Pieces marked 'Not for food use' are decorative. [27] [26] [32]

Values: commercial, states lead-free, commercial, not stated, handmade, antique or unverified, decorative, not for food use.

Used as: shown on the card, filter. Data: needs research, backfill cost medium. Look for it as: Ceramic dish bullets often say 'lead-free, cadmium-free'; handmade and vintage listings rarely say anything.
Flag handmade, vintage and marketplace-artisan listings as unverified; do not upgrade them from a seller's 'lead free' alone, since FDA found such labels false on some pottery.

### Slab thickness

How thick a pizza steel or stone is. Thicker slabs store more heat, so the second and third pizza stay crisp, but they weigh more and preheat longer. Most home steels are 1/4 in, including both America's Test Kitchen co-winners; Baking Steel sells 3/8 in plates for more stored heat. Stones are made thicker for the same job because ceramic holds less heat per inch than steel. [9] [21] [7] [33]


Used as: shown on the card. Data: needs research, backfill cost low. Look for it as: Steel titles usually state 1/4 in or 3/8 in; some stone titles give it (5/8 in, 0.67 in); many say nothing.
Brand pages carry it. If only weight and size are known, leave thickness empty.

## Numbers worth computing

| Metric | Formula | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pan area (sq in) | `length x width for square and rectangular pans; 3.14 x (diameter / 2)^2 for round; 3.14 x (length / 2) x (width / 2) for oval. Use inside_dimensions_in, else nominal_size.` | Pans with the same area hold the same depth of batter and bake in about the same time, so area is how bakers find substitutes: an 8 in square (64 sq in) and a 9 in round (63.6 sq in) swap freely. [3] [23] |
| Recipe scale factor (ratio) | `capacity_cups of this pan / capacity_cups of the recipe's pan (or pan_area_sq_in ratio when depths match)` | Tells a baker how much to multiply a recipe to fill a different pan, as in King Arthur's 9 in square recipe scaled by 1.5 for a 9 x 13. [23] [3] |
| Oven adjustment for glass (°F) | `-25 if body_material = glass, else 0` | Recipes assume metal pans, so on a glass dish the card can say 'bake 25°F lower than the recipe says'. No source gives a figure for ceramic, so it gets none. [2] [1] [10] [11] |

## What you give up

- Metal browns evenly and suits cakes and bars. Glass and ceramic heat slowly then hold heat, so casseroles stay warm and glass shows a pie's bottom crust, but sugary batters get hard edges. [2] [8] [5] Board branch: "See more glass and ceramic dishes".
- A steel browns and lifts pizza faster and will not crack, but a standard one weighs about 15 lb and can overbrown a loaf's bottom. A stone is lighter and gentler but cracks if heated wet. [9] [6] [20] Board branch: "See more light stones and tiles".
- Nonstick releases cakes cleanly, but it scratches if you cut in it, and PTFE coatings are PFAS that start to break down near 500°F. Uncoated aluminum or aluminized steel needs grease or parchment instead. [1] [15] [17] [8] Board branch: "See more uncoated pans".
- Tempered soda-lime glass resists knocks slightly better, Pyrex says, but a 2012 materials paper calculated that un-strengthened soda-lime tolerates only about a third of borosilicate's sudden temperature change. [16] [12] Board branch: "See more borosilicate dishes".
- Dark pans give lean bread, pie and pizza a deeper crust, but overbrown cakes and sweet loaves, which is why nearly all cake pans are light aluminum. [4] [1] Board branch: "See more light-coloured pans".

## How to draw it

**Heat-transfer scale** (scale, shows Body material, Pizza surface, Finish colour). One line from slow, heat-holding materials (silicone, ceramic, glass) to fast ones (light aluminum, dark metal, steel plate), so a buyer sees why a recipe's timing and browning change with the material. This is a proposal, nobody draws it this way yet. [2] [9]

**Pan footprint overlay** (other, shows Labelled size, Inside measurement). Pans drawn to scale by inside area, so an 8 in square and a 9 in round visibly match and a short 9 x 13 shows its missing strip. Used today by King Arthur and Joy of Baking give the same comparison as tables of areas and cups.. [3] [23]

**Oven ceiling bar** (range, shows Oven-safe temperature, Coating). A bar per pan up to its rated maximum, against marks at 450°F (USA Pan's and Pyrex's ratings), 500°F (PTFE breakdown) and 550°F (top of a home oven), so ratings beyond what an oven reaches read as irrelevant. This is a proposal, nobody draws it this way yet. [17] [18] [9]

## Words you will meet

- **Aluminized steel**. Steel sheet coated with an aluminum alloy, stronger than aluminum alone and common in commercial-style pans.
- **Anodized aluminum**. Aluminum given a hard oxide surface by an electrical bath, so it no longer reacts with acidic food.
- **Stoneware**. Dense clay fired hot and glazed, slow to heat and long to hold heat.
- **PTFE**. The plastic in Teflon-type nonstick coatings, one of the PFAS chemicals.
- **PFAS**. A large family of long-lasting fluorinated chemicals that several US states now ban in nonstick cookware.
- **Sol-gel ceramic coating**. A nonstick finish made from silica, sold as ceramic nonstick and free of PTFE.
- **Nominal size**. The size a pan is sold as, which may be measured outside the rim rather than inside.
- **Inside top measurement**. The distance across the pan inside its top edge, which is what a recipe's pan size means.
- **Borosilicate glass**. Glass with boron added so it expands little when heated and survives sudden temperature changes.
- **Tempered soda-lime glass**. Ordinary glass toughened by heat treatment, harder to break by knocks but less tolerant of sudden temperature changes.
- **Thermal shock**. Cracking caused when part of a dish heats or cools much faster than the rest.
- **Broiler**. The oven's top heating element, used at full power to brown the surface of food.
- **Glaze**. The glassy coating fired onto ceramic to seal it, which can contain lead if made badly.
- **Cordierite**. The heat-resistant ceramic most pizza stones are made of.
- **Baking steel**. A flat slab of carbon steel, usually 1/4 in thick, preheated in the oven as a pizza surface.
- **Thermal mass**. How much heat a slab or dish can store, which rises with its weight and density.
- **Pullman pan**. A straight-sided loaf pan with a sliding lid, for square-topped sandwich loaves.
- **Covered bread baker**. A clay or stone dish with a lid that traps steam around a crusty loaf as it bakes.
- **Springform**. A round pan whose side is a latched ring that opens away from a flat base.
- **Bundt pan**. A deep ring-shaped cake pan with a centre tube and patterned sides.

## Where we made a call

- What you are baking decides which facts matter, so it is the first split; material and coating narrow within it. (confidence high). Ours, following how King Arthur and America's Test Kitchen organise their advice: by pan job first, material second. [1] [8]
- In a glass dish, lower the oven 25°F from a recipe written for a metal pan. (confidence high). Sources disagree. All three sources agree on 25°F. They disagree on time: King Arthur says glass bakes longer, Taste of Home and Food Network say faster. We carry the temperature rule only and leave doneness to the cook. [2] [10] [11]
- Tempered soda-lime glass has a much smaller thermal-shock margin than borosilicate; follow the maker's rules either way. (confidence medium). Sources disagree. Pyrex says borosilicate is only slightly more resistant. Three calculations in the 2012 ACerS paper put soda-lime at about a third of borosilicate and call its margin borderline. We take the paper's ratio and Pyrex's use rules, which neither source disputes. [12] [16]
- Treat labelled sizes as nominal and compare inside top measurements, except pie pans, which makers size across the outside rim. (confidence medium). Sources disagree. King Arthur says a 9 in pie pan should be 9 in inside at the top; Fat Daddio's says pie pans are traditionally measured outside. We record which basis a listing uses rather than pick one. [1] [19] [23]
- For home pizza a steel outperforms a cordierite stone; a stone is the lighter second choice. (confidence high). America's Test Kitchen and King Arthur both prefer steel. Baking Steel sells steels, so its conductivity multiple is left out. [9] [6] [20]
- Read each maker's oven rating rather than infer it from the coating; PTFE itself starts to break down near 500°F. (confidence high). USA Pan rates its silicone-coated and uncoated pans alike to 450°F, Pyrex its nonstick metal to 450°F, Fat Daddio's bare aluminum to 550°F, so the rating belongs to the brand line, not the coating type. [18] [15] [19] [17] [8]
- PFAS nonstick is a legal filter as well as a preference: Minnesota has banned its sale since January 2025, and other states followed. (confidence high). The statute names baking sheets and baking molds; Minnesota's regulator applies it to nonstick food-contact coatings. BCLP's state list is from August 2024, so check current dates before filtering by state. [24] [25]
- Factory-made everyday ceramic bakeware is low lead risk; handmade, antique, flea-market or bright orange, red or yellow pieces are not. (confidence high). [27] [26]
- Stone heat ratings far above 550°F add little for oven baking, since home ovens top out at 500 to 550°F. (confidence medium). Ours. Baking Steel lists slab surface temperatures up to 600°F, more under the broiler, so the margin is not zero; ratings like 1,450°F matter on grills and pizza ovens. [9] [21] [33]
- Dark pans brown faster than light ones; King Arthur found only near-black pans need a lower oven. (confidence medium). Food Network and Taste of Home confirm the direction. The temperature step comes from one King Arthur test, so the facets carry the direction only. [4] [11] [10]

## References

1. [King Arthur Baking, Your complete guide to baking pans (2023)](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2023/06/05/your-complete-guide-to-baking-pans) (specialist review). Supports: Glass needs the oven 25°F lower; Angel food pans should be uncoated; Nominal 9 in pans can be 8.75 in inside; Cake pans light aluminum, at least 2 in deep; Springforms leak; check the lock; Muffin wells much smaller than standard will not hold a standard recipe; Pizza pans: anodized aluminum or blue steel, thin or deep-dish.
2. [King Arthur Baking, Glass or metal or stoneware (2018)](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2018/03/29/glass-or-metal-or-stoneware) (specialist review). Supports: Glass is an insulator that then holds heat; Recipes are tested in metal pans; Lower 25°F for glass; glass bakes longer.
3. [King Arthur Baking, The essential alternative baking pan sizes (2019)](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2019/04/23/the-essential-alternative-baking-pan-sizes) (specialist review). Supports: Pan area formula; 8 in square equals 9 in round; Listed Bundt capacity is to the brim; Springform cannot be replaced by a standard round.
4. [King Arthur Baking, Baking cake in a dark pan (2017)](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2017/03/10/baking-cake-in-a-dark-pan/) (specialist review). Supports: Dark pans absorb heat faster; Only near-black pans need a lower oven.
5. [King Arthur Baking, From metal to glass to ceramic, how does your pie plate affect your crust? (2022)](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2022/11/04/best-pie-pan) (specialist review). Supports: Metal browned the bottom crust most evenly; Glass lets you check crust colour.
6. [King Arthur Baking, Pizza steel vs. stone (2026)](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2026/07/17/pizza-steel-vs-stone) (specialist review). Supports: Steel heats faster and transfers heat better; Stones are cordierite and can crack; Preheat at least an hour; No glass pans for pizza; Bake pies on a stone or steel for a browned bottom crust.
7. [King Arthur Baking, How to turn any home oven into a pizza oven (2021)](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2021/10/04/how-to-turn-any-home-oven-into-a-pizza-oven) (specialist review). Supports: Thermal mass follows weight and density; Home steels are 1/4 in thick.
8. [America's Test Kitchen, The Best 13 by 9-inch Broiler-Safe Baking Dishes of 2026](https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/equipment_reviews/2036-13-by-9-inch-broiler-safe-baking-dishes) (specialist review). Supports: Glass is not safe under the broiler; Nonstick deteriorates at 500°F or more; Ceramic is almost always broiler-safe; 13 x 9 dishes held 12 to 17 cups.
9. [America's Test Kitchen, The Best Pizza Stones and Steels of 2026](https://www.americastestkitchen.com/equipment_reviews/2319-pizza-baking-stones) (specialist review). Supports: Steels beat every stone tested; Home ovens top out at 500 to 550°F; Stones crack if wet or dropped; 1/4 in steels weighed 16 lb.
10. [Taste of Home, Lower Temp for Glass Pans; Glass vs. Metal vs. Ceramic Bakeware](https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/baking-in-glass-vs-metal-vs-ceramic/) (primer). Supports: Lower the oven 25° for glass; Glass cooks faster than metal; Dark pans bake more quickly.
11. [Food Network, What's the Difference Between Glass and Metal Baking Pans?](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/packages/baking-guide/difference-between-metal-and-glass-baking-pans) (primer). Supports: Lower about 25 degrees for glass; Dark metal absorbs more heat than light.
12. [Bradt and Martens, Shattering glass cookware, American Ceramic Society Bulletin 91(7), 2012](https://rroeder.nd.edu/assets/387776/glasscookware.pdf) (academic). Supports: Three calculations: soda-lime 29 to 144°F, borosilicate 97 to 436°F sudden change; US Pyrex and Anchor Hocking are soda-lime; Arc's is borosilicate; Soda-lime margin is borderline.
13. [Wikipedia, Borosilicate glass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borosilicate_glass) (primer). Supports: Borosilicate is made with boron trioxide; Borosilicate resists cracking from temperature changes better than soda-lime.
14. [Wikipedia, Pyrex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrex) (primer). Supports: Lowercase pyrex in the US, uppercase PYREX in Europe; International Cookware's Pyrex is borosilicate; All US Pyrex since 1998 is soda-lime glass.
15. [Pyrex, Product Warranties, Safety and Usage](https://pyrexhome.com/pages/product-warranties-safety-and-usage) (spec sheet). Supports: No broiler, stovetop or grill for glass; Avoid sudden temperature changes; preheat first; Pyrex nonstick metal bakeware rated 450°F, not for broiler.
16. [Pyrex, Frequently Asked Questions](https://pyrexhome.com/pages/frequently-asked-questions) (spec sheet). Supports: Pyrex makes both soda-lime and borosilicate; Difference called slight in each direction.
17. [Wikipedia, Non-stick surface](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-stick_surface) (primer). Supports: PTFE begins to dissociate above about 500°F; Ceramic nonstick is sol-gel silica.
18. [USA Pan, Use and Care; FAQ](https://www.usapan.com/use-and-care) (spec sheet). Supports: Coated and uncoated pans: do not exceed 450°F; 450°F protects the silicone coating; Americoat is a silicone coating, PFAS-free.
19. [Fat Daddio's, FAQ](https://fatdaddios.com/faq/) (spec sheet). Supports: Anodized aluminum is uncoated and non-reactive to acid; Pie pans sized across the outside rim; A 3 in cake will not fit a 2 in pan; Anodized and natural aluminum rated to 550°F.
20. [Baking Steel, Original product page](https://bakingsteel.com/products/the-baking-steel-original) (spec sheet). Supports: 1/4 in, 16 x 14 in steel weighs 15 lb.
21. [Baking Steel, Best pizza steel buying guide](https://bakingsteel.com/blogs/recipes/best-baking-steel) (spec sheet). Supports: Oven at 500 to 550°F, as hot as it goes; Preheat a full hour; Steels sold in 1/4 and 3/8 in; Steel surface 500 to 600°F, more under the broiler.
22. [Emile Henry USA, product descriptions](https://www.emilehenryusa.com/products.json) (spec sheet). Supports: Ceramic pie dish and pizza stone are broiler-safe.
23. [Joy of Baking, Pan Sizes](https://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html) (primer). Supports: Measure inside edge to inside edge; 8 in square (64 sq in) swaps for 9 in round; Scale by the ratio of pan volumes; Springforms 2.5 to 3 in deep; Muffin cups listed by width and volume.
24. [Minnesota Statutes 116.943, Products containing PFAS](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/116.943) (regulator). Supports: Cookware includes baking sheets and baking molds; PFAS cookware sale banned from January 1, 2025.
25. [BCLP, PFAS in Cookware: State-by-State Regulations (August 2024)](https://www.bclplaw.com/en-US/events-insights-news/pfas-in-cookware-state-by-state-regulations.html) (other). Supports: Minnesota applies its ban to nonstick PFAS coatings; Other states enacted later cookware bans.
26. [FDA, CPG Sec. 545.450 Pottery (Ceramics), Lead Contamination](https://www.fda.gov/media/71764/download) (regulator). Supports: FDA sets lead-leaching action levels for ceramic foodware.
27. [FDA, Questions and Answers on Lead-Glazed Traditional Pottery](https://www.fda.gov/food/environmental-contaminants-food/questions-and-answers-lead-glazed-traditional-pottery) (regulator). Supports: Risky types: handmade, antique, worn, flea-market, bright orange, red, yellow; Factory-made everyday ceramics much less likely to have lead problems; Washing cannot remove lead.
28. [Amazon search results, 9x13 baking pan](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9x13+baking+pan) (retail listing). Supports: Titles carry type, size, material, coating, PFAS claims, quarts.
29. [Amazon, Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Cake Pan with Lid, 9 x 13 (B00008UA40)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00008UA40) (retail listing). Supports: A 9 x 13 measures 12.1 x 8.8 in inside; Aluminum reacts with acidic ingredients; Item Dimensions 3.3 in H against 2.5 in inside depth; Capacity row reads 4.5 pounds.
30. [Amazon, Pyrex Deep (9x13) Glass Baking Dish with Lid (B09ZLT4FZJ)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZLT4FZJ) (retail listing). Supports: Capacity row 4.5 quarts; glass type not stated; Other titles say Tempered or Borosilicate.
31. [Amazon, USA Pan Nonstick Rectangular Cake Pan, 9 x 13 (B0029JOC6I)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029JOC6I) (retail listing). Supports: Upper Temperature Rating row: 450 °F; Size row 9 x 13.
32. [Amazon, MALACASA 4.4QT Ceramic Casserole Dish (B0D9LVM5JG)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9LVM5JG) (retail listing). Supports: Ceramic bullets claim lead-free, cadmium-free.
33. [Amazon search results, pizza stone](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=pizza+stone) (retail listing). Supports: Titles state cordierite or steel and sometimes thickness; Stone titles claim 1,112 to 1,800°F ratings.