What is a loaf pan?
Loaf pans which are also named mini-loaf pans or bread pans are essential instruments for baking. To follow every recipe, you need a loaf pan with a specified size and shape.
Loaf pans are deep rectangular dishes that bakers use. The resulted cake is in the form of loaves. You could also find round pans in the market, but in this paper, we focus on rectangular pans and their details.
Loaf pans are provided in different sizes, volumes, and materials to ease the baking and allow the bakers to have cakes, cupcakes, and muffins in different shapes.
In the section below, we review the most common sizes of pans.
Pan Sizes
There is a standard loaf pan in the USA with a dimension of 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches named standard loaf pan. In addition to the standard loaf pan, there are so many different sizes available in the markets. We could commonly divide them into 9 main sizes. These sizes range from Mini loaf pans to the Muffin tin.
Mini loaf pans are used for mini quick bread, while the muffin tins are suitable for muffins and cupcakes.
Among these sizes, we have loaf pans used for yeasted loaves made with 2 cups of flour, 3 cups of flour, and also for four. Two other sizes of loaf pans are named flat-top yeasted loaves with three or four cups of flour. There are two other sizes of loaf pans used for cakes and brownies.
You can have so many different loaf pans in all sizes or you can have only some and manage your bakery to acquire the same result. Most of the old recipes mention only the capacity of the loaf pan, so you must measure it by yourself. But how to measure a loaf pan?
Measuring a loaf pan
In addition to the label on the loaf pans in the store that must mention the size of the pan, sometimes you need to measure it by yourself.
In the following, we will explain how to measure a loaf pan.
The first and most important point you must consider is the thickness of the pan.
Longitudinal and Transverse walls have their thickness and in measuring the loaf pan, you must leave this thickness out. You must also neglect the thickness and the length of lips. So, by considering the abovementioned point, put the zero point of the ruler on the inner edge of the loaf pan and measure its length to the other inner edge. Then repeat it for the width and remember the zero starts from the inner edge. In the next step, put the ruler vertically inside the loaf pan and measure the depth. Do not slant the ruler. The number ruler shows for the edge of the loaf pan is its depth. So, for example, if you measure the length 10, the width 6, and the depth 4, we can say the loaf pan is 10x6x4. You could also see these numbers on the label of it at the time of shopping.
Why the size of the loaf pan is important?
We are aware that it is not always possible to find the pans of the exact dimensions specified in the recipe. But we also know the size of the baking tin determines the baking time. The structure of your bake depends straightly on the loaf pan size and the correct volume of the ingredients.
Recipes in baking specify the size of the baking tin proportional to the volume of ingredients you use. So as much as possible, try to use the size recommended in the recipe.
If the cake tin is larger than the size recommended in the recipe, the depth of the batter will be lesser and the cake will bake faster. And if you would be using a pan smaller than the size recommended in the recipe, the batter will be deeper and hence the cake will take longer to bake.
So always go by recipe instructions.
Read More: How to measure 1 gram with a teaspoon?
How about the volume of the pan?
Apart from the mathematical way we explained above to measure the size of the loaf pan, you could also measure the volume of the pan.
In this way, you can fill the pan with water or flour with a standard cup. Some factories use to mention the size of pans by the number of cups they could fill. For example, there are pans with the volume of four, six, eight, ten, and twelve cups. This kind of measuring the volume is more common for the round pans.
What is the material of the loaf pans?
Loaf pans are made of various materials. You could have a loaf pan made of stainless steel, glass, silicone, ceramic, cast iron, or aluminum. Every which has its advantages and disadvantage depends on what you bake and the situation (like temperature) of baking.
Before starting work, getting acquainted with the ingredients and tools used would help to gain the best possible result.
What can I use if I don’t have a 9×5 loaf pan?
You don’t have a 9×5-inch loaf pan? Or the recipe has not mentioned the pan size? In the second situation, if you are baking online or if you are in a bakery class, ask the person who gave you the recipe. In another situation, the best choice is the standard loaf pan. When you are using a loaf pan you must fill only 2/3 of the dish with the compound ingredients. Never fill the pan completely!
Remember it, most of the recipes you find on the internet or in the bakery books are aimed to have a cake or something else as a meal for four-person. You could also check the details of the book to make sure.
Read More: Measure 80 grams of butter without a scale
It is interesting to know that a 9×5 inch loaf pan holds 8 cups of batter and you could replace it with a round pan with 8 cups of volume. It is also possible to use an 8×2 inch square pan. It is obvious that your choice will change the shape of your cake. So by considering all the points we reviewed in this article, we hope you would have a great experience in the bakery and enjoy yourself!
In this article, you read about how to measure 9×5 loaf pan.
