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Kitchen Tip For The Month : When To Use Glass Bakeware and When To Use Metal
(source from The Kitchn)
When to Use Glass Bakeware
Glass is a poor conductor of heat, but it also distributes heat more evenly. What that means is that glass doesn't pick up heat quickly, but once a glass pan is hot, it will stay warm much longer outside of the oven. This can be a great feature if you are serving casseroles or braises that you would like to stay warm for as long as possible once out of the oven and set on the table. This goes for ceramic dishes, too.
Glass pans aren’t recommended when you want to broil foods because they may shatter. In fact, glass pans should never be used in direct high-heat cooking situations, like on the stovetop (unless otherwise specified from the manufacturer). So if you are roasting a meat and want to make a pan gravy on the stove after, stick to a metal roasting pan, not a glass pan, or else you will have to transfer everything to a pot first before making your sauce.
- Glass Bakeware YES: Casseroles and braised dishes that will be served directly to the table.
- Glass Bakeware NO: When broiling or shifting from oven to stovetop.
When to Use Metal Bakeware
Metals, especially aluminum, are generally better at conducting heat: they pick up that heat but can lose it again quickly.
Grab metal baking pans when you want foods to heat up quickly and if you want them to brown, like when you are roasting potato wedges.
And because metal baking pans are better heat conductors, they will also cool more quickly once retrieved from the oven. If you are investing in aluminum baking sheets, opt for a thicker grade of aluminum so they can also serve for baking cookies without causing them to burn too quickly.
Avoid using metal bakeware, especially iron and aluminum pans, with reactive foods (foods that are acidic or basic), because these foods will react with the metal, discoloring the pan, leaving a grayish tinge on the layer of food in contact with the surface of the pan, and often adding an unwanted metallic flavor to those foods. Examples of things not to bake in aluminum or cast iron pans are fruit crumbles and savory cobblers
- Metal Bakeware YES: Quick-roasting foods and when you want browning
- Metal Bakeware NO: Reactive foods such as fruit; foods that you want to keep warm for a period of time before serving.
A Note on Insulated Bakeware
Some baking sheets are actually two layers of metal with a layer of air in between. Air conducts heat poorly and therefore acts as an insulator to significantly slow down the transfer of heat and help even out the heat on the surface of the sheet. Insulated baking sheets are a great weapon in the battle against burned cookies.
