I have this recipe that is of the cake family. The base is canola oil and sugar. Whenever I cook this pan in a square glass pan it cooks perfectly. However, when I use metal pan it doesn't cook properly. I don't fully understand why this is.
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Could you clarify your question? Do you mean the cake comes out of the glass pan but sticks to the metal or the cake bakes properly in glass but not in the metal (under done, over done etc.)– Debbie M.Jun 24, 2015 at 21:52
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So with 45 minute cook time @ 425 the glass pan has a "done" middle and the top is golden brown. With the metal pan the middle is still goop and the top is pretty close to golden brown. I've tried lower heats in the metal pan with the same result.– lilott8Jun 24, 2015 at 22:30
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This is strange. I would have expected that the cake in the glass pan was less done. Did you preheat the glass pan before putting the dough into it? This could explain why the dough in the metal pan wasn't done. A glass pan also stays longer hot after removing it from the oven so that the cake is still cooking. Related: cooking.stackexchange.com/q/28194/23376– Ching ChongJun 24, 2015 at 23:38
1 Answer
This is completely normal. The pan stands between the heat source and the cake. It lets through radiation and also conducts heat at different speeds. Also the convection patterns in the oven are changed by the shape of the pan. You cannot predict which pan will speed up or slow down the baking by comparing it to another pan, because the relationships are complex. But you can simply bake a cake and observe both.
As to how to avoid it: baking by time simply makes no sense. It is a coincidence that you have a combination of oven and pan which bakes the cake in exactly the time the author suggested. As you found out, as soon as you change the pan, the time directive doesn't work.
Bake your cakes until they are done. This way they will work in any pan as long as the general height/area ratio is right.