10 Best Baking Pans in the Philippines 2024 | Buying Guide Reviewed by Baker

Straight-sided pans are the usual cake molds that we see that have the sides going perpendicularly upwards. These are what you'd want to use for your cakes and brownies. These usually come in round, square, rectangular, or other unique shapes.

These come in different sizes, too, and what you use depends on the recipe. When it comes to the size, it is advised to follow the size indicated in the recipe, so your cake rises and cooks evenly.

If you want to skip greasing or lining your cakes, look for pans with a non-stick coating. This will help prevent the cakes from sticking to the surface of the pan, and it will also make the clean up a breeze.

Sheet pans are the most versatile pan that you can own. These are shallow, rectangular pans, perfect for baking cookies, rolls, or just about anything that you would need to simply heat in the oven. 

Look for sheet pans with durable materials like aluminum, and for an added touch of convenience, look for sheet pans that are freezer and dishwasher safe to make your prep and clean up stress-free. 

When getting a sheet pan, keep in mind that darker pans tend to brown baked goods faster, so remember to lower the oven temperature and reduce your cooking time accordingly.

Springform pans are straight-sided pans that are composed of two separate pieces – a flat base and a sprig collar that latches to close tightly around the base. Once done baking, you just unlock the latch, lift the collar away, and the cake is ready to cool and serve. 

These pans come in diameters that range from 4 inches to more than 12 inches. Springform pans are perfect when used with baked goods like cheesecake, tarts, and other baked goods that are hard to remove by simply turning the pan upside down. 

When buying a springform pan, look for features such as a non-stick surface, so you won't need to grease the pan, leak-proof so that no liquids will leak out of the mold, and waterproof, so water doesn't go into the pan when immersing your baked goods in a water bath.

If you want to delve into the wondrous world of bread making, you'll definitely need a loaf pan. These kinds of pans are not only for making bread, but you can also make other baked goods, such as coffee cakes and banana bread.

Most loaf pans are in the shape of a loaf, but they will come in different sizes – again, the size will depend on the recipe you're following. With loaf pans, you'd want to look for one with decent height, this will prevent overflowing and making a mess in your oven.

Again, a non-stick option will help you skip greasing and lining your pan, but doing this extra step will ensure that you can take your bread out easily and quickly.

Muffin tins or cupcake pans are molds that have a cup-like opening. These hold 3 to 4 ounces of batter each. The use of cupcake molds isn't limited to making cupcakes or muffins. You can also use these to create miniature or single-serving versions of desserts like cheesecakes, tarts, or brownies.

These are best used with paper cupcake liners that can be easily removed from the pan and served directly. Metal cupcake tins are the most common, but recently, silicone molds have become increasingly popular for convenience and easy cleanup, as it removes the need to grease the pan or use paper liners.

Depending on the size you need, cupcake tins come in trays of 6 to 24 cups. 6-cup trays are perfect for smaller ovens and smaller batches. If you want to make bigger batches, go for the 12-cup or 24-cup trays.

Pie pans are dishes that come with sloped or angled sides to help the pie hold its shape and filling. You can get pie pans in different materials like metal, glass, or silicone. These also sometimes come with fluted edges to get that scalloped effect. 

It is important to determine what kind of pie crust they will be using so they can determine which material is best to use. For instance, for flaky pie crust, aluminum or carbon steel is best for an even crust bake.

Bundt pans or tube pans are cake pans with a circular opening in the middle. Some denser or lighter cakes need to have a hole in the middle for them to cook and rise evenly. 

More delicate cakes such as angel cake or chiffon cake benefit greatly from bundt pans as the hole in the middle acts as a support structure by giving the cakes something to cling on to as they arise. 

When using bundt pans, make sure to grease your pan evenly even when using a non-stick pan, to ensure that the cake comes out easily and in one piece. 

A lot of people have loved the convenience of silicone baking pans because not only are they easy to clean, but they also make the baked goods easy to take out of the mold. This also gives you the ability to cook microwave recipes and bake your cakes in the microwave.

However, silicone molds are poor heat conductors, so they give your pastries little to no browning. Silicone molds are perfect for cupcakes, muffins, and light-colored cakes.

Glass tends to heat up slower, but since it is a good heat conductor, once heated up, it will keep the heat for a long time. If you use a lot of sugar in your recipe, using a glass pan might not be ideal as the edges might start to brown before being cooked all the way through.

Also, glass is perfect for cooking wet foods like lasagna and bread pudding, where browning is less critical. It also cooks pies really well. Glass is a non-reactive material, so when you cook with acidic ingredients like tomatoes or citrus, you won't have to worry about the end product having a metallic taste.

Ceramic pans, in many ways, act the same as glass pans. They conduct heat very well but also have issues with over-browning in sweet dishes. And like glass pans, ceramic pans are best for cooking savory dishes and pies. However, ceramic pans are not advisable for commercial use as they are expensive and easily breakable.

Metal pans can withstand higher temperatures than glass, ceramic, or silicone baking pans. These are great for baking at higher temperatures for a shorter period like cookies, biscuits, cakes, bread, and muffins. 

Metal cake pans are also ideal when browning foods or roasting as it tends to heat up quickly and cools down faster. Light-colored or shiny metal pans are best for even browning, while darker-colored metals are great at getting deep, golden-brown crusts.

Aluminum pans will react to acids in the food and will produce a metallic taste, but they are better at conducting heat and evenly baking than stainless steel. Metal pans are best for making bread, cakes, cookies, muffins, and tarts.