Just bought myself a 1.5L pyrex loaf pan and have some questions…
1: What size dough fits a 1.5L loaf pan? I’m going to be baking low gluten type loaves which will require a single rise.
2: Do I just grease the pan or do I need to do anything else like line it with parchment paper?
3: Can one put a pyrex loaf pan into a preheated oven or will that shock it? Instructions advise it can take up to 300°C which is good because the maximum my oven goes to it 230°C. But there’s no advice about preheated ovens.
I haven’t used pyrex loaf pans for bread, but my experience cooking in glass has not been very positive. I suspect it is about the worst option you could chose from a sticking standpoint.
I don’t know that they can be effectively seasoned like metal. My own bias is to avoid non-stick cookware, and use seasoned metal. Cast iron is the obvious option for seasonability, and I use cast iron loaf pans for some breads, usually preheating them because their thermal mass will slow the loaf coming up to temperature. Glass will also have this problem.
I also have some thin metal (“aluminized steel”) which I use when preheating isn’t practical (like proofing in the pan recipes). These do take a season (I coconut oil works well for baking pans) but do not become as nonstick as cast iron, and so do require greasing. I’ve never found the need to use parchment with these. Greasing and then dusting with flour is an often recommended technique.
Anyway, I suspect different people will give you different advice about parchment paper. Many of Stanley Ginsberg’s Rye recipes call for it, and I always omit it and have no problem. You’re going to have to make some trials and decide for yourself based on your tolerance for risking a little bit of stick here and there vs how much you care about avoiding using parchment.
Thank you for your answer @ericjs. I’ve been googling and while there’s lot’s of good reviews with people having success baking in a pyrex dish there are some precautions to be careful about. Mainly temperature changes. So while it makes sense to put it into a cold oven one must consider the elements the dish will be exposed to while it heats up. For example:
As for sticking, greasing seems to be fine but i think i’ll try it with parchment paper first. So for my first bake i’ll preheat to 210°C (cautious but still enough for oven spring) and line with parchment. Once the dough is baked through i’ll carefully take it out, return it freestanding and up the temp to 230°C for a nice crust.
I’m sure it’ll take a few bakes to get used to it.
Also one thing to be aware of when considering how much thermal shock to subject it to: there are two kinds of pyrex. My info may be old, so you should check this, but last time I read about it, pyrex in the US had changed from using borosilicate glass to something else, but pyrex in europe was still borosilicate. The different glass has slightly different properties. I want to say less resistant to thermal shock but more break resistant, but my memory could be incorrect.
Made in France.
-40°C
+300°C
Extreme Resistance: Verre Glass Borosilicate.
220°C Thermal Shock — [meaning?]
Do not use on stove top.
Does this mean while it can go up to 300°C the theramal shock can happen at 220°C so preheating up to 220°C should be fine as long as the dish isn’t cold from the fridge/freezer?
Abe, if you don’t already have an anti-stick plan, this has worked well for me. I cannot recall where or when I got this, I have had it for many years, use it in steel bread pans and glass dishes for baking breads, cakes, whatever I need to get out of the bake dish without sticking.
Mix together equal parts, by volume:
- Shortening (like Crisco or similar) - Vegetable oil (do not use olive oil !!!) - Flour
Keep in fridge 2 or 3 months, in freezer 6 months. Warm to room temperature before using.
I make about 6 oz of the stuff (¼ cup of each ingredient), keep it in a small jar in the fridge. It will take me a couple years to use it – more than the 6-mons in my notes, never had to go bad. I do not warm it to room temp, just scoop out a wad of what I need and smear it around inside of the baking pan/dish, especially in the corners of metal bread pans. It will not yield product with powdery-white edges like using shortening and dusting with flour will do sometimes.
Thank you so much @Otis. Sounds very doable and easy. I especially like the fact it can be mixed up and kept in the fridge for many months then all I do is take a little out and smear it in the pan. Simple formula too.