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by iksentrikarien on October 7th, 2006

iksentrikarien

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What temperature should be used when baking and using a dark pan?

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  • by iksentrikarien on October 7th, 2006

    iksentrikarien

    I purchased some brownie mix, some months ago and the directions were different according to the type of pan used(dark,glass as well a the standard) in the cooking times. I found these times to be correct but donot have the directions for the time difference.

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  • by Nulinvoid on October 7th, 2006

    Nulinvoid

    Edit: Okay! Okay! I give up! I've left the original answer to my question at the bottom. It is technicaly incorrect. Apparently, it IS reccomended to lower the temerature by 25 degrees when using darker, non-stick pans according to the following link: http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/gallery/0,21863,1006749,00.html

    My original answer (left in tact below) IS apparently, technicaly wrong. I do have a great deal of baking experience, but not in an academic type setting. I was taught by a french baking chef who apprenticed in Alsace France during the fifties and sixties. He never, ever used a timer, and the ovens we used had notoriously inaccurate thermostats. Our method for testing doneness was to simply "keep and eye" on things, actually looking into the oven pretty much every time we walked by. I thank him to this day for teaching me this method, because it has enabled me to bake in a wide variety of ovens with wildy inaccurate thermostats and still end up with fairly consistant results. It is this experience that led me to initially post the following answer:

    Original answer:

    "Follow the directions. Unless you are cooking with light, the color of the pan does not matter. If you set your oven to 400 degrees, everything in your oven will heat to 400 degrees. There are new ovens out now that utilize light to generate heat and I do not know if pan color matters in them.

    Edit: I have been baking for many years, and used to do it professionaly. I do everything from scratch, so have never seen instructions on packaging. I have never changed times due to pan color, but I have for different pan materials. Glass takes longer to heat than metal, for instance. But this is a difference in the amount of time to bake, not the temperature."

    End of original answer.

    I truly believe the techniques I was taught actually helped me to be a better baker than those who learn that baking is an exact science. It isn't. There are many adjustments that can be made to temperatures and baking times (within reason) as well as adjustments in the actual recipe that can me made in baking just about anything, if you are willing to experiment. You should learn basic baking priciples before doing so. Once you come to understand the basics and bigin to experiment a little, you will hopefully reach the point of being able to look at a recipe as a list of suggestions that don't all necessarily have to be taken as gospel. Times and temeratures are always, at best, approximate, as are the ratios of the ingredients. Variations in accuracy of thermostats, whether you are using electric or gas, convection, or non-convection, what elevation you are at, the ambient temperature of the kitchen, and the weather, are all things that can affect the outcome of your final product, whatever it is. My feeling is that there is no humanly possible way to account for all of these variations. Time and temperature are only two of them. I believe, and my experience supports this, that the best way to get consistent products when baking, is to follow the age old adage:

    Practice, practice, practice, adjust as necessary, and keep an eye on the stuff in the oven!

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