Got Milk? Trust Me - You'll Need It! Heavy Weight Aluminum Cupcake & Muffin Pan
Written: Feb 13 '02 (Updated Jan 09 '04)
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Pros: Great for mass quantities, durable, great bargain.
Cons: Not practical for small families.
The Bottom Line: Tired of wasting time making six cupcakes at a time? Give this mega muffin maker a try and kiss your worries goodbye.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Cooking.com Heavy Weight Aluminum Muffin/Cupcake P... |
I don’t know who came up with the idea of a 24-count cupcake and muffin pan, but whoever did should get some kind of award. With the number of people in and out of my house on any given day - this is not a Godsend, it’s an essential. In the ‘old days’ I’d make the cupcakes in a 6-cup pan and usually ended up wasting at least two hours churning out enough for the week. Maybe I got locked into a routine, but I never thought about investing in a larger cupcake pan and now that I look back on it – I wish I would have bought this sooner.
The Basics
This cupcake and muffin pan is of medium weight and will be easy for anyone to handle even those with weak hands or wrists. The empty weight for this pan is 1.5 pounds and measures 16” x 9” x 2.5”. When it is filled with dough or cupcake mix [3/4 of the way full] it may be a little awkward to handle the first few times. This is especially true if you are used to a smaller pan. Since this is relatively lightweight when compared to other materials, it cools off quickly and allows for a quick turn around time for additional batches.
The pan is made of aluminum but don’t let that scare you off. Most of the time aluminum pans tend to rust out around the edges or lose their shine and sheen. Not so with this particular pan. I have had this for over a year, used it at least two times a week, and it’s still looking as good as the day I received it. I do suggest that you use cupcake or muffin cups [paper, disposable] with this pan – it helps distribute the heat evenly and makes clean up a cinch.
Cup Vs. No Cup
As I mentioned earlier, I highly suggest that you use the paper disposable cup when making anything in this pan. I tried greasing each of the 24 cups and then flouring them and ended up with 22 cupcakes coming out perfectly and only two sticking to the pan. That might sound great, but the clean up was a real mess, not to mention the amount of time it took to grease and flour each individual socket. I also tried spraying Pam into each cup and had them all release but again, clean up was a mess – especially with the overspray of Pam on the middle sections of the pan.
Another reason that I suggest using the disposable cups is the end result – the last thing you want to do is pick up crumbs from cupcakes or muffins – and if you don’t have the paper cups to support it – you’ll end up following everyone around with the sweeper or Dustbuster.
Clean Up
You might want to think about the size of your kitchen sink before you rush out and buy this cupcake pan. While it is an easy clean up with disposable cups, if you use a non-stick spray or the grease / flour combination you may need to use some old fashioned elbow grease to get the top and inside of the cup clean. This is increasingly hard if you have a small kitchen sink.
If you like extremely large muffins or cupcakes with a high top on them, you may have to scrub the outer sides of the rim to remove batter or dough that has caked to the pan. I don’t suggest using anything on this pan to help release the finished product – eventually it will discolor the surface – this goes double for anything vegetable based.
After you’ve cleaned it up you need to make sure that you stand this up on a dish rack and allow it to air dry. This will allow the bottom of the pan to dry completely so rust does not develop. There is a handy little punched out hole at the top of the pan so that it can be hung on a wall to save storage space.
Suggested Items
This is the perfect pan to make cupcakes, muffins, breakfast items and flat biscotti. If you are going to be making less than 24 items, start with the outside cups first and work your way in. If you start in the center and work your way out, you run the risk of having the items cook unevenly resulting in some of the bottoms being burned with the centers being raw. I also suggest turning the pan once during baking since some ovens have hot spots.
You can make perfectly round cookies for mini ice cream sandwiches by pressing the cookie dough into disposable baking cups by the tablespoon. Use the bottom of a floured shot glass to make sure it is even and bake for about 7 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and with tongs remove the paper cup from the mold and allow it to cool completely before you remove it. This allows it to harden and eliminates the chance of the cookie cracking. You can also use parchment paper cut into circles for the bottom of each individual mold but unless you have precut circles, this could be time consuming.
I don’t suggest trying to cut corners and baking cupcakes and muffins at the same time, for example, 12 of each. Muffins, in most cases, needs more time to bake then cupcakes. If you try to pop out the cupcakes and then return the pan to the oven, the cooling process will have already started and you will end up with rock hard muffins.
Aluminum Vs. Non-Stick Pans
Some people have extreme preferences when it comes to bakeware. I was a hard-core ‘non-stick’ person for a long time. This was partly due to the fact that a majority of stuff I cooked or baked was from a vegetable oil base. This led to me tossing out cookie sheets every few months due to discoloration and surface flaking. While aluminum pans and sheets may need a little more care and require a gentler hand – they do outlast non-stick pans by about 9 months when used according to the manufacturers instructions.
Who Needs This
If you make more than 12 cupcakes or muffins at a time this would be the prefect addition to your kitchen. It cuts your cooking and preparation time in half and lets you actually enjoy your final creation rather than waiting for the pan to cool off for another batch. If you are shopping for a wedding or shower present this would only be practical if the person does a lot of baking or plans on having a large family.
Unless you are cooking for a small army or plan on doing all your baking at once for the week, this might be a useless piece of kitchenware for you. What is all boils down to is the amount of items you make on average – if you make more than 12 pieces at a time then this should really help you out in the kitchen.
Bottom Line
The Cooking.com 24 count cupcake and muffin pan has served me well over the past year. I highly suggest the Cooking.com brand of muffin pans and cookie sheets due to the number of sizes available and the durability of the products. There are a number of different sizes of cupcake pans available, all can be viewed at http://www.cooking.com/products/bakeware.asp?Home=sp.bw.prod.
Product Name: 24 Count Aluminum Muffin / Cupcake Pan
Weight 1.5 pounds
Size: 16 x 9 2.5
Material Aluminum
Dishwasher Safe No
Warranty: Yes, lifetime against defects
Price Range: $14.99 - $16.99
Rating 9 out of a possible 10
Manufacturers Website: www.cooking.com
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2004Freak369
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Ateco Parchment Paper
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $14.99
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