How To Know Which Is The Best Loaf Tin

If you’re thinking about buying bread tins, it can be hard to know where to start, and which type is the best loaf tin to get. You can spend a little, or a lot. You can get ‘tins’ in a variety of different materials. For the beginner bread-maker, there is a perplexing array of choice. So, here is a brief guide to bread tins – or perhaps that should be ‘loaf pans’ since they are not necessarily made out of tin.

I have used three different types of loaf pan and this is what I thought of them:

Silicone Loaf Pan

Verdict: Maybe

This loaf pan has the advantage of being genuinely non-stick and never needing to be greased.  It is, however, far too bendy!  In the oven, I always make sure that it is flanked by two rigid loaf pans, otherwise it allows the loaf to spread out sideways, creating a rounded, bulgy loaf.  The shape of the loaf itself needn’t be a problem but even handling the loaf pan is trickier than it needs to be. Manoeuvring a wobbly loaf pan in and out of the hot oven is just not as easy as using rigid versions.

Washing the silicon loaf pan is also problematic.  The silicon stains brown after repeated use and I can never seem to scrub it properly due to its wiggliness in the sink.  I do use my silicon loaf pan but it’s not my favourite.

Glass Loaf Pan

Verdict: No

I inherited a glass loaf pan from someone and I thought it looked lovely.  That was as far as my affection went.  Alas, my loaf stuck to the glass, despite the fact that I had carefully greased it.  Given that glass has no flexibility, there was little I could do to prize my loaf out of the pan, save chipping it out with a knife.  Glass is too rigid to be a loaf pan, in my opinion.  It is also heavy and breakable.  I have one glass loaf pan seeking a new home.

Steel Loaf Pan

Verdict: Buy six!

I love my traditional, metal loaf pans.  I lightly oil them every time I use them and the bread rarely* sticks.  (*This is a case of ‘never say never’ because sometimes bread sticks through no fault of the container. See: Bread Loaves Sticking - Help!)

These loaf pans are light and easy to handle.  They rigid enough to be easily lifted in and out of the oven whilst also offering enough flexibility for coaxing stubborn loaves out of the pan.  They are easy to wash and can be scrubbed as clean as you like.  I favour a 2lb loaf pan ( affiliate link to a nice cheap one on Amazon) and actually own six of them because, frankly, if I’m going to all the effort of making bread and all the expense of having the oven on, I might as well make lots all at once.

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