LET’S BUY BAKEWARE!
CAKE TINS I prefer the basic yet 100% workhorse of a light aluminium Chef Inox cake tin. I have them in various diameters and heights as the short sided ones are better for even cake layers. I get mine from Chefs Hat in South Melbourne (they can also ship). I never replaced a single one of these tins at BB…just bought more every time we got busier!
TART AND PIE TINS Okay. This is tricky as tart tins don’t come in standard dimensions but there are these to get you (s)tarted:
24 cm x 4 cm fluted, loose bottomed tart tin. This is pretty close!
23 cm x 5 cm deep fluted tart tin you’ll need to buy it from a commercial bakery supply shop like this one here.
Individual tart tins. These smooth sided pie tins or small fluted tart tins like these? In the book Another Slice I used my most beloved Silverwood tartlet tins. They were very $$$ and very beloved.
A metal 25 cm pie dish like my very favourite Falconware enamel pie dish. They are close to being sold out everywhere so if you see one, grab it!
CANNOLI TUBES In Melbourne I will buy them from Costante Importers. They have a bigger diameter (25 mm) than most other ones and that means more ricotta real estate inside! I prefer the slightly longer straight ones. Costante are a heady hub of bakeware goodness and ship onlone orders.
CHIFFON CAKE TIN My one and only is the Nordic Ware Classic Angel Food Cake Pan. No other tin measures up - I used these at the shop and they were used every single day (imagine a table full of eight upside down cakes!) and I only replaced a handful of them within twelve years. The light colour metal means the cake won’t over brown. I have used but dont trust the tins with the dark non-stick coating. It is so important for the cake to cling.
SHALLOW BAKING TRAY/BAKING SHEET To me a tray has a right-angled lip on the side and a sheet either has ever so slightly curved edges or just one to make for easier handling in and out of the oven. Baking sheets have the benefit that if you need to slide baked cookies off the tray, they wont have a large hump to overcome. These are the kind of baking trays/sheets I have always loved - both at the shop and at home. Heavy enough not to flex and tilt a liquid filled tart. Heavy enough to hold heat when you want to slide a raw dough straight onto a heated tray for extra bottom crust and no soggy bottom. I use these at home (and the larger ones at work). Brilliant trays! Just make sure they dry after washing so they don’t rust.
DIGITAL THERMOMETER During COVID, in the home shopping years, I splurged on a Thermapen ONE. In yellow. I also bought a Thermoworks Dot Simple Alarm Thermometer with a probe for deep fry monitoring. I don’t rely on the old school red dye filled ones as they become inaccurate really quickly and being a clip on, you can’t use it for probing for temperatures. I am also not in love with the lo-fi ones with a dial on top for the similar reason of inaccuracy. I would buy this one too…and added bonus, it is rechargeable!
DIGITAL SCALES I ADORE Soehnle! Sadly the style I currently have has been discontinued. I reckon I’d buy these when the sad time comes to replace them. They go up in 1 g increments and up to 15 kg (so you can also check your carry-on luggage weight :). My favourite work ones were these Wedderburn ones. And a set of coffee scales that weigh really small amounts can he helpful but not essential!
MIXING BOWLS Now that I bake at home, I thought I would want fancier glass bowls. But I don’t. I like the easy on the hands agility of stainless bowls. During a test bake for the souffle cheesecake I lost hold of the glass bowl and it dropped into the tin! And then I cried and vowed to go back to using light-on-the-wrist stainless bowls from that moment. (of despair) on. I like to have at least one roomy bowl to fold eggwhite/meringue in without it spilling over the sides and a salad bowl you own could absolutely jump in as your BIG mixing bowl. Salad and cake…match made in heaven!
LOAF TINS Again, not very standard sizing in the loaf world. I have this favourite from Costante Importers. It is leakproof and easy to wash…no metal seams to catch liquids or batters. And I like the sharper corners on a tin like this. Note that a narrow and longer loaf tin will hold approximately the same amount of batter as a wider and shorter in length loaf tin.