Safe Loaf Pans That Give Good Results?

[Cockatude]

My grey had a health scare recently, and he is still recovering. While I was at the animal hospital, the vet started telling me about the dangers of Teflon, which I already knew about, but she let me know standards had changed. When I got my bird, the basic wisdom was that you could use Teflon if you didn't overheat it, and letting your birds be around cooking, generally, was not dangerous. This has worked for me since 1991.

Now I am being told Teflon can be a problem, long-term, even if used properly. I have cast iron, but I have been cautioned about that, too. That is difficult, because after all, I have to eat, and I have to cook on something.

I have a Teflon pizza pan and some Teflon loaf pans that produce wonderful results, but the vet has made me nervous.

I can make pizza using a bare aluminum pan if I season it like cast iron. I don't know if that's a perfect solution, but at least it's not Teflon. That leaves the loaf pans. Has anyone here found a loaf pan that makes really good crusty bread without nonstick?

America's Test Kitchen likes a steel pan covered with a silicone-based product called Americoat, but I have seen posts here criticizing it. I can use glass. The loaves will look a little weird, but the quality should be good. Maybe I should just look for the old steel pans my mother used. I don't want to use cast iron for bread.

As a side note, my bird's problem appears to be the result of using bifenthrin indoors. I would stay far away from this stuff. I have used it for years without trouble, but I gave a bug-infested couch a few good blasts with a hand sprayer, and serious problems started in a few hours.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

What problems did your Grey develop after exposure to the Bifenthrin? Do you recall what the product you used was called?

You should be able to use pain aluminum cake loaf pans. My mom used wax paper cut to fit on the bottom of plain aluminum loaf pans and round cake pans. She also smeared vegetable shortening on the sides of the pans. It would peel off the bottom of the loaf easily when she flipped the pan over after it cooled. I recall doing this when I went through a cake baking phase when I was about 12 years old. We didn't have any nonstick pans and I never had a sticking problem using waxed paper.

 

[Jcas]

We use aluminum or steel loaf pans to bake bread with good results. You can use glass but it doesn’t seem to create as good of a crust.

 

[rheashard2]

I hope you and your grey are doing better. All the negative effects of Teflon started coming decades ago. It was all about over heaing. I became concerned not only about over heating but the silent unknown or little known effects. Stainless steel, stonewear, aluminum and I don't mix well. I started using glassware but there's a problem with putting cold into hot. They cracked, slowly forcing me back to grandma's cast iron. I now use cast iron for most everything. I have a loaf pan too. It gets fantastic results. The trick is learning how to get desired crusts. Sometimes heat oiled pan add batter for a bit more crunch. Seasoning sounds daunting but it isn't. Properly seasoned it's very close to nonstick. It's distressing me because it's getting harder to find plain cookware. Even parchment paper is becoming a non stick treated surface.

 

[Cockatude]

It is very difficult to find metal loaf pans without some kind of coating now. I think it's a shame new generations are being given the idea that it's not possible to cook without this stuff. That just isn't true. I use cast iron for cornbread--even sweet cornbread with blueberries in it--and it falls right out. Fried eggs and pancakes don't stick. We have given up on simple skills our grandparents took for granted, and we're buying things that give out in two years.

I have cast iron skillets a hundred years old, and they look like they were made last year.

The Internet says the bread pans people used before nonstick were plated with tin. Maybe I can find a couple.

It is possible to bake oil onto pure aluminum pans so things like pizza don't stick. This is how I did it for years, before finding a nonstick pan I liked. It doesn't look good, but it works. My problem now is that my old aluminum pans are a little shallow, so I need to find something about 9" by 13" with high sides.

 

[Cockatude]

It just occurred to me that I could burn the nonstick off a pan in an outdoor burn pile and then season it.

I have dug up some info that could help others.

I checked Ebay for old tin-coated pans, and it looks like not many have survived. I found a few Ekcoloy Silver Beauty loaf pans, which are just steel and tin. It is possible to get pure aluminum loaf pans online, but they generally have very round corners, which I don't want.

Last night, my wife and I tried a rectangular Pyrex casserole pan for bread, and the results were good, although we will need something with a better shape. The temperature and baking time will have to be adjusted. I was only able to find one glass pan that has a decent shape, and we are going to try it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NBT8WM?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

We make our own white bread, and we use a lot of butter and salt on the sides of the pans, so sticking is not a big problem.

For deep pizza, I found a Winco aluminum product. A lot of their pans are nonstick, but this one isn't, so I would have to season it. Winco makes commercial products, and I have found them to be well made.

Amazon.com

We got a couple of All-Clad skillets, and I also bought a Matfer-Bourgeat steel pan. This company had a scare over certain things leaching into pans under unusual circumstances, but given that anyone who makes a steel pan in France is probably going to have to use steel from the same mills, I doubt any other pan is safer.

 

[rheashard2]

It is very difficult to find metal loaf pans without some kind of coating now. I think it's a shame new generations are being given the idea that it's not possible to cook without this stuff. That just isn't true. I use cast iron for cornbread--even sweet cornbread with blueberries in it--and it falls right out. Fried eggs and pancakes don't stick. We have given up on simple skills our grandparents took for granted, and we're buying things that give out in two years.

I have cast iron skillets a hundred years old, and they look like they were made last year.

The Internet says the bread pans people used before nonstick were plated with tin. Maybe I can find a couple.

It is possible to bake oil onto pure aluminum pans so things like pizza don't stick. This is how I did it for years, before finding a nonstick pan I liked. It doesn't look good, but it works. My problem now is that my old aluminum pans are a little shallow, so I need to find something about 9" by 13" with high sides.

I agree. Properly seasoned cast is nonstick. It does make the best cornbread; cornbread, egg, cheese casserole and regular bread. My CAG and I like thin and crispy pizza crust. Cast iron great for that.

 

[onamom]

It’s on the pricey side but I’ve had great success with Careaway.

 

[Jcas]

It is very difficult to find metal loaf pans without some kind of coating now. I think it's a shame new generations are being given the idea that it's not possible to cook without this stuff. That just isn't true. I use cast iron for cornbread--even sweet cornbread with blueberries in it--and it falls right out. Fried eggs and pancakes don't stick. We have given up on simple skills our grandparents took for granted, and we're buying things that give out in two years.

I have cast iron skillets a hundred years old, and they look like they were made last year.

The Internet says the bread pans people used before nonstick were plated with tin. Maybe I can find a couple.

It is possible to bake oil onto pure aluminum pans so things like pizza don't stick. This is how I did it for years, before finding a nonstick pan I liked. It doesn't look good, but it works. My problem now is that my old aluminum pans are a little shallow, so I need to find something about 9" by 13" with high sides.

We are always checking second hand stores, garage sales, and rummage sales for old steel and aluminum pans. It’s surprising what you can find. I think a lot of people get rid of “Grandma’s” pans precisely because they AREN’T coated! We’ve also found a number of Revereware steel saucepans and pots this way. And yes, seasoned cast iron is great! Most of our skillets are cast. Baking sheets are a little harder but we actually found someone selling all kinds of brand- new aluminum baking sheets at a big craft fair in Wisconsin! If you keep your eyes open, sometimes it’s surprising what you can find . Muffin tins are the hardest. We have two old steel ones but almost all you can find new that aren’t coated are silicon. Which I don’t entirely trust either. I’m glad the glass pan seems to be working for you!