How To Choose The Right Pie Pan For Your Bake

Any baker knows that it's crucial to get a recipe's ingredients exactly right, but choose your baking vessel unwisely, and all that effort goes to waste. Pie pans are especially impactful, with a huge bearing on the baking time, texture of the crust, and more. To get a slice of knowledge on this topic, we asked Walleska Cianfanelli, Executive Pastry Chef at Wilton Sweet Studio, how to figure out which pans suit which pies.

Cianfanelli pointed out pros and cons for popular materials, saying, "Metal produces the crispest bottom crust, while glass helps you double-check the browning, but heats slower. Ceramic retains heat well, but can produce a pale-looking crust if baked too gently." Baking a pie in an aluminum pan produces a crispy crust because the metal heats up quickly and evenly. The bottom won't have a chance to sog up, instead turning golden-brown from edge to center — perfect for flaky, fruity bakes like lemon blueberry pie. "A high-quality, nonstick metal baking pan works the best for most bakers," Cianfanelli said.

That said, viewing the pie through a clear glass pan is an asset for anxious cooks, as it can help you prevent burnt or underdone bottoms. Ceramic is best for pies that need a long baking time, which could overcook in a metal or glass pan (see classic pecan pie). To prevent an overly pale crust, try placing the dish close to the heat source in your oven. Once you've settled on a material, it's time to consider pan sizes.

While a pie pan's material is partly up to you, the dimensions usually aren't — using a smaller dish than the recipe requires can cause the filling to overflow, while a pan that's too big may result in a shallow pie that bakes more quickly than you expect. Most recipes specify the depth and diameter of the dish, but if not, Walleska Cianfanelli explained that "a standard recipe assumes a 9-inch, 1¼–1½-inch-deep pan. A deeper pan requires more filling and [a] longer bake time." When experimenting with a pan, use sensory cues to tell when your pie is done baking instead of relying solely on the recipe's cook time.

Cianfanelli added that "a pan with a pronounced rim will make fluting easier and hold its shape better during baking." Fluting the edge of a crust involves pressing and pinching the dough to create an appealing wavy shape. Decorating your pie crust becomes much easier when you have a solid rim underneath the dough, which supports your design and ensures it won't droop in the oven.

There are many more factors to consider when choosing the right pan, including the price, weight, aesthetic appeal, and temperature tolerance (quick tip: metal pans can withstand transfers from hot to cold environments, while glass or ceramic may shatter). No matter the type of pan, Cianfanelli encouraged bakers to "choose one that is made without PFAs [or] forever chemicals, so it's better for you and the environment."