Three weeks ago, I took Tom to a DAN! doctor. (DAN! is Defeat Autism Now! Tom is not technically autistic, but he has responded positively to the autistic diet - GFCF.) Last night, I was actually writing up a HUGE summary of it to post on Child Neuro and reference over here, then I got distracted by OBT coming to life.

A lot of what the doctor told me, I was already familiar with, thanks in large part to this board. He told me I needed to get rid of my teflon pans, which I knew... just hadn't actually done yet. Then, he said get rid of my aluminum! My aluminum bakeware is my "good stuff." He recommends cast iron, stainless steel, and if you have the money... Le Creuset.

Right now, as a compromise, I'm using cupcake liners in my muffin pans. I saw that Pampered Chef carries stoneware muffin pans (I think they were $33 each), and cookie sheets and loaf pans. I bought a pyrex loaf pan... haven't used it yet (it was $5... affordable). Another site carries stainless steel cookie sheets (forgot to check out loaf and muffin pans).

Before I go sinking a fortune in this, do any of you have experience baking with pyrex or stoneware or stainless steel? I'm interested in cupcakes/muffins, breads, cakes, and cookies. I'm pretty much covered for other types of cooking. Do you have a preference and why? I keep thinking if you bake with glass, you have to lower the temperature 25deg and bake longer. Is that true? What about stoneware and stainless? Any help is appreciated.

I've been shopping for stainless steel muffin pans and cookie sheets forever! I finally found some on-line, but the "really nice" muffin pan (tri-ply) costs $31.00! We don't do much with muffins at the moment, but I too am using liners when I do. It is so hard to find anything that is not coated or made with aluminum! Sorry I wasn't any help - just thought I'd commiserate!

Sounds like stoneware and stainless are about the same price. Ugh. Since Tom can't have rice, I've been baking all the bread he eats. The first sandwich bread recipe I found actually said to drop it in a muffin pan. He's not a big fan of cereal, so I've been making muffins for breakfast. So, I've actually used my muffin pans a lot lately. I'm still operating under the "small is better" principle for GF baking (not such a big deal if it doesn't rise, won't crumble or crack as badly, etc.)

I'm also kind of thinking of this as my Christmas present from my parents and in-laws. They're always wondering what to buy for me and appreciate it when I can tell them what I want. (And, I like getting something I like.) Just need to figure out which is the better way to go.

I heard somewhere (food network maybe?) that pyrex/glass bakeware shouldn't be used for breads. When the bread rises, it needs to kind of stick to the sides, and pyrex is so smooth it doesn't offer the dough anything to climb on. (Same as with things like angel food cakes - anything that needs to rise a lot, and even when whipping egg whites or cream.) I don't know if that's true, but I've wondered if that's one of the reasons I have so much problem with bread loaves - I have only a pyrex loaf pan. Someday I'll get a stainless steel one or something and attempt an actual loaf of bread. I'm pretty happy with my sandwich buns, tho, thanks to Cara.

myst

For muffins why not use those new silicone bakeware products? You can't use silicone stuff on the stove but you can get the inserts to use on the cookie sheets. They make bread pans out of silicone.

They mean less fat needed because they won't stick.

http://www.noveltybin.com/Product.asp?PID=40015

Scroll down for an article on silicone bakeware. But this site mentions other materials and what you need to look for when buying them.

http://www.dld123.com/q&a/index.php?category=Food

I don't have much to offer on this front either but for a couple of small things:

I've baked Cara's bread in a clear, glass bread dish and it came out perfectly every time.

Dark glass will give a dark 'crust' on the outside. Clear class will give a light 'crust'. I found this out every time I made a pie crust with a dark purple, clear, glass pie dish and another crust in a clear pie dish. I finally realized that it wasn't a 'placement in the oven' issue but a 'colour of the dish' issue.

We had a whole thread on silicone at obt. It was enough to convince Karina that she didn't want to use it... and enough to convince me that I still did want it for Christmas baking... but wouldn't settle for anything 'cheap' because it would start to break down at lower temps. I did end up getting a couple of flat grey silicone sheets that can be heated to 600 F before beginning to break down... so I figure my cookies are pretty safe every Friday.

I don't know what I'd use for our family birthday cakes... we all enjoy having angelfood cake and the only pans I've ever seen are aluminum.

I'd also like to know what people think about stone.

I know that aluminum is bad stuff to cook with, and I usually don't. I don't usually cook with Teflon either, but what about all the other non-stick cookware? How about anodized pans (not bakeware usually)? I don't bake much, but I usually use the non-stick stuff. It's not Teflon, but something else. Thoughts?

Claire

Thanks for the input. Kim, that's interesting about the dark vs light glass. I knew that about dark and light metal pans; didn't realize it applied to glass. Along with the bread not rising as high due to less cling on the sides, that's some of the info I'm interested in.

I do vaguely remember the silicone discussion. Wish I remembered it more (or is it that I paid more attention to it? I was happy with my bakeware back then.) My gut is silicone bakeware hasn't been around long enough for us to know. And, I don't know if Tom has problems with heavy metal and other toxin excretion. So, at this point of the game, I don't think it's a wise decision for me to bake with silicone.

As far as Teflon versus other non-stick... I guess I kind of lump it together. I checked my notes, and I didn't write it down. So, I'm not sure if he said no Teflon, or no non-stick. So, once again, I'm thinking none of the non-stick options are good for Tom. A "better safe than sorry" approach.

I too avoid silicone and any type of non-stick coating. Call me a skeptic!

Back in my bread-baking days, I used ceramic/glass bread pans with great results (maybe because of all the vital wheat gluten I added).

Good or bad, I don't know, but I have also used parchment paper (from my nfs) over old <unknown> metal cookie sheets.

Guess my bread problem must be me.

myst