ACK!! Sorry about that!

"x-archive:no" wrote:
> I tried 4 bananas instead of 6 and I got a little closer. The top on
> one of the loafs did not split. The other split a little. The raw part
> ran along the split on the one loaf, but was much smaller and less
> pronounced, like the split.
>
> This is puzzling because the rest of the loaf turns out so well. Maybe
> I'll give up and but them in muffin pans and just make banana muffins
> from now on.
>
> I guess I'll try metal pans next.
>
> SIGH.

Don't despair. Your recipe has a high ratio of wet to dry ingredients. It
may simply need closer attention to egg size, banana size/quantity/ripeness,
the amount and nature of other liquids (what? their nature?!?!) and so on.
Measure carefully and be consistent. Baking is science, and science seeks
equilibrium.

The poster who suggested getting an oven thermometer was quite correct. You
may have cold spots or a dodgy thermostat. You can bake all day at a
temperature too low and end up only with a dry loaf with soggy spots! The
same thing will happen if you just try to turn up the temperatu burned
loaf wet in the middle.

Buy either steel or aluminum loaf pans (in fact, use metal for all cakes,
breads, pies, cookies, etc.), either will work. The timing is the same for
both, but heat retention is very different and you must get your baked goods
away from heat-hogging steel as quickly as possible. My own preference is
aluminum.

By sure to buy naked pans! There's no need to see your reflection in them,
but you do need pans that are silvery-gray. This "white metal" surface has
better heat distribution. Coated or other dark-surfaced pans promote
scorching and burning and, like glass, require reduced baking times. They
also don't clean up well without a lot of fuss. As for non-stick: any pan
will be non-stick if you prep it right.