Various recipes will tell you to use a square or a round pan. So
here I am wondering if there is any reason why there is a
difference. For example, a 9 inch round or an 8x8 inch square have
about the same area:

9 inch = 63,6 inches square

8 x 8 inch = 64 inches square

So, if I make a cake in an 8x8 inch pan when the recipe calls for a
9 inch round, is there any real difference? Certainly not in area.

I can understand if I baked something in a 16x8 pan when it called
for an 8x8, but the above example is what I'm thinking of, when
it's so close.

Can anyone offer an informed opinion on this? I rarely bake so
this sort of thing throws me.

Oh pshaw, on Mon 12 Nov 2007 05:57:36p, Michel meant to say...

> Various recipes will tell you to use a square or a round pan. So
> here I am wondering if there is any reason why there is a
> difference. For example, a 9 inch round or an 8x8 inch square have
> about the same area:
>
> 9 inch = 63,6 inches square
>
> 8 x 8 inch = 64 inches square
>
> So, if I make a cake in an 8x8 inch pan when the recipe calls for a
> 9 inch round, is there any real difference? Certainly not in area.
>
> I can understand if I baked something in a 16x8 pan when it called
> for an 8x8, but the above example is what I'm thinking of, when
> it's so close.
>
> Can anyone offer an informed opinion on this? I rarely bake so
> this sort of thing throws me.
>
>

Very little difference in most cases. I suppose it depends on what you're
baking. Some things that are more sensitive to heat may fair better in a
round pan because corners may tend to get a little hotter.

--
Wayne Boatwright

(to e-mail me direct, replace cox dot net with gmail dot com)
__________________________________________________ ____________

OK, I'm weird ! But I'm saving up to be eccentric.

Michel wrote:
> Various recipes will tell you to use a square or a round pan. So
> here I am wondering if there is any reason why there is a
> difference. For example, a 9 inch round or an 8x8 inch square have
> about the same area:
>
> 9 inch = 63,6 inches square
>
> 8 x 8 inch = 64 inches square
>
> So, if I make a cake in an 8x8 inch pan when the recipe calls for a
> 9 inch round, is there any real difference? Certainly not in area.
>
> I can understand if I baked something in a 16x8 pan when it called
> for an 8x8, but the above example is what I'm thinking of, when
> it's so close.
>
> Can anyone offer an informed opinion on this? I rarely bake so
> this sort of thing throws me.

No appreciable difference if the volume is the same (that is, if
you're not trying to make a cake in an 8x8x1 pan that needs a
two-inch-deep round 9-inch pan, or something). A lot of times, the
shape we bake/cook things in is as much about tradition and the
recipe author's aesthetic as anything else.

(Bottom line is, of course, that ALL recipes are just suggestions,
and making substitutions and fudging are all part of the legit
process of cooking from recipes.)

Serene

--
Spin the auto-sig generator, and she says:

"History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden
people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the
lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as
religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own
purpose." Thomas Jefferson (source: Letter to von Humboldt, 1813)

Oh pshaw, on Mon 12 Nov 2007 08:58:00p, Sqwertz meant to say...

> On Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:57:36 -0600, Michel wrote:
>
>> So, if I make a cake in an 8x8 inch pan when the recipe calls for a 9
>> inch round, is there any real difference?
>
> One will come out round, the other square. I forget which one
> produces which, though.
>
> -sw
>

Well, I do know you can't put the square one in the round one, at least I
think so. <g>

--
Wayne Boatwright

(to e-mail me direct, replace cox dot net with gmail dot com)
__________________________________________________ ____________

OK, I'm weird ! But I'm saving up to be eccentric.

Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
:Oh pshaw, on Mon 12 Nov 2007 05:57:36p, Michel meant to say...

:> Various recipes will tell you to use a square or a round pan. So
:> here I am wondering if there is any reason why there is a
:> difference. For example, a 9 inch round or an 8x8 inch square have
:> about the same area:
:>
:> 9 inch = 63,6 inches square
:>
:> 8 x 8 inch = 64 inches square
:>
:> So, if I make a cake in an 8x8 inch pan when the recipe calls for a
:> 9 inch round, is there any real difference? Certainly not in area.
:>
:> I can understand if I baked something in a 16x8 pan when it called
:> for an 8x8, but the above example is what I'm thinking of, when
:> it's so close.
:>
:> Can anyone offer an informed opinion on this? I rarely bake so
:> this sort of thing throws me.
:>
:>

:Very little difference in most cases. I suppose it depends on what you're
:baking. Some things that are more sensitive to heat may fair better in a
:round pan because corners may tend to get a little hotter.

There's less edge area on the round pan (~28 inches) than on the
square one (32 inches), which means that for things where there's
a difference in edge texture, one pan may be preferable to the other.
cooking times may change, too, as the square pan has less distance
from any point in the interior to the edge. Both effects are small.

David Scheidt said...

> Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>:Oh pshaw, on Mon 12 Nov 2007 05:57:36p, Michel meant to say...
>
>:> Various recipes will tell you to use a square or a round pan. So
>:> here I am wondering if there is any reason why there is a
>:> difference. For example, a 9 inch round or an 8x8 inch square have
>:> about the same area:
>:>
>:> 9 inch = 63,6 inches square
>:>
>:> 8 x 8 inch = 64 inches square
>:>
>:> So, if I make a cake in an 8x8 inch pan when the recipe calls for a
>:> 9 inch round, is there any real difference? Certainly not in area.
>:>
>:> I can understand if I baked something in a 16x8 pan when it called
>:> for an 8x8, but the above example is what I'm thinking of, when
>:> it's so close.
>:>
>:> Can anyone offer an informed opinion on this? I rarely bake so
>:> this sort of thing throws me.
>:>
>:>
>
>:Very little difference in most cases. I suppose it depends on what
you're
>:baking. Some things that are more sensitive to heat may fair better in a
>:round pan because corners may tend to get a little hotter.
>
> There's less edge area on the round pan (~28 inches) than on the
> square one (32 inches), which means that for things where there's
> a difference in edge texture, one pan may be preferable to the other.
> cooking times may change, too, as the square pan has less distance
> from any point in the interior to the edge. Both effects are small.


If the pans were both the same height, using the same amount of batter, the
round pan would create a taller "casserole" than the square pan and the
square pan would cook faster. If temps were equal.

Andy

Wayne Boatwright > scripsit in
6.120:

>> Various recipes will tell you to use a square or a round pan.
>> So here I am wondering if there is any reason why there is a
>> difference.
>
> Very little difference in most cases. I suppose it depends on
> what you're baking.

In this case, it's a cake batter. One is a white cake (round), the
other is a chocolate cake (square).

http://www.magicmixes.com/products/cake.html

I make these quickly in a pinch. Yesterday I had to make one (the
preferred bakery was closed...renovations) as we were having the
step-daughter and adjunct for supper. In order to be able to use
the oven space efficiently, I baked the cake in the toaster oven,
which turned out fine. The problem is that I could not properly
fit my 9 inch round (it has a thick lip) so I selected the
chocolate cake mix rather than the white one (which I prefer).

The reason we use these mixes is that they contain no wheat or
gluten (wife's dietary requirement).