Greasing the bottom of a baking pan makes cakes easier to remove. Many recipes also call for flouring the pan after it is greased, typically when the recipe is particularly high in fat. The whole idea is to form a barrier, to keep the batter from clinging to the pan.
Beaten egg white cake batters rise best when they have can grip onto and climb up the sides of the cake pan; if you greased the pan, the batter would fall flat. When making butter or most fat-based cakes, it is best to grease the cake pan.
It used to be that they would only grease the bottom of the pan if you were making brownies. It helps them to rise, and they just naturally pull away from the sides slightly when they are done.
Greasing the pan is a necessary step even when using a nonstick pan. Whether you're using a bundt pan, cake pan, cupcake pan, or cookie sheet, applying a thin layer of grease to the sides and bottom of the pan will help your baked goods release with ease.
When a cake bakes in a non-greased pan, it will adhere to the glass or metal instead of having a thin layer of fat or oil working as a layer of defense. So, in your attempt to remove the cake from the pan the cake will struggle to come out, which will often result in the crumb tearing or falling to pieces.
You can use anything from a canola oil or olive oil spray to coconut oil or butter. Olive oil can be used in a pinch, but is a little harder to get to stick to the sides of the pan if you go too heavy handed. My personal choice is an olive oil spray, so it still sticks all around the pan and is easy to use.
Mistake 4: Leaving your pans unwashed
All that greasy residue, leftover food and even dishwater will do damage to the non-stick coating, wearing it down over time. Your best bet? Wash up asap.
For extra insurance against sticking, grease the sides of the pan and use a piece of parchment on the bottom. Parchment paper (or a substitute) is great for the bottoms of flat pans like round or square cake pans and loaf pans. Obviously you can't use parchment on molded pans like Bundt pans.
Make sure you grease and line your cake tin to prevent the cake from sticking to the side whilst baking, making it difficult to remove from the tin. Use a pastry brush and brush a small amount of butter or oil around the sides of the tin.
You need to be extremely careful with hot grease or oil, which can be upwards of 300 degrees if you just finished cooking. If you can, leave the oil in the pot or pan for a while to cool down, then dispose of it in a solid waste container. If you need to dispose of hot oil, pour it carefully into a metal container.
The parchment guarantees that the cake pulls away from the pan bottom completely, and a coat of grease and flour on the parchment and up the pan sides helps the batter cling and rise and ensures that the parchment pulls away from the cake bottom without removing large crumbs.
If you are baking a cake, always grease and flour the pan before adding the batter if you want the cake to unmold cleanly and easily. This is extra important if you're using a fancy bundt pan or making a tall, multi-layered cake.
Coating a greased cake pan with a thin dusting of flour creates a barrier between the grease and the cake batter, which prevents the grease from melting and disappearing into the batter as the cake bakes, allowing it to do its job in the end, after the cake is baked.
When it comes to greasing pans, vegetable oil and shortening are actually better choices. They may not impart any extra butter flavor to the “crusts” of your cake, but they are both more effective at preventing cakes from sticking than butter.
Yes, you grease the pan and then also grease the parchment. This creates an ultra-nonstick environment for your cake. The cake won't stick to the pan, and the parchment round won't stick to the cake.
Preparing the Pan
Be sure to select a light-colored, shiny pan, which will conduct heat evenly. Glass or dark-colored pans can cause the edges to overbake or even burn. Always grease the pan thoroughly with shortening, softened butter, or cooking spray. (Do this even if the recipe doesn't specify.)
With clean hands rub butter inside the pan, making sure to smear it across the entirety of the pan's interior. Use a spoonful of flour and dust inside the pan. Or put the full spoonful in and shake and tap the cake tin until you can see a light coat of flour covers the whole inside.
Q When it says to grease and flour a baking sheet, can I always just use parchment? A The definitive answer is yes and no. Buttering and flouring is one way to be sure cakes won't stick to the pan. Use parchment, or cheaper wax paper, to line the bottom of the pan, but you should still butter and flour the sides.
Always line cake pans with parchment paper
The most important preparation you can make when baking a cake is to line the pans (these are the pans that I use) with parchment paper. This ensures that the bottom of the cake will not stick to the pan, and that it will all come out in one piece.
Parchment + nonstick pan spray. Silicone-coated baking paper (parchment) is the cake baker's best friend. Line the bottom of your pan with nonstick parchment, then coat the pan's sides with nonstick pan spray.
Our recommendation: With breaded and battered foods, reuse oil three or four times. With cleaner-frying items such as potato chips, it's fine to reuse oil at least eight times—and likely far longer, especially if you're replenishing it with some fresh oil.
1. Clean after every use: While skillet is still warm, wipe it clean with paper towels to remove excess food and oil. Rinse under hot running water, scrubbing with brush or nonabrasive scrub pad to remove traces of food.
The metals cool too quickly and the pan actually starts to pull against itself. The bigger the temperature difference, the greater the shock, but even a small amount of cold water in the bottom of your sink can cause a pan to warp, shatter, crack or chip. Warped pans are a major problem because they won't cook evenly.
It's best to heat the pan first, then add oil or butter. You add oil after the pan is hot to prevent the oil from breaking down prematurely. It can make a huge difference because broken down oil becomes sticky. And sticky oil can ruin your culinary creation - not good.
Butter has a very low burn point, which makes it ill-suited to anything more than pan frying. The burning point of olive oil is around 410 degrees F (210 degrees C), which will generally cover much cooking; butter's burn point is about 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).