USA Pan Bakeware Nonstick Round Cake Pan, 9-Inch, Aluminized Steel

Why it's worth it

This 9-inch pan is heavy aluminized steel with a corrugated bottom, and it releases cakes more reliably than a smooth coating does. It's the pan professional review kitchens keep returning to, and the one we'd buy two of.

Aluminized steel is the right metal for cake, and this is the clearest example of it. Light-colored steel reflects oven heat instead of soaking it up. King Arthur Baking's test kitchen found that light aluminum and aluminized steel cut over-browning on cake bottoms by roughly 20% compared with dark steel at the same temperature. America's Test Kitchen found dark-coated carbon steel overbrowns edges up to 15% faster at 350°F. If your cakes come out with crunchy rims, the pan is usually why.

The ridged bottom isn't decoration. Good Housekeeping Institute found that corrugated pans released baked goods cleanly every time across 50 bakes, versus an 88% release rate for smooth PTFE pans. The ridges reduce contact area, so the cake has less surface to cling to. In practice that means fewer moments where you tap the pan on the counter and hope.

From our review of 8 nonstick cake pans and baking sets, by David Sinclair, Managing Editor

What we like

• +Aluminized steel is the right metal for cake, and this is the clearest example of it
• +The ridged bottom isn't decoration
• +Owners describe this pan as noticeably heavy for its size, and that's the point
• +The coating is silicone-based rather than conventional PTFE

What to know

• –The exterior rim has an open lip where the steel is rolled, and batter or grease can work its way into it
• –This is one pan. A layer cake needs two or three, so you're buying multiples, and it's already among the more expensive single…
• –At 9 inches, it's a single size