The Best Pie Pans to Bake With
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Choosing the right pie pan is crucial to achieving the perfect pie. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or a novice, the right pan can make all the difference in how your pie bakes and looks! I’m sharing the best pie pans to bake with so you can stock your kitchen and bake with confidence this pie season!
If you’re looking for more pie tutorials, check out some of my others like How to Roll Out a Pie, How to Make Pie Crust in a Mixer, or How to Lattice a Pie Crust.
Table of Contents
From flaky crusts to even baking, the type of pie pan you use can wildly impact your finished pie. In this guide, I’ll explore the best pie pans to bake with, highlighting their benefits and what makes them stand out.
Spoiler alert, the prettiest pie pans are often the worst for baking! But, even if you’re just obsessed with a certain Anthropologie pie dish, I have tricks for baking and displaying perfect pies this holiday season!
1. Cast Iron Pie Pans
My top choice for pies is iron pie pans. These are incredibly durable and versatile. They excel at retaining heat, making them perfect for pies that benefit from a consistent, slow bake. And, let’s be real, this is most pies as baking times are around 1 hour for a standard pie recipe.
Top Choice
Lodge Cast Iron Pie Pan: This pan is a kitchen workhorse, offering superior heat retention and even baking. It’s pre-seasoned, making it naturally non-stick, and it can go from stovetop to oven with ease. It’s perfect for baking pies with hearty fillings like pot pie or deep-dish apple pie. It also bakes pies at high altitude flawlessly with no soggy bottoms!
Benefits of Cast Iron
- Even Heat: Cast iron will provide the most even heat when pie baking.
- Flaky Crust: Because this has even heat, it really creates the most flaky crust! Flaky crust is created when cold butter melts, leaving air pockets in the dough. These air pockets turn into steam from the heat of the oven and expand the air pockets. This results in a flaky crust. So, cold butter is key along with even heat!
- Golden Brown: I always find I get the best golden brown crust with cast iron. This is probably because it creates even heat and gets the hottest!
- Perfect Slices: Because of the even heat, hot pie pan, and perfectly golden crust, this all equates to easily cut slices that come out of the pan with ease!
- Sustainable: Cast iron pie pans are incredibly sustainable because they’re nontoxic and will last forever! They are a great investment for this reason.
2. Stainless Steel Pie Pans
Stainless steel is my second choice after cast iron. Stainless steel is very similar to cast iron in that it bakes very evenly. So, soggy bottoms are usually not an issue with stainless steel. It also creates a very flaky crust! Stainless steel can be very expensive, so this is one of the cons of this kind of pie pan. But, it's a great investment that will last basically forever.
Top Choice
360 Cookware Pie Pan: This pan is made in the USA and is so durable. I love this pan because it also very large. So, if I want a bigger pie then this is my go to pie pan. It’s 12-inches as opposed to the standard 9-inch.
Benefits of Stainless Steel
- Dishwasher Safe: Stainless steel is dishwasher safe, unlike cast iron where you need to hand wash and dry. So if you’re a lazy baker and want easier cleanup, this is a benefit.
- Refrigerator Safe: I love this pie pan because it’s refrigerator safe. So if you’re making a pie like my Banana Cream Pie or Coconut Cream Pie that needs to be stored in the fridge, you can use this pan. Unlike cast iron which should not be stored in the fridge as storing food in cast iron in the fridge can result in breaking down of the seasoned cast iron and can cause a metallic taste in foods.
- Even Baking: Stainless steel pie pans also are known for even baking. They heat up well and create a golden brown, flaky pie crust!
- Sustainable: Stainless steel is one of the most sustainable materials for cookware because it’s recyclable, durable, nontoxic, and lasts forever.
- USA Made: This 360 Cookware Pie Pan is also made in the USA. So, if that's important to you then that's a huge benefit.
3. Aluminum Pie Pans
Aluminum pie pans are lightweight and heat up quickly. They’re perfect for pies that need a crisp, well-browned crust. Aluminum pie pans conduct heat efficiently, which can lead to a perfectly baked crust with no soggy spots. They’re also durable and resistant to breaking or chipping. This pie pan has many of the benefits of cast iron and stainless steel with a much lower price tag. If you're on a budget, this is by far the best pie pan you can buy.
Top Choice
USA Pan Bakeware Aluminized Steel Pie Pan: This pan is known for its superior heat conductivity and non-stick coating. It’s a go-to for bakers that ensures a perfectly browned crust! And it’s easy to clean thanks to the non-stick surface. Not to mention, this is very budget friendly!
Benefits of Aluminum
- Budget Friendly: This is probably the biggest advantage of aluminum pie pan, it’s very budget friendly. So, if you’re on a budget but want the best pie pan, then aluminum is your top pick.
- Even Baking: The aluminum pie pan bakes pies just about as good as cast iron and stainless steel.
- Perfect Slices: This pie pan will turn out perfectly cut slices that come out crisp and golden brown. Very similar to cast iron and stainless steel, aluminum is up there for turning out flaky pie crust.
- Nonstick: This pie pan is nonstick, so if that’s important to you then this is the best option.
4. Ceramic Pie Pans
Ceramic pie pans are not only beautiful but are also known for their ability to retain heat, making them ideal for pies that need to bake longer at lower temperatures. The heavier weight and thicker material of ceramic pans help prevent over-browning, particularly with delicate fillings. I really prefer ceramic pie pans for crusts like Graham Cracker Crust. I don’t like using them for any kind of pie with an all butter pie crust. Ceramic pie pans can cause a soggy bottom to occur in an all butter pie crust, especially when baking at high altitudes.
Top Choice
Staub Ceramic Pie Pan: This high-quality ceramic pie dish is not only beautiful but also well made. Plus, it’s dishwasher safe and comes in a variety of colors to suit any kitchen style.
Benefits of Ceramic Pie Pans
- Pretty: This is the top benefit of using a ceramic pie pan! At least in my opinion! If you want a beautiful pie pan, look no further.
- Durable: Ceramic pie pans are durable and will last a long time. I love using these pie pans for cream pies, like Dark Chocolate Sweet Cream Pie.
- Refrigerator Safe: This is a great pie pan if you are making a pie that needs to be refrigerated.
- Dishwasher Safe: I love that ceramic pie pans are dishwasher safe. If you want to minimize dishes, you can easily put this pie pan in the dishwasher.
5. Glass Pie Pans
This is not my top choice by any means. But they’re out there! Glass pie pans are great because they’re nontoxic, but they do not conduct heat as well as other options. Especially if you’re baking at high altitude, glass pie pans can result in a soggy bottom more easily than cast iron, stainless steel, or aluminum. So if you’re having trouble with soggy bottoms, don’t use a glass pie pan. You can use this type of pie pan for a no bake pie or even one with a Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust as that has minimal oven time.
Top Choice
Pyrex Glass Pie Pan: I love these Pyrex glass pie pans and I have used them many times before. They are sturdy, dishwasher safe, and perfect for refrigerated pies like cream pies or pudding pies.
Benefits of Glass Pie Pans
- Nontoxic: Glass is a great option because they are nontoxic.
- Refrigerator Safe: If you are making a pie that needs to be refrigerated, this is a great option to use.
- Dishwasher Safe: Glass pie pans are dishwasher safe, making for easy cleanup.
- Presentable: Glass pie pans are pretty and can fit in well with any decor for serving.
6. Disposable Aluminum Pie Pans
Disposable aluminum pie pans are convenient, especially for baking pies to share or transport. They’re lightweight, inexpensive, and can be used for both baking and gifting. While they may not provide the same even baking as heavier pans, they’re a great option for quick, no-fuss pies. I don’t like this option because they are not eco friendly and create more waste. But sometimes you need convenience over consciousness if you don’t want to loose your expensive pie pan!
Top Choice
Disposable Aluminum Pie Pans: These pans are sturdy enough to hold up during baking and transportation. They’re perfect for bake sales, potlucks, or when you want to give a pie as a gift without worrying about getting the pan back.
Benefits of Disposable Pie Pans
- Single Use: While I’m not a fan of single use for environmental reasons, sometimes it’s the best option if you’re gifting a pie or baking for a bake sale.
- Durable: This pie pan is surprisingly durable for being disposable.
- Even Baking: Even though these are not as great as cast iron or stainless steel, I'd still choose this over a ceramic or glass dish if I want a buttery and flaky crust without a soggy bottom!
Tips for Baking the Best Pies
- Choosing a pie pan is just as important as following a recipe.
- The kind of pie pan you choose can affect how your pie is baked!
- For pie recipes using an all butter pie crust, it’s best to use cast iron, stainless steel, or aluminum pie pans.
- Be sure to grease pie pans well, especially even more so when using ceramic or glass. I rarely grease my cast iron or aluminum pans, but always have to grease ceramic and sometimes still have issues.
- If you have problems with soggy crust, do not use ceramic or glass pie pans. Stick to cast iron, stainless steel, or aluminum. Even a disposable aluminum pie pan is better than ceramic if you want a flaky, crisp crust.
- If I’m making a pie with an all butter crust and want to serve it in a ceramic pie pan, I transfer it after I bake it in my cast iron or aluminum pie pan! Cast iron and aluminum pie pans work so well, I can always just lift up the entire pie and drop it into my ceramic pie pan for photographing or serving. If you ever see a ceramic pie pan in my posts, I never baked the pie in it, haha!
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The Takeaway
The best pie pan for you depends on what you’re baking and your personal preferences. No matter which type you choose, investing in a quality pie pan can make a big difference in your finished pie. Happy pie baking!
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