# greasing and dusting baking pans



## brook (Oct 27, 1999)

When buttering and dusting baking pans with flour, it's easy to grease them, but it's hard to 1) distribute the flour lightly (and evenly) and 2) not get it all over the place. I must be doing something wrong. Any suggestions? Thanks!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Don't try to dust it around, just plop a bit in the center (a tablespoon, very roughly, maybe a little more) and then tilt the pan back and forth, shaking it a little, so it goes all over the bottom, then, holding it over the garbage can or the sink, tilt it around the sides, holding the pan almost vertically, so the flour falls on the sides as well, shaking a little as you make it go around like a wheel so the blop of flour continues around the edges, coating them, but just be careful not to hold it so the flour goes out , shake it so it's distributed all over, then turn it upside down and tap it so the excess falls into the sink or bin, and there you have it.  Dpn't dust it from your hands onto the pan, that'll make you go nuts.  Put a little more than you need and then tap out the excess, the necessary flour will stick to the butter.  The excess will fall out. 

hope this helps


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Just one addition to Siduri's description. It should be obvious, but.....if you're working with more than one pan for a recipe, hold the one you're flouring over the other one, so any excess that falls out will go into the second pan, where it contributes to the dusting.


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## brook (Oct 27, 1999)

Madeleine pans, with their shell designs, are the pits to flour. I tried using a silicone mold thinking it would solve the problem, but it was soft, wiggly (the instructions said not to put it anything underneath), and overflowed. Ugh. On top of all that, the end result looked wan, underbaked, and the bump was miniscule. So I was back to where I started. Now I have another technique to try. Thanks!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I've seen silicone pans but never bought one - they seem very unstable and i imagine the browning would be a problem since I don;t think silicone is a conductor of heat.  And it's just weird to put something soft and plasticky in the oven.

For madeline pans, i would grease with melted butter and a pastry brush to get in all the ridges.  Lots easier!  then dust with flour like you would a large single pan.


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## chaospearl (Feb 15, 2011)

I've used silicone pans.  I love mine because they're lightweight (I have arthritis).  I've had a few mishaps with sticking so now I always grease the pan even though in theory you shouldn't need to.  From my experience the smaller the surface is the more likely it will stick if you don't grease.  All my "incidents" were in a muffin pan; I also have a medium loaf pan and that one's never stuck, even through some really loose sweet doughs.  The only issue with the loaf pan is that, as someone mentioned, they don't seem to brown very well.  I've always used an egg white wash to make my breads look browned and pretty; the one time I forgot my poor banana loaf was rather pasty looking.


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