Bake Times Depend on Pan Size and Material

With Thanksgiving less than 6 weeks away,¹ stores are promoting supplies and ingredients for baking. From flour and sugar to roasting pans and serving platters, stores are helping us prepare for a feast even while Halloween candy and decor vie for our attention.

I've always found baking to be tricky. I can improvise when I cook on the stove top, but I need a recipe to make cookies and cakes. And even then the results are underwhelming. Usually the bake time is underestimated. I poke at least a few toothpick holes in the cakes to test for doneness, and I tend to produce slightly raw desserts.

It turns out that bake times vary a lot; the pan size and material have a significant impact. Here's a summary derived from a box of brownie mix:⁴

• Dark pans shorten baking time by 3 minutes.
• Glass or ceramic pans increase baking time by 5 minutes
• The surface area and volume of the batter matter, too. For a given volume…
  • a smaller pan such as 8" by 8" (or 64 sq. in.) might require 30 minutes
  • a larger pan such as 9" x 9" (or 81 sq. in.) might require only 26 minutes.

This defines a significant range; it spans 23 to 35 minutes. And this doesn't account for variations in oven temperature or the temperature of the pan and ingredients.

Equipped with this new information, I'll be moving on to the testing phase. Time to bake brownies!

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¹ In USA, Thankgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November;² in Canada, it's the second Monday of October.³

² The Emacs-lisp expression (holiday-float 11 4 4 "Thanksgiving USA") can be added to the holiday-other-holidays variable, or (diary-float 11 4 4 "Thanksgiving USA") added to your diary file.

³ The Emacs-lisp expression (holiday-float 10 1 2 "Canadian Thanksgiving") can be added to the holiday-other-holidays variable, or (diary-float 10 1 2 "Canadian Thanksgiving") added to your diary file.

⁴ Rising Star Organic Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie mix

Dream: Imaginary Goal Line

I'm in a field.  There's a group of older children or young adults.  About half of the group are facing the other half.  It seems they are practicing football with an imaginary ball.  Now, one person is pretending to be the quarterback; she drifts back from the imaginary scrimmage line as if to pass.  The others (aka, the defense) react.  Then she runs to the side, parallel to the scrimmage line; the others react differently.  It seems to be an exercise for the defense.  They read the quarterback's reactions and then carry out their play.

At some point, someone on defense has a real ball, and she throws it to me.  I'm not part of their group or on any team, but I decide to pretend and play along.  I run toward the imaginary goal line.  I will evade the defense, fake them out, confuse them.  I'm committed to this, confident that I can do this.  "All I have to do is just run and don't drop the ball," I tell myself.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20260811

I'm still eating ice cream. I don't seem to care about losing weight. I'd prefer to keep it under 200lbs, though.

Waist = 45.5"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20260721

I'm eating a great deal of ice cream. To be specific, I finish a 48oz container in two days, which averages to one and a half pints per day.

Waist = 45.0"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20260713

Batteries have been replaced, so I've included the percent fat. But I didn't measure my waist.

Waist = 44.5"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Message From the Universe

I told my wife that I keep seeing our daughter's former classmates at the store, but now they're all grown up!

"What do you think it means?" I asked my wife.  "Is the Universe trying to tell me something?"

"Yes, you're old."

Wednesday Weigh-In 20260628

The scale needs new batteries. All I get from it is weight.

Waist = 44.5"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.