Muffin pans are one of the essential tools in the kitchen of every passionate baking enthusiast. If you still haven’t bought your own, you’ll be facing the choice between steel and silicone muffin pans. They both come with their own ups and downs that you should keep in mind when buying them.
Silicone Muffin Pans
Silicone muffin pans owe their popularity to their flexible form, which allows you to easily release muffins from their molds. To make the whole thing even better, they’re freezer, dishwasher, and microwave safe and you can use them without nonstick coating.
Silicone pans, however, come with several downsides. Your muffins may not bake evenly every time, and you’ll need to put your silicone pan on a baking sheet because it’s difficult to hold on its own. This problem can be solved with a silicone muffin pan that has a built-in steel frame, but they usually come with a higher price tag.
Steel Muffin Pans
Muffin pans made from stainless steel or aluminum are extremely popular for more reasons than one. If you want your muffins to bake evenly, you can’t go wrong with them because they do a great job conducting heat.
The downside of nonstick stainless steel pans is their tendency to rust over time. To avoid this issue, you can opt for an aluminum pan—a model made with thick aluminum will last you for years to come due to its durability.
