Loaf Pans for Sourdough: Glass, Metal, Pullman or Cast Iron

Lodge lists its cast iron loaf pan at 8.5 x 4.5 inches and 6 cups, and Pyrex lists its Easy Grab glass loaf pan at 1.5 quarts, which is also 6 cups. Two pans with the same capacity still bake a sourdough loaf differently, because one is heavy iron and the other is glass that must never meet a sudden temperature change. Pan size decides how tall the loaf gets; pan material decides how the crust browns and how you handle the pan.

If you already own a glass pan, the method is in our guide to baking sourdough in a glass loaf pan. For the dough itself, use the soft sourdough sandwich loaf or the everyday sandwich bread formula. This page is about choosing the pan.

Why "any loaf pan bakes the same" falls apart

Put the 1,000 g dough from our sandwich bread formula, which is written for a 9 x 5 inch pan, into an 8.5 x 4.5 inch pan and it has about 15 percent less room. The dough crests higher over the rim, the center takes longer to reach temperature, and the top browns before the middle is done. Move the same dough into glass instead of aluminized steel and the sides brown more slowly but the pan keeps heating the loaf after it leaves the oven.

Size, material and lid each change the result. The sections below take them one at a time, with the numbers so you can work out your own pan.

Reading the size on the label

Loaf pan sizes are inside measurements at the top rim, and the walls slope inward toward the base. Lodge shows this on its BW8LP drawing: 8.5 x 4.38 inches at the top, but a flat bottom of 7.75 x 3.86 inches. That taper is why a pan always holds less than its label suggests.

One US cup is 14.44 cubic inches. The box volume is an upper bound: Lodge's 8.5 x 4.5 pan works out to about 7.4 cups as a box, and Lodge lists 6 cups, so roughly 80 percent of the box is real capacity in a pan with sloped sides.

Scaling dough weight from a pan you know

The reliable way to fill a new pan is to scale from a recipe that already worked, using the ratio of pan volumes. Our sandwich bread formula puts 1,000 g into a 9 x 5 pan:

1. 8.5 x 4.5 pan: 105 ÷ 124 = 0.85, so 1,000 g × 0.85 ≈ 850 g of dough.
2. 10 x 5 x 3 pan: 150 ÷ 124 = 1.21, so about 1,210 g.
3. Pullman 13 x 4 x 4: 208 ÷ 124 = 1.68, so about 1,680 g as a ceiling, because the lid stops the rise.

Going the other way: our glass loaf pan recipe adds up to 748 g (400 g flour, 260 g water, 80 g starter, 8 g salt). That fits an 8.5 x 4.5 pan with room to spare, and in a 9 x 5 pan it bakes as a lower loaf. Keep the baker's percentages and change only the total; our guide to baker's percentages shows how.

Aluminized steel pans

The USA Pan Small Bread Loaf Pan (item 1140LF-1) has an 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.75 inch baking surface; the Large Bread Loaf Pan (1150LF-1) measures 10 x 5 x 3 inches. Both are aluminized steel with the Americoat silicone coating, and USA Pan states a limit of 450°F (230°C). The maker also notes that its bakeware conducts heat efficiently, so you may need to reduce baking time or temperature.

For a sourdough sandwich loaf baked at 375°F (190°C), as in our recipes, the 450°F limit leaves room. USA Pan advises against cooking spray on this coating and asks for hand washing, so grease with butter or oil as the recipe directs.

Glass loaf pans and the rules Pyrex sets

The Pyrex Easy Grab 1.5-quart Glass Loaf Pan holds 6 cups and measures about 11.25 x 6 x 3.25 inches on the outside, handles included. Glass lets you see the side and bottom crust, which is the main reason bakers choose it. The trade-off is the handling rules in Pyrex's own safety instructions:

• Preheat the oven fully before the dish goes in.
• Avoid sudden temperature changes.
• Never add liquid to hot glassware.
• No stovetop, broiler or grill use.
• Do not set hot glassware on a countertop, a metal surface or in the sink. Pyrex recommends letting it cool on a cooling rack, a dry potholder or a dry cloth instead.

Cold proofing needs the same care. Our glass pan method proofs the dough in the pan for 8 to 16 hours in the fridge, followed by 1 to 2 hours at room temperature. Keep that room-temperature step: it also takes the chill off the glass, so the pan never goes straight from the fridge into a hot oven.

A widely repeated cookbook rule says to bake 25°F lower in glass. Pyrex's published instructions do not give that number, so treat it as a starting point and judge doneness with a thermometer instead.

Cast iron: heavy, slow and even

The Lodge Seasoned Cast Iron Standard Loaf Pan (BW8LP) weighs 3.68 lb and holds 6 cups. All that iron takes longer to heat and then holds its heat, which favors a deep, even bottom crust. Lodge marks it as not intended for stovetop use and asks you to hand wash, dry and oil it after each bake.

Cast iron has the same 8.5 x 4.5 footprint as the small USA Pan, so the scaling math above applies unchanged: about 850 g when you start from a 9 x 5 formula. The weight matters more at the end of the bake, when you tip a hot 3.68 lb pan to release the loaf, which takes two dry oven mitts, than it does in the oven.

Ceramic bakers with a lid

The Emile Henry Bread Loaf Baker is a ceramic pan with a domed, vented lid. Emile Henry lists an interior of 22.5 x 13 cm (about 8.9 x 5.1 inches), a capacity of 2.21 L (about 9.3 cups), and a temperature range from -20°C to 270°C (518°F). The lid traps moisture from the dough during the first part of the bake, similar to a small Dutch oven shaped for a loaf.

That interior is close to a 9 x 5 pan, so a 1,000 g formula is a sensible first fill; check how close the dough rises toward the lid and adjust the next bake. The dishwasher listing on the maker's page makes cleanup easier than with cast iron.

Pullman pans for square sandwich slices

The USA Pan Large Pullman Loaf Pan and Cover (1160PM-1) has a 13 x 4 x 4 inch baking surface and a sliding lid. With the lid on, the loaf rises into a square profile and the crumb stays tight, which suits sandwiches for school lunches and toasters with narrow slots.

The lid also makes fill weight critical. Too little dough and the corners stay rounded; too much and the dough pushes against the lid. Use the scaling ratio as a ceiling, write down your weight, and adjust the next bake by the gap you see at the corners.

Dark nonstick versus light finishes

Dark pans absorb more radiant heat than light ones, which is why many recipes, including our glass pan guide, suggest 25°F less for a dark metal pan. Neither USA Pan nor Lodge publishes a fixed number for this, and USA Pan's own wording stays general. Measure instead of guessing: a sandwich loaf is done when the center reaches the temperature your recipe gives, for example 205 to 210°F (96 to 99°C) in our everyday sandwich bread formula.

Matching the pan to your recipe and your oven

Check three things before ordering:

1. Recipe size: Find the pan size the recipe was written for and compare volumes with the table above. A recipe without a pan size can be sized from its total dough weight.
2. Oven fit: The 13-inch Pullman is 14.5 inches long on the outside, per USA Pan. Measure your oven, and especially a countertop or toaster oven, before buying it.
3. Heat limit: If you bake hotter than 450°F, the USA Pan coating limit rules it out; the Emile Henry rating of 518°F gives more headroom.

When a new pan will not fix the loaf

A dense or gummy crumb almost always traces back to fermentation or underbaking. Check our guides on dense crumb and gummy sourdough first. If your free-form loaves spread flat, the issue is shaping and proofing, covered in flat sourdough loaves; a pan only hides it. And if you mostly bake round country loaves, a loaf pan adds nothing that our Dutch oven guide does not already cover.

Loaf pan comparison at a glance

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Picking a sourdough loaf pan you will keep using

Start from the recipe you bake most and the pan size it was written for. Scale dough weight by pan volume, not by the pound label. Choose aluminized steel for the simplest everyday bake, glass if you want to see the crust and can follow Pyrex's handling rules, cast iron for an even bottom crust, a Pullman for square slices, and a lidded ceramic baker for a crustier loaf. Whatever you choose, judge doneness by internal temperature, and fix fermentation before you spend money on bakeware.