argh. i just had to get that off my chest. everytime i bake with them, yes, the tops are better off, but the sides and bottoms never brown fully. i suppose i'm just whining. i've baked 3 tiers of a wedding cake tonight and am having the "worst" luck. to top it off, i was at the end of the can of non stick baking spray and so it didnt work that well- the sides and bottoms are sticking to the pan! ok- thought that whining would make me feel better, and i suppose in an odd way, i do, but it still stinks.

but darned those dumb strips!

are they too wet??


I've never had a problem with them, but I use flower nails as well.

I also make my own batch of pan grease

Gosh, I think it's a GOOD thing that my white cake doesn't turn that yucky, looks-like-it's-overcooked, brown color. I LIKE the nice, white, golden shade of perfection that doesn't look like a line of poopy down the middle of my wedding cakes!

Yep! No browning of the cakes for me!

Too chicken to try the strips.

I feel sorry for you Melysa, really do. Can I have your scraps?

I'm still dreaming about your choco mocha cake -- and I am NOT a coffee drinker!! heh heh

to tell you the truth (dont anyone take offense), I cant tell the difference; I used to use them but I have a stack of flower nails and those are soo much easier; maybe its multiple flower nails? the pans? lower oven temp? or a combination not sure but I get the same results with or without....

melysa I hate them too! I never used them for 26 years with no problems then because I heard so much praise on CC I bought a set, talk about being swayed by peer pressure They are hard to handle, I burned my fingertips when I took them off, I will probably put them in the goodwill box that I take once a month.
If it ain't broke don't fix it!

Jibbies

poop debi ?!?!?!?!?!? i'm too tired and frustrated to laugh even though that was kind of funny. not brown- just firm and lightly golden, basically not MUSH that sticks to the pan. if i let it go longer, the top is dark dark dark.

i just did another tier without the strips and aaaah, its perfect. not much of a dome either.

i'm tired. 4 more cakes to go, and decorating a grooms cake tonight so i can do the wedding cake tomorrow. the grooms cake is a vintage nintendo game console with controllers. its already fondanted (is that a word? haha) just needs lots of detail.

GI, that IS good chocolate cake isnt it?

Well for hundreds of years, I haven't used them but have thought seriously about starting to use them as I am really tired of throwing away the cake bumps. That is alot of cake in the trash and NO , I don't make cake balls. Don't need anything else to do.
So are they recommended or 86'ed??

cakequeen50
I'm 86ing mine (see earlier post)

Jibbies

I love my bake even strips. I also use a flower nail too, which makes for a very little dome when I bake. So put me down as a "stripper"

Indy, I'm joining ya in the TMI...except my strip was to Play That Funky Music White Boy, back in the disco days.

play that funky music white boy...oh man, i'm going to be singing that song all night long now. thanks. lol.

i like using the heavy duty pans, seems like i dont need much of anything with those. no stips, no nail, no dome, no nothin'.

oh well. unfortunately on this cake, i dont have a full set of the magic line pans so i'll make do.

done baking... aaaah

when I use strips, they definateley come out flatter.. I'm a stripper..

Wendy

Love my bake even strips .

I don't even use grease anymore; I line my pans with parchment paper and collar the sides. That may change as I start purchasing 3" deep pans, but parchment paper collars / bake even strips are the only way to get decent height on my round/square cakes at the moment.

I have not had any problems with the bake even strips. I do make my own pan coat:
1 cup oil (liquid)
1 cup shortening (solid)
1 cup flour (plain not self-rising)
Mix all together in KA until combined and keep in a covered container the fridge. I use a pastry brush to spread it in my cake pans.
Happy Baking and Decorating

I'm a sort of stripper i think! I use strips of soaked newspaper round the outside of my tins and it makes so much difference! But my kids are disappointed that they don't get to eat so many domes now..........

thanks for sharing your home made coat secret. how long will that keep in the fridge? I am also half wilton & half magic line. I love those heavy pans & it definitely bake different than the wilton.

becca and ml3, me too...half and half. i LOVE the difference in the good pans. its a time saver and even an INGREDIENT saver!

i'm done with the nintendo cake- came out pretty cool...i am proud

now i'm working on getting the brides cake iced....thankfully i use smbc and so it smooths well and fills in the little gaps where my blasted cakes stuck to the cheap pans!

i slept 2 hours last night and took a mini nap this morning. i'll surviving on red bull energy drink. i'll be happy when tomorrow is finished!

I love them in fact before I found them back in the 70's I used strips of wet towel with safety pins.

I have found the new ones I bought in the last few years do not soak up the water as fast as my old ones.... but sitting them in a bowl of water solves that.

I always use them though I do use a flower nail for the very large cakes also.

I also want the sides and bottom of my white cakes done but pale.

I love my bake-even strips. I've got some that I've had for 17 1/2 years that I think have about baked their last cakes. If I ever forget to put one on, I'm frustrated when I have to start leveling then.

I put my strippers in a bowl of cold water, squeeze the air out, and then put a small plate on top to keep them under the water. When I take them out, I squeeze out the water and attach. It works really well for large cakes that have a longer baking time.

I need to get some new 9" rounds so I think I'll try out the Magic Line pans and see how they work.

Sorry I'm jumping in late here but I was having the same problem. Finally bought an oven thermometer, didn't think I needed it the oven is still kinda new. I found out my oven was running about 25 degrees lower than I would set it. So when I would set my oven at 325 it was barely reaching 300. The baking strips were making it take even longer for any heat to reach the batter. AGHHHH! No wonder I was having all those problems.

Biya, I have oven problems too! I tried baking brownies and blondies and they were done around the edges but very rawish/over moist in the middle. My cakes are always more done on the edges. How much did the oven thermometer cost? My oven runs hot, so therefore, I'm always underbaking to try to avoid burning! I hate playing this stupid game!