OK- I might get laughed at for this question. Can I bake four different layers (two 9" and two 8") at the same time? Two on one rack and two on the other? Or could it make them not bake properly? I have been just baking two at a time on the top rack and am wondering why! Seems like I should be able to use both racks, but wanted to make sure with more experienced bakers!

I've done it before with mixed results. It's definitely not recommended though. When I do it, I'll set the timer for half the baking time and then take the pans from the top and put them on the bottom and visa vera. It seems to work fine on my home oven, but didn't work at all when I tried it at my mom's house. I'll be interested to see if anyone else has had good luck w/ it.

I do so all the time. I put the smaller cakes towards the front because they normally finish cooking faster. This way I can remove them with out affecting the larger cakes. I have been know to have 6 to 8 cakes in the same oven all of varying pan sizes and varying flavors. I use a commercial kitchen for my baking now, and can do more than just the 8. However when I was cooking at home I did the same thing. I've never had a problem doing so.

I don't switch the positions of the pans & I don't open the oven for the 1st 20-30 minutes. As I stated before the smaller pans, cupcakes and flavors that I know bake faster all stay toward the front so I can remove when they are done.

If your oven is convection, it shouldn't matter at all. I do it all the time.

I do if I use my convection oven because the heat circulates around the pans, on the regular oven setting, they dont do too well for me so I only use one rack.

I fill my oven both racks, and the only thing that had happened is the cakes on bottom rack can get more browning from the pans above them on top rack...so I try and mix and match hahathe two levels...but it works fine for me

Thanks. I might try it tomorrow. I have a regular oven. Convection oven is just a dream right now!

I have a conventional range and stuff as many cakes into the oven as will fit, with no problem. I used to rotate pans half-way through the bake time but a couple of times when I forgot I saw that it didn't make a significant difference.

You should be fine, just make sure there's enough air circulation - at least an inch between pans and oven wall.

Thank you! Trying it in a couple of hours! Fingers crossed