Ok ... after reading a bunch of posts about how many of you just level your cakes by slicing off the part that rises above the cake pan ...
How the heck are you getting your cakes to bake up so tall?
I have 9"x2" and 6"x2" round pans. Using DH plus Extender recipe. Lowered oven temp. to 325°. Have oven thermom. to verify correct temp. Have greased with Bakers Joy alone, Pam alone, Crisco alone and butter + flour, pam + flour. Using 2 cups for each 6" pan and half of the DH plus extender batter for each 9" pan. I have yet to have a cake rise above the pan.
Should I just put more batter in the pans? How much? Do I really need those Bake-Even strips to solve this?
I use wilton cake release for my pans and it works wonderfully. It seems to be a hit or miss for me, sometimes they rise above the pan and sometimes they like fold over onto themselves. But either way you might just want to fill the pans a bit fuller if there not even rising to the top...about a little more than half full. Bc even if mine fold over, they still are the height of the pan..hope this helps!
Do I really need those Bake-Even strips to solve this?
I took an old towel and cut into 2-inch strips. I wet them and get enough water out of them where they won't drip (in other words, don't squeeze ALL the water out of them). Then, I pin them on my pan. They work just as well as the expensive Wilton strips and were much cheaper! Plus, I have a length for every size pan I have since I was able to custom cut what I needed. Plus...I throw them in the washer with my towels for cleaning. They work like a charm.
Another tip I keep reading is adding Meringue powder to your cakes to help them rise nice and tall. It has helped on the cakes I have done this to as well. HTH.
If you want to see a difference between using the Bake Even strips and not using them then take a look at my photos. The earlier photos was before I started using the bake-even strips and the latter pictures are after I started using them. I will never go back to not using them
Lazy_Susan
I forgot to mention that on some recipes I also have to use parchment collars because the cakes rise so much.
I over fill my cake pans so that the buldge is over the rim and just lop it off the top and wait the 10 minutes and then flip. I also add 1 tsp per cake mix of baking powder, so it will rise nicely.
I recently tried-- again, the bake even strips and was soo very disappointed in the texture of my cake! It was compact and dry. I will not use them again on a regular light and fluffy cake. If the cake is supposed to be dense, I may use it.
Good luck! 
I fill my pans 2/3 of the way full..........sometimes if I'm going for a 3" thickness and only have a 2" pan then I put parchment paper around the inside wall of the pan creating a "collar" then I fill my pan almost all the way up .........I don't think you're filling your pans enough..........one mix with the extender gives me one 9" pan and one 6" pan of batter!
Thanks! This all helps a lot! I'm trying this weekend at least one of these options!
RitzyFritz and jackie64, how much merengue powder do you ad? And would you do the same for a scratch cake?
Thanks
Yeah! How about for a scratch cake! I really wanna try that out! 
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