So the question is: Can you have too many cake pans? Is there such a thing? HeHe!

I was joking with a friend yesterday telling him I thought I had too many cake pans, and he told me "nah, you can't have too many". I then told him I know when I moved into my house 3 years ago I already had over 100 cake pans then and had bought many more since. "Wow" was his reply back and I asked him if he wanted to revise his answer.

I'm cleaning out my cake room and spent the afternoon washing cake pans and such. I washed 102 cake pans yesterday (5 of these were stand up pans and I counted both sides seperately). That does not include the ones I washed the night before or other previous nights. A rough guess at the moment is that I have 150+ cake pans. This does not include all my mini pans, silcone pans, cupcake pans, and cookie treat pans. Once I get them all cleaned I will sort them and will be able to do a real count of them and maybe actually get rid of a few of them.

I have alot of the basic shaped pans. I think around 50 of them are those. Shapes like the round, square, and hearts I have two of each size. I think I have like 18 round cake pans. I also have the pan sets for the oval and hexagon, but one one set of each, for now. I also just bought Wilton's Paisley pans this last week.

I do have shaped or character pans, though only like 4 are the 'for home use only' pans. The others are the basic stuff that has multi uses or holiday related. Problem is that I don't use them very much and I can honestly say there were some I had forgotten I had.

I know in my head I could sell 2/3rds of the character or shaped pans and probably never miss them. But then there is that other part of me that says, "But, but what if you need one one day?" I don't have kids, so maybe when I do I will have more of a reason to make different bunny cakes at Easter. I have 2 or 3 flat bunny pans and 2 stand up bunnies, but for our big family celebration I have to make the traditional lamb cake so I have never used them.

I do have some multipies of pans that I really don't have to have 2 or 3 of. These are usually pans that I had orginally bought for myself, then somewhere along the way someone offered them to me free or picked it up for me somewhere and were so proud they thought of me I didn't want to say that I already had it.

So share your cake pans thoughts with me...

1. How many cake pans do you have? Are they basic shapes and/or shaped/character pans?

2. Did you once have shaped/character** pans then later sold them? Do you ever miss them or wish you would have held on to them a little longer? **And by this I mean more the non 'for home use' liscenced character pans, such as the hugable teddy or football or juggling clown pans.

3. Who is holding on to cake pans, like I am, with the thoughts of 'maybe one day' and 'what if'?

4. Do you think there is a such thing of owning too many cake pans? And if so, what is that number?

There is absolutely no doubt that I have too many pans, especially now that I'm making maybe 2 to 6 cakes a year!

Strangely though, I'm not quite convinced that I should part with any of them.

I was thinking "wow, that's a lot of pans" until I started trying to sort in my mind how many I have.

I am not so much into the Wilton character pans - don't have any of those. However, I am a sucker for the Nordic Ware shaped pans, especially florals - I have 12 -15 of those. I'm partial to the ones that have multiple smaller cakes. I definately have a few more on my "I want!" list as well - I am getting the shortcake pan soon, and there's a few others I'd love.

I probably have 20 or so assorted round, oval, square and heart pans, mostly in smaller sizes (5 to 9 inches).

I probably have close to a dozen assorted springform, tart, and loaf pans.

I have at least 8-10 cupcake pans in standard, jumbo, and mini.

Hmmm....guess I'm guilty too!

I'd say I have between 50-75 pans, and I've only been decorating a little over a year
We just remodeled the kitchen, and I put 6 boxes of pans in the garage. I have a bunch of "just in case" pans, probably will never need em but I'll keep em anyway

Well.. I disgust myself and my DH... If I can't find a size that I need I think I haven't bought it yet .. so I buy another one... just to find 2 that I already had GRRR LOL... so a bunch here.. I have them all written down somewhere but ...hmm to no suprise I can't find the list

I keep most of my pans in clear rubbermade bins in the attic (large walk in attic space so easy access), grouped by "type" so I can (in theory) find them when I need them.

Ok Sue can you come help me organize? LOL

To many cake pans ?? NEVER ! I hang my head in shame I have very close to 300 pans and 2/300 cookie cutters ! I have only been trying to decorate for 2yrs ? And at first I thought I had to have every neat/cool pan I saw ! I have them in plastic tubs and hubby ( so sweet ) bought be a very very large cabinet to keep them in ! Not to talk about the TONS of other tools etc I have to ! One would think I could really decorate and books Im so so bad ! yahooooooooooo for me !!! Sorry !!!

Oh I understand the organizing part. The basic shapes will go on the selves (that I one day will get into the room) and I will need some more plastic containers for the other pans. I did think about hanging them on the wall in the room. They would get dusty but then I would remember I have them and maybe use them more often?

Well, I have around 250, this includes the basics, round, square, heart, etc. Then I have tons of character pans, cookie pans and minis. Many for home use only. It is not that I think I will use all of them, but it is a challenge for me to find older pans that I have never seen before. Also, last fall, I receive a Pfaltzgraff catalog that had a bunch of silicone cupcake pans that made shapes and of course, I had to have all of those.

I have gotten rid of a few of mine in the past and of course, regret it now. You never know what you are going to need! Plus, I have several friends at work that decorate for their families and I let them borrow them too.

We have a basement that is not completely finished. I went to Lowe's and bought several of the big Rubbermaid type cabinets. I separated the pans by style, sports, baby, boy, girl, general, holidays, etc and then made a list of what was on each shelf and taped it to the inside of the door. That way, when I open the door I can see where the pan is. When I get a new pan, I add it to the shelf it belongs on and add it to the list.

My aunt always says, if you don't have to feed it, it doesn't hurt to keep it!!

LOL I like what your aunt says BUT... LOL.. if that is the case I'd keep EVERYTHING LOL..

Man, I am envious! I have one set of rounds, two 11x15, one 8" & 10" square and a few shaped pans. One of these day i AM going to buy me a set of square, hex, oval, heart etc etc.....

If I am gonna dream, am gonna dream BIG!

Okay - I thought "who in the world would have over 100 cake pans???"
Then I went into the pantry and started counting. I stopped at 54. I'm guessing I have close to 70....
...and I NEED every one of them....

debrab.. I agree If you have the rm why not keep it ? I figure my grandkids (if intrested ) might like them someday and what a neat old type of thing to get from granny ! who knows what someone might think of to use it for by then LOL! I have mine almost organized the same way! Very easy to find the pans !

wgoat5.. Christi ! I cant believe you dont have a pretty good number of pans ??

Ssshhhhhh dont let my dh hear you I cant count mine or he will know. Never to many pans I have small shead full two boxes in garage, and a back porch full with racks full of pans, dang when is enough? wgoat5 I do the same thing. I have one pan that has gotten up and walked away can't find it.If you are like me when you organize them week later they will be right back like they were. This way I know were they are well at least one of them LOL,LOL..

LOL Debra, I'm a cross stitcher as well. Most of us ALSO collect cross-stitch patterns, which we refer to as a "separate but related" hobby to actually stitching.

Christi, organizing them was a necessity LOL I am living with my parents until I finish college, and I was taking over too much of "their" space with them (plus it makes it easier to hide how many I actually have).

I mostly do smaller cakes, so my pan collection reflects that - here's my latest, at a 7 inch diameter: http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1217043

I mostly own basic shapes, no character pans... The one "shape" pan I own is an open-face book. At this point, I so much enjoy the challenge of carving and sculpting cakes, that I don't really WANT to have anything to do with character pans! Plus, I hate doing all those stars... I have under 100 pans, but I have multiple loaf, angelfood, springform, square, circle, hexagon and rectangle pans.

Ooh, and a mini bundt cake pan that makes six cakes from one mix. That's one of my favorites! I make mini pumpkins in the fall, among other things...

Also, I KNOW how character pans can take over your house! (Not bashing those of you who collect those, I just live in a REALLY small rental, so I try to save space!) I prefer pans that have multiple uses, rather than storing something I'll use maybe once a year... Just my thing...

I don't call my cake pan obsession an obsession anymore.. I call it a "collection"..LOL..I love my little friends. I have over 150 character/regular pans. 2 huge plastic bags (like the ones bed in a bag or sheets come in) full of cookie cutters. I figured I could sell them one day if I ever decide to quit decorating..I have them sorted by type in large plastic storage bins..

Although I've only been decorating for about 1 1/2 yrs. I too am guilty of having an excess amount of pans. Character/regular pans. Bundt,angel food, minis,cupcakes, wreath,sunflower etc..
I keep all of my pans in clear tubs (supposedly so I can find them easily). It doesn't help lol.
Will I sell/throw them away? NEVER!! I just keep buying more.
My motto is: You can never have enough.

ok everyone, say it with me now, "my name is *** and i am a cake pan-aholic". it's a sickness. it gets out of hand. it is a storage issue. it is hard NOT to buy more and more of the dang things! i don't really have any plans to get rid of the scooby doo pan that i haven't used for 4 years or the dora the explorer my niece HAD to have for her b-day and it made me say a lot of words i was glad my daughter was too young to repeat. not to mention the "basics".

you're aunt's right though, i don't have to feed 'em! they're fun and they make me happy. (except that daggone dora!)

I have over 50 pans, and thought that was a lot! LOL Apparently, I'm an amateur!

I justify it all now by saying 'when I have my shop'... seems to work! LOL I even mentioned getting rid of some of them the other day, and my dear, sweet, awesome hubby said, "But then you'll just need them again when you get legal, so why not hold onto them?" I love that man...

Then again, I'm the type that keeps more than one of everything, cooking-wise. I like to be sure that I can work as efficiently as possible on large projects, and I do a lot of those. So having two-four cookie sheets, cake/brownie pans is essential. Especially since I'm a world-class procrastinator, and don't start baking when I should most of hte time...

but the panic adds flavor, doesn't it???

I'm so glad there are others that have more pans that me. Makes me feel better.

It all started with the yearbooks. I bought all of those off ebay and other places then saw pans I just had to have. Ebay is evil and I haven't been on it in a good 5 years. I just have to stay away or I want.

I'm getting better about binge pan buying things though, so that is a plus.

I really don't know how many cookie cutters I have but I would say that it is well into the hundreds. Plus I have like 8 cardboard file boxes full of candy molds!!

My cake pans and cookie cutters are listed on an inventory sheet for insurance! I have over 200 cookie cutters and around 75 pans..thus the need for the list. I started to buy duplicates because I couldn't remember what I had! I thought I had enough for now, but I saw an Easter egg pan on sale today...and bought it. After doing 1/4 sheets this weekend I realized I could use another pan...darn the luck, I'll just have to buy another one!

Hi y'all!
There is no such thing as too many cake pans! I guess the question is, do YOU think you have too many? You know as soon as you get rid of a pan you'll need it, and the person will say I can't find anyone anywhere who has that pan. I don't quite have 150, but thanks to that Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon that's frequently in the weekly ad, I'm building up a nice collection. Keep on collecting those pans!

I probably have about 50 pans right now. I'm not doing cakes much right now. Too many other things on the go. My kitchen cupboards are full with pans, I have my character pans hanging on the wall going down my basement stairs on removable hooks and have more in my bedroom closet. I want to get rid of them but my daughter doesn't want me too. She took the Wilton course with me (I took it with her with the hope that she would start cake decorating) and instead I ended up doing the decorating. I'm hoping that she can take everything when she moves out and start decorating cakes instead of me. As much as I love it, I just don't have the time right now.

Repeat post.

I don't have very many cookie cutters, but I could sure go for some more shapes... I'm thinking some more sizes of my flower shaped pan, maybe some ovals... Possibly some duplicates of my small and mid-sized hexagons, so I don't have to wait for the cake to bake and cool, THEN bake the rest of my batter!

i have many pans and books and always seem to want more. lol