I need some help please. I tried Wilton's bake even strips for the first time today. Soaked in water, wrapped around cake pans and pinned in place. Same cake recipe, cooked two 8-inch rounds as normal. Cakes seemed to be baking quite nice and I was impressed...until I went to take them out of the pans. Picks below...did I do something wrong? Is this how they are supposed to look when using the bake even strips?

Please note that I did let them rest for 10-12 minutes on the cooling rack before flipping.

Thanks in advance for advice.

Anyone? Indydebi you out there?

My bake even strips have never caused sticking on the inside of the pan. Do you grease and flour your pans?

Did you forget to grease and flour the pan? Also they go on the outside of the pan. ( I had a student put then on the inside once) They should bake about the same time as if you didnt use them

How do you normally do the pans? Grease/flour or do you line with parchment paper? It looks like they stuck. Or perhaps you let them sit in the pan too long. I usually grease the pan and then line with either wax or parchment. And only 1 of my recipes I let the cake set in the pan for longer than 10 minutes. If the cake cools too long, it will stick in the pan.

HTH!

I normally use Pam spray and line with parchment paper - which is what I did today. I was thinking that I maybe didn't let them sit long enough? But what is still stumping (sp) me is how the outside didn't brown at all; is that normal with these strips?

I never used the strips on anything smaller than 12 inch. It seems they don't bake well. It looks like the cake wasn't truly finished. I have had the same prloblem with my cakes I took out too soon. I have better luck with the flower nails.

You need to make sure the strips are not TOO wet. I soak mine, and them squeeze some of the water out of them. Grease and flour your pans. Bake. It could possibly take a few minutes longer ( than what is normal to you) for your cakes to get done.

I was going to say it really looks like the cakes needed to bake 3-4 minutes longer. Did you run a knife or small spatula around the inside? Also, try cake release: equal parts flor, veg shortenign and oil, whipped together and them painted on with a pastry brush. I keep it made up in a bucket.

I've used the strips for 8" round. I like the inverted nail no matter what size pan because cake bakes up nice & flat. I don't use Pam because it will cause the cake to crust. Did you have air space in between the two pans? (probably, duh!) Well, I think you let them sit in the pan too long or perhaps did you remove the strips once they came out of the oven?

The first time I used the strips, I tested with a pick in the center and it tested done so I removed them from oven and when I ran a knife around the edge, the edge was still doughy. The strips were working too well and kept the edge from baking. So now I remove the strips 5-10 minutes before I remove the cake from the oven and it allows the edge to bake. Not sure if this is your problem but may be a thought.

I use the bake strips all the time. I don't grease or flour my pans - I use parchment paper in the bottom of the pan. The cake pulls away from the edge of the pan as it bakes. Just to make sure that the cake will release cleanly, I run a sharp knife between the cake and the pan.

That happen to me once!! , but what I did after that was grease it, flour, and line wax paper, as soon I get my cake out the oven I separate the cake from the mold with the knife (just around) and when is cool I take it out the mold and that's it I have a beautifull level and round or square cake.

denetteb - yes! this is exactly what happened! I did test in the center several time and didn't remove the cakes until my toothpick came out clean. It was the sides that still didn't look done or should I say not crusted. I think I will try your advise and remove the strips 5-10 min before they are to be done...hopefully this will solve my problem. I should also say that the cake that I have attached is showing bottom side up, the top side is a nice golden brown.

Thanks everyone!

The cake doesn't look brown on the sides because the brown part is still stuck on the inside of the pan.

I don't think the baking strips had anything to do with this. I think they didnt' bake long enough. As leahs said, maybe another 3-4 minutes.

I use baking strips on all size cakes, no matter how big or small. I grease-only-no-flour the pans. I remove the cakes from the oven, IMMEDIATELY trim them while in the pan, then flip them out. They are out of the pan and on the cooling rack within 2 minutes of coming out of the oven.

The purpose of bake-even strips is to cool the sides of the pan so the middle of the cake can cook just about as fast as the edges.
They are not needed on 8" cakes; in fact I have baked 100s of 16" cakes w/o them or a flower nail or a heat core and don't have problems w/them baking evenly or getting done in the center.
You need to learn to bake w/your nose Use times only as a general guide; when you can smell the cake (yummmmm chocolate!) the cake is done. Now you can test w/a toothpick; a few crumbs clinging will be o.k.; you can tell on a toothpick if the center is still wet/undone.

I, like others, use bake even strips on all size cakes. I don't think what happened to your cake was due to the bake even strips. From the picture, because the sides and bottom seems to have stuck to the pan, it appears that your cake may have needed just a few more minutes in the oven. ... Just a thought ...

To karenm0712...... this is totally off of the subject but I am also karen m. I live in Ky. I guess that is why when I tried to use my name it told me it was already taken so I had to pick something else,I still wanted to use something with a k so I chose kokopuff,I happened to have been eating cereal at the time!

Thanks everyone for all of your comments and advice! This is my first experience using the strips...I wanted to see how well they really worked to make cakes "bake even" Going to try them again tomorrow and see what happens my second time around.

kokopuff - too funny! I have used this as my screen name on just about everything for years.

I've had that look, too. How long were your strips? Were they doubled up on part of the pan? I've had problems if my bake even strips (or towel strips) were too long and thus too thick around part of the pan. Those edges just never got hot enough.

jenny

I had that happen the second time I used the strips. I figured out that I had left the strips to wet and the edges of the cake didn't cook enough. I make sure that the strips are not dripping wet, but fairly damp. I hope that makes sense. I really like using them. I have also taken them off for the last 5-10 minutes of cooking and that works to. I think it takes some trial and error to get the dampness factor correct for the bake even strips. If I have to overlap the strips I place that section at the back of my oven-which seems to be hotter.

I did squeeze the excess water out of the strips, but yeah I guess they may have been too wet. They did overlap on probably a quarter of the pan, but not too much. I have heard nothing but good things about the strips so I am going to try, try again!

I was having the same thing happen once I started using them, and using either Pam and flour, or shortening and flour. I've never had an issue with cakes sticking before using straight Pam (when I was baking the occasional cake just for eating), so was surprised. I do think the cake was a just a few minutes underbaked, but since I switched to making my own cake release as Leah suggested I haven't had a single issue. I don't understand, considering it's all the same stuff, just mixed together, but it works! So I keep a small container mixed in the pantry.

I agree with those who said it might have been becasue they were too wet. The same thing has happened to me a few times before I realized the problem. I have also had it happen to small cakes where I wrapped the excess strip around double on a large portion of the cake. The strips were still damp when I took the cake out. You really need to squeeze out as much of the water as possible.

I'm thinking either your non-stick was insufficient, or you let them cool too long in the pans. I would recommend no more than 2 minutes. Otherwise, any moisture from the cake may cause the cakes to re-stick to the metal. I read this in a cookbook years ago.

I use those all the time and haven't had a problem with them. I cooked a large sheetcake one time for a baby shower (sour cream poundcake) and when it came out of the oven it wasn't really brown on the bottom and sides like it was on the top. It was completely done, though. It was a beautiful light, light brown. The cake was a hit at the party.


Lisa

I agree with the few more minutes baking time, for baking strips i have never used them. I butter & flour my pans.