I was making carrot cakes this week. I always seem to have a problem with them sticking to the pans even though I grease and flour them. So to prevent this, I usually line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. However, I didn't have any and needed to get started on baking. Sooooo, I just used some clean white printer paper. I traced the bottom of the pan and cut out circles. Then, I sprayed the pan with cooking spray and placed the paper in the pan. Then, I sprayed the paper as well as the sides of the pan to prevent sticking. It worked great! No need to grease up with the Crisco...and the paper is soooo cheap.

Glad you were able to make it work out for you.

But this isn't a good idea in general. Printer/computer paper is not in any way safe for baking, they use all kinds of chemicals and bleach and stuff to make it white etc. And not pretending to have a degree in science or anything, but it is not intended to stand up to high oven temperatures, like parchment paper and could be a fire as well as health hazard.

Hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, just wanted to point out some dangers with doing this.

I used to use parchment paper but since I found out on CC that you can use waxed paper so I buy the cheapest wax paper I can find to line my pans.

I use waxed paper also. No way can I afford parchment.

Yep wax paper is fine for cake pans, I havelearned a lot of stuff from Cookis Illustrated, love that publication and Alton Brown . I use parchment pretty much exclusively because I do a lot of cookies and I buy cases of parchment sheets in bulk, ends up being way, way, cheaper that way.


"You can line a cake pan with wax paper (the batter will cover and protect the paper), but dont line a cookie sheet with wax paper (the exposed portions will smoke and char)."

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/images/document/howto/JF02_ISparchmentpaper.pdf

I use wax paper all the time.

Jen

500 parchment sheets, full Commercial sheetpan size: 16 1/2" x 24 1/2" (Quilon treated):

http://www.pastrychef.com/PARCHMENT-PAPER_p_784.html

100 parchment sheets, 15 x 21 (silicone coated):

http://www.goldaskitchen.com/merchant.ihtml?pid=6494&step=4

Chefs Select Parchment Paper Super Sized, 205 Feet:

http://tinyurl.com/ygo8xju

HTH

I just made my own cake release the other day and used it for the 1st time and it worked wonderfully. I'm excited to not have to breathe in the Baker's Joy fumes anymore.

andpotts...thanks for the tips. I never realized that about printer paper. I only did this cause I was in a pinch. No offense taken...glad to learn something new.

I use wax paper for my cakes and parchment paper with my cookies. You can't skimp on parchment paper with cookies! It's a MUST have!!

I am another who uses wax paper for cakes; I agree with leah_s--parchment is just too expensive!

A good size roll of parchment paper at our grocery store is only $2.49 and the good thing is you can use them over and over again when making cookies.

Ok, this may be a stupid question, but I'm currently still spraying the fire out of my pans. If you use wax/parchment paper on the bottom of the pan, do you have to treat the sides or does the cake not stick to the sides?

For cookies, I use Silpat half-sheet liners. Buy them once, wipe off when done. I actually think they help prevent burning the bottoms of cookies before the tops are done, too. And NOTHING sticks to Silpat. I still use parchment for cakes.

I use the homemade pan coat and love it. qustion though about using wax paper to line the pan. I have used it int he passed but it stuck to the cake and when I treied to take it off teh cake ripped. Does it need to be coated with release.

When I use wax paper or parchment I only spray the sides of the pan and slightly where the side and bottom meet (just in case any batter manages to get under the paper) don't spray the paper as when you dump the cake the paper will curl away from the cake, thus allowing the cake to break. The parchment/wax paper helps hold the hot cake together, so it has 2 purposes, not just the "keep it from sticking to the pan purpose"

What???!!! You can use wax paper for cakes??? I'm am so happy to know that. Thanks for the tip. I am always learning something new on this forum even though I have been addicted for about 3 years. Thanks!!!