TL;DR

Use Pam, a stick of butter, margarine, or a silicone baking mat to prevent things from sticking when baking things. Don’t skimp on it because whatever you are baking will stick in the pan and be very difficult to get out. This week’s first bi-weekly challenge is to make something that requires you to use Pam like cookies, brownies, or baked cheese.

MiniTip

Pam is your friend when baking. You may be wondering who is Pam, or you may be wondering why in the hell I would belittle your intelligence by asking that question because doesn’t everyone know what Pam is. Well, Pam is a cooking spray that I use when baking anything: dessert, meal, or side dish. It prevents things from sticking to the bottom and sides of whatever pan you are baking in.

You don’t necessarily have to use Pam, you can also use a stick of butter or margarine that you basically paint onto the bottom and sides of a pan. You could also use a thing of soft-tub margarine or butter (put a baggie over one hand and stick it into the butter grabbing a gloop of it and spread it around the pan.

So if you don’t use something like Pam or margarine to coat the baking dish, it will get stuck.

In addition, you need to sometimes use a lot of it. Don’t be afraid of using too much. If the brownies or cake is dancing around in the bottom as you pour it, you have enough. If not, abandon hope all ye who enter here.

However, there is another option. We also have these and these are good for cookies and anything that is cooked on a cookie sheet. They are called silicone baking mat. They prevent sticking to the pan. Sometimes stuff sticks to them, but it isn’t very often and usually happens when bake with something on the outside that caramelizes (e.g., putting bbq sauce on chicken, thus makingBuffalo Wild Wings).

Parchment paper doesn’t really help to prevent things from sticking. I’ve had many times where it still sticks. But using parchment paper can help you to take cakes out of the pan if you are doing a layered cake or something like that.

A Call to Action

This week, I challenge you to make something in the oven that requires some Pam or silicone sheet. This can be cookies or just put your favorite cheese into the oven and cook until it is melted and browned to your liking.