I have both and wanted to see what difference there was (if any) between them.
Banana Bread w/ dried cranberries and black currants.
Same recipe, same measures in both.
Ceramic pan has a blonde interior, cast iron is black ceramic.
Baked at 350° for 30 minutes, rotated left to right and front to back, then 30 minutes more.
The ceramic baked slightly taller. This may be a function of the loaf pan being just slightly narrower than the cast iron. 5" vs. 5 1/8" (127 mm vs 130.175 mm)
I THINK I shared this recipe before, but I find the pan comparison interesting.
At the 30 minute mark I caught our two youngest cats sitting on the stove trying to figure out where the smells are coming from. LOL. Was not fast enough to get that picture!
INGREDIENTS for blackcurrant banana bread:
3 ripe bananas
60g melted butter (1/4 cup or 1/2 a stick)
150g sugar (2/3 cup)
200g unbleached flour (1 1/4 cups)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon baking soda
150g of fresh or frozen blackcurrants (without defreezing before use) (1 1/2 cups)
PREPARATION of blackcurrant banana bread:
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)
If using dried cranberries or currents, soak them in cold water for 30 minutes, dry fruit sucks the moisture out of the bread otherwise).
Mash the bananas in a bowl
Add the egg and butter
Put all the dry ingredients together into a fine mesh sieve or sifter and sift into the bowl
Mix well with a wooden spoon
Bake in a buttered loaf pan until a toothpick stuck into the bread comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes.
Slice and serve.
I had some Aluminum (Nordic Ware) loaf and mini-loaf pans that were useless at browning, zero browning no matter what I did, even if you overcooked the top, the sides and bottom wouldn't brown.
Recently switched over to Steel loaf and mini-loaf pans after reading some reviews (Chicago Metallic) and they've been great.
Made of aluminized steel, this pan features a reinforced rim and folded corners that help to prevent the warping that may happen with lighter pans. "Chicago Metallic's uncoated loaf pans are workhorses for us," says Clémence Gossett, owner of The Gourmandise cooking school in Santa Monica, California. "The narrow base allows for more vertical expansion, allowing for a taller loaf. I prefer metal to ceramic for a more golden, even crust on our yeasted and quick breads."
Nordic Ware makes a Carbon Steel loaf pan, so I might try that next and see how it compares "Nordic Ware Treat Carbon Steel Loaf Pan" though I'll probably mess up the non-stick coating since I like using my pan grippers instead of oven mitts.
I can't find any others that make an uncoated carbon steel loaf pan like these (not a pullman style dedicated to bread)
Was your Nordic Ware pan that Golden tinted color? I have cookie sheets that I don't use for cookies anymore because they'd be burnt on the top & raw on the bottom...
I only have one of those golden ones, a non stick crisper tray.
Otherwise the ones I threw out were uncoated aluminum