1,576 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 77 videos

Circles vs. moulds tins

If you like to bake or make quiches, pies etc. you must surely have one or more pie pans at home, in different diameters and perhaps materials.

They are indispensable, without them there is no way to make beautiful pies, and they work very well, but you have another option, instead of moulds, that is pie rings.

18 K 5/5 (15 reviews)

Keywords for this post:Pies Tarts Circle Moulds Tips

Last modified on: October 2^nd 2020

For this post: Comment Follow Ask me a question Send to a friend

Circles vs. moulds tins

cercles

As their name indicates, the circles are simple circles, made of stainless steel, which exist in different diameters, but unlike a mould, a circle has no bottom (yes, this is not an extraordinary statement) so it must be placed on a baking sheet, protected by a sheet of baking paper, or silicone (silpat), before baking.

Before continuing, just 2 words of baker's vocabulary :
-"rolled-out pastry": Piece of dough that is rolled out and used to line a mould/circle
-"line (with pastry)": Action of lining a mould/circle with an abaisse

So on one side we have the classic pie tin, which you put in the oven directly or on a baking sheet, and on the other side the circle, which must be placed on a baking sheet.

Which is better?

The circle has many advantages:

- The baking is better, more regular and faster because of the absence of a bottom, more direct contact of the pastry with the heat
- Unmoulding is very easy, you just have to remove the circle from the top and then slide the tart into its serving dish (breaking a tart when taking it out of its mould is a very very frustrating moment!)
- It is very easy to clean, dishwasher safe
- If you go for it carefully, you'll get very elegant and professional right-angled pie edges
- It costs less than a mould

As you can see, it's almost all advantages, that's why pro pastry chefs all use circles, and you can do the same at home.

fond de pâte bords droits

There is only one case, where the mould is preferable, and that is if you are making a quiche, or a tart with a lot of cooking juice, like a tomato tart, or a fresh plum or blackberry tart for example, in these cases having a mould (rather than a circle) that will retain the cooking juice even if you have a leak in your pastry case is very appreciable.

tarte aux tomates

I didn't go into detail, but as for the moulds, there are circles for tarts, of all sizes in fact, and square or rectangular shapes, the pastry cooks speak then rather of "frames".

cadres

Another quite recent option, the circles are said to be micro-perforated, i.e. pierced with hundreds of small holes that improve the baking process by distributing the heat better.

cercle microperforé

As always for the material, do not hesitate to put the price, it is an investment on the duration, and to go to provide you in the stores for professionals rather than in the ray kitchen of the great surfaces.

To sum up: Try the circles instead of the pie tins, once you get the hang of it, you will appreciate the difference.

Lasts posts

Cut twice as fast

When you need to cut something long into small pieces, for example chopped chives or the stem of a spring onion, there's a simple gesture that doubles your cutting speed. Let's see how.
May 21^th 2026912

The other use for bowl scraper

Your kitchen or bakery utensils may include a horn (left) or a pastry cutter (right). These practical utensils are normally used to scoop the contents of a bowl or salad bowl - the horn - or to cut dough - the pastry cutter. But they also have another, very practical use - let's see what it is.
May 9^th 20261,237

The strange foam of potatoes in milk

As you may have already noticed, when you cook potatoes in milk, especially in small pieces (slices or cubes) for a gratin for example, a surprisingly abundant white foam forms on the surface. Where does it come from?
April 26^th 20261,472

A little leftover butter

Very often when you're making a cake, your recipe will tell you to melt some butter and mix it into the batter - a classic for cookies, cakes, moelleux and the like. And every time you do this, you'll have to butter the baking tin to prevent the dough from sticking during baking. Naturally,...
April 16^th 20261,3605

A tablet holder

Perhaps you too cook by consulting your recipe on a tablet or phone, and putting it down on your worktop? It's practical, but not the best solution. Here's a look at how you can make an inexpensive, almost universal stand.
March 14^th 20262,0785

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

Other pages you may also like

Salt and yeast

Let's take a look at an old baker's legend: You may have already read that somewhere in a recipe that uses baker's yeast(bread, pastries, leavened doughs in general) it is often specified "Don't put salt in contact with the yeast, you'll kill it (the yeast)"! Well, that's a belief, and there are...
March 15^th 201975 K4.3

Should asparagus really be cooked in bunches?

You'll probably read recipes here and there explaining how to cook asparagus "en botte", i.e. in a small package (the famous "botte"). Is this really the right way to cook asparagus?
May 22^th 20248,8325

Preserving egg yolks

If you're using only the egg whites in a recipe (such as meringues ), you'll need to store the yolks until you're ready to use them again. There's nothing very complicated about this in principle - all you have to do is chill them, but there are a few pitfalls to be avoided in practice.
June 18^th 20249,6445

Making the most of seeds: Dry roasting

In cooking, and particularly in baking, there are a lot of seeds we can use, such as linseed, sesame, poppy, etc. Usually, recipes simply say to add them just as they are to the mixture or dough. To make a seeded loaf, for example, prepare a plain bread dough as usual, then, towards the end of...
January 30^th 201564 K4.0

What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?

This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .
February 7^th 2017137 K 14.2