Reddit mentions: The best lasagna pans

Please bear with me as my offering is really more non-recipe than recipe, but I hope it's helpful. Raising 3 sons, I've made obscene quantities of Mac and Cheese over the years. I often use it to help clean out the fridge lol.

Pasta -

If I'm making dinner for now, I'll use a 1 lb box. If I want a shot at having leftovers, 2 lbs. My FAVORITE pasta for M&C is radiatori as it has lots of surface area to coat with cheese, but almost any pasta will work.

I'm assuming you can boil pasta in salted water but even if you screw this up a bit, we can adapt. If you're planning on a baked M&C try to pull the pasta when it still has a slight chew to it. But if you overcook the pasta a little, just sauce that shit and eat it. Who cares - you're still eating mac and cheese!

Cheese sauce -

As an easy foundation for sauce, I'll whisk a couple fat tablespoons of flour into 2-3 cups of milk (whole, skim, whatever) and heat it on the stove. I'm just looking to create a thickened base for the cheese, so heat till bubbling for a minute then back way off the heat. I usually stir with a flat whisk, but use whatever - just make sure you're keeping this from burning to the bottom of the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste.

As for cheeses, this is where I clean out my fridge. The ONLY cheese that I've found that gets weird is if I add goat cheese (completely changes the texture) but otherwise a couple cups of just about anything works. Just be mindful of stronger flavored cheese so you don't create something overwhelming. Lately I've been using colby (got a few cases of it from the food bank) but I've also used combinations of sharp/mild cheddar, mozzarella, monterrey jack, pepper jack, asiago, parmesan, velveeta, American, or smoked gouda. It's dangerously rich and kinda cheating, but a little cream cheese, ricotta, or blended cottage cheese will make this a "guilty as hell" pleasure. I prefer to turn the heat off when I add the cheese as insurance so it doesn't overheat as some cheeses may break. If you have chunks of cheese, you can always throw the lid on and let it sit with the heat off to soften, then give it another stir.

Options -

Seasonings - we like salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Paprika and mustard also have their place. How about some hot sauce or sriracha?

Feeling fancy? Caramelized onions, leeks, mushrooms, spinach, or bell peppers all work well. You can also chuck in other frozen or fresh veggies (I'll throw little things like peas or corn in with the pasta RIGHT before I drain it just to thaw it so it maintains its quality, but otherwise cook your veggies first.) I've even used sauteed zucchini or cherry tomato halves.

Need a protein? Ground/chopped cooked meats, shredded chicken, tuna, bacon, diced and fried spam, sausages, hot dogs, lunch meat... again - a great way to stretch left overs and clean your fridge! A bit of pulled pork is AMAZING.

Toppings - Even is you don't bake it, a little something sprinkled on top for texture can be a wonderful thing. Anything from buttered breadcrumbs, crushed potato chips/cheeze-its, and the ever amazing French's Fried Onions is delicious.

I'm not sure if I've ever made the same M&C twice. Just taste for seasoning as you go and don't sweat it! It's kinda like sex with a new person. Even if it's not perfect the first time, you still had sex and can JUST DO IT AGAIN!

EDIT - One more thing! This is my favorite pan for baking M&C. You can start with a base recipe, and make 3 different variations for picky eaters :D .

I put enough water in it such that it doesn't need refilling. I put the deflector upside-down (legs pointing up) and put the water pan in there, then the grill on top of the water pan. A long time ago, I got a dedicated stainless steel pan for use only on the grill. This pan is very similar to mine, if not the same one I bought. In a pinch, you can get the 'heavy duty' disposable aluminum pans, which work just as well.

I'd love to spatchcock the bird but I'm always cooking it for company, so I put the bird in Norman Rockwell style (nothing special, just breast-side-up as if it were in an oven). Definitely wrap the wing tips and drumstick ends like someone else said. And remove the foil after an hour or so so they get nice and brown.

As for wood - always use chunks. I use one, maybe two, chunks of wood for my turkeys and that seems to be enough.

And as others have said, 350 is a good temperature.

Good luck! It should be a lot of fun. Once you get it down, you'll never go back.

In terms of how to learn how to cook, I have three recommendations:

1. Start with The Best Recipe, from the Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen folks. They introduce technique through recipes, and explain why you're doing that stuff. You could just learn to cook stuff exactly as it's laid out in this book and be a better cook than almost anyone you'll meet.
   
   
2. Practice practice practice. Get into the habit of even cooking something quick weeknights. There's no substitute for exercising your faculties.
   
   
3. Don't be afraid to fail. You can always order pizza. Or even skip a meal. I've done plenty of both. But you have to screw up to learn a lot of the most important stuff. For example, you'll never know how to properly salt something if you don't over salt a few things. In fact, when you're trying to really hone in on a dish, you should at least have one example that turns out too salty so you know where that point is for that dish. (Note: you don't have to salt something well for it to taste good. It's just that getting exactly the right amount of salt does make it a little more delicious. I typically undersalt things in day to day cooking.)
   
   Equipment
   
   When the option is available, I like to spend more money to buy something only once. So the all-clad stuff is much more expensive, but as long as you don't lose it you'll have it forever with little fuss.
   
   
4. 12" skillet with lid.
   
5. 3 qt. sauce pan with lid.
   
6. 10" chef's knife. (Forschner by Victorinox is a good choice without spending too much.) Get a steel as well. You need that.
   
7. The All-Clad Lasagna pan. You can roast anything in this, chickens, roast beef, pork loins, etc. MUST BUY: http://www.amazon.com/All-Clad-59906-Lasagna-Pan/dp/B0000DI4PG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369774661&sr=8-2&keywords=all+clad+lasagna+pan
   
8. A dutch oven. I recommend a Creuset. Totally off the hook spendy, but you'll only have to buy it once. You can do everything from boil your pasta to make a bitchin' braise (check this technique out for GREAT tasting meals with sauce and veggies all from one pot) to make soup and stock in one of these.
   
   Edit: forgot to mention the steel.
   Edit 2: how could I forget the dutch oven?

You're welcome!

While I think the increase in temp will help, it might be that your pan is just too lightly colored. The lloyd pan owners that I know love their pans, but I just don't think it's necessary. I'm using this pan

https://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Nonstick-Lasagna-Roasting-Pan/dp/B004EBLXT8

The cheapest Walmart pans seem to have a really sketchy non stick coating and are a little too thin, but, anything above those should work incredibly well. Home Goods seems to have quite a few sturdy sub $10 pans. If you want to spend the money on the Lloyd pan, it will serve you very well, but I feel strongly that a local pan will get the job done also.

I really like this Chicago Metallic 3-channel lasagna pan (bought it for around $10 at a Ross/TJMaxx type of store). Easy to make multiple types/fillings at once, and super easy to make one extra channel (my family doesn't eat more than 2 @ dinner) for saving for lunch the next day.

When you do figure the spraying out, the best chamber to stand your plate up in and spray is this: http://www.amazon.com/Rachael-Ray-Stoneware-Rectangular-Lasagna/dp/B002IKM35A.
Affordable, resistant to every developing spray, comes in bright colors.
We call ours the Yummo Chamber.

Seems like it might work. I've done creme brûlée in the same fashion before. I used a steamer table insert that's perforated like this. I have one that fits nicely in one end of my cambro.

This is a toughie! I really could use a nice big cooling rack like this.

Also, I have a bunch of Chicago Metallic bake ware on my wishlist. I CANNOT say enough good things about these, NOTHING sticks to them!

ETA: I know this is above your listed price, so consider it out of the running, but I have to share it!

Thanks for the contest!

To keep you warm in the Michigan weather

To snack on during movie nights

For the fishies

For scuba!

For fancy lasagna making

There are plenty of ceramics that are broiler safe. Everything from ramekin to 4 quart.

Broiling is used to make the crust on creme brulee at home without a torch.

Steel, non stick pan, brand I don't know, 15.4 x 10.5 x 2.

Stainless steel, 16.5 x 12 x 2.5. Comes with a slightly smaller one. Brand I don't know.

Hope one of these might be close or useful. I used 'giant lasagna pan' and 'stainless hi side pan' & similar phrases.

Yeah essentially anything that makes it less deep.

Le Creuset Stoneware Creme Brulee Dishes - Cerise, Set of 4 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001UE8LPG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_stanzbDDY7M03

This is pricey but you get the idea.

If you are worried about whatever in the plastic leeching out, glass lid and stainless steel pan (maybe a stainless steel lasagna pan).

Only other thing I'd consider is silicone. Silicone is widely used in baking molds, candy molds etc. You'll probably want several of something like this https://www.amazon.com/Silikomart-SFT332-Silicone-Classic-Collection/dp/B00APJI5CG and then build a frame out of 2x4 to set them down in.

You might also just look for the biggest pyrex caserole dish you can find, although it's not going to like cold temps I'd suspect.

One more tip: buy one of these from Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Rachael-Ray-Stoneware-13-Inch-Rectangular/dp/B002IKM33W

It is stoneware. Stand it up in the hood. The end are slanted to give you a good angle against which the TLC plate will stand. Spray with any reagent and heat with heatgun as needed. This tray will stand up to the most aggressive reagents and heat with no problems. 35 buck and lasts forever and does not burst into flame as opposed to the commercial TLC spray chambers which are cardboard and go to hell quickly with sprays like my favorite 5% H2SO4 in ethanol.

Who has problems with a little burnt edges? They even invented a pan to GIVE you more burnt edges!


EDIT: Here's a [link] (http://www.amazon.com/Bakers-Edge-Simple-Lasagna-Pan/dp/B002C5K7RM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1416761506&sr=8-2&keywords=edge+pan), someone else posted it earlier so I didn't bother.