Baking Equipment – Pan Sizes – Dough Trough
I’ve had a lot of people asking me about my dough trough I use in my videos. I kept telling people they are 1/4 size Cambro Translucent food pans with lid (it’s what they were called when I purchased them, only it may have been wrong). I gave out links but then there seemed to be a problem. Some professional sites were calling a quarter sized pan a half size instead. Sooooo I decided to do a bit of research on that because I have worked in bakeries and I know what a full size, half size and quarter size pan looks like. A full size pan in bakery terms is a large pan that bakeries use in their large ovens.
- A full size pan is 26 x 18 (with usually a 1″ depth)
- A half size pan is 13 x 18 (notice that the 26 is cut in half)
- A quarter size pan is 13″ x 9″ (notice the 18 is cut in half and so is the original 26″)
A half size pan at 13″ x 18″ will be recognized as your typical cookie baking sheet pan.
A quarter size pan is often 13 x 9.5 instead of 13 x 9. Those who bake brownies and cakes will recognize this size as a pan often used for a flat cake or brownies.
See this page: Pan Sizes
.Also another problem occurs when pan sides are deeper than the 1″ and they slope. The top measurement will not be the same as the bottom measurement.
I have found that some vendors are calling a half size pan a quarter size pan and visa versa.
I bought my food pans from a restaurant supply and they called the food pan they sold me a quarter sized food pan. Which makes sense to me because the largest dimension (at the top) is 10.25 x 11.75 and that is for the lid. The bottom is 10.5 x 8.25 approximately. So that is fairly close to a quarter sized pan.
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However, Cambro itself seems to call a pan that size a half size pan. Right on the bottom of mine it says 1/2 x 6″ which means a half pan six inches deep.
Whew!! So I guess you will have to purchase by approximate sizes rather than by calling it a quarter size pan or a half pan. It is very confusing. So look at this chart and see the sizes and try to purchase your food pans by the dimensions instead of what they are called (whether it be half or quarter).
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Another problem occurs when the vendor rounds off the measurements. One site will say the size is 12 3/4 and another will say 12.8 or even round it off to 13. So just get it as close as possible, it is most likely a rounded off size anyway.
Here are some links to some Amazon food pans and lids that are the right size as far as I can tell. I love this size because it fits in the fridge pretty easily and it also fits into my Brod and Taylor proofer.
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I have a 4″ deep pan and a 6″ deep pan and this vendor offers both sizes:
Lid which fits both 4 and 6″ sizes.
I suggest you look around though, I got mine cheaper at Webstaurant but often the shipping is higher and there might be a minimum order size. They might be more expensive at Amazon but it is convenient and you can often get free shipping. So you will have to decide.
Bottom line: Don’t purchase by full half or quarter size, look at the actual (or rounded off) measurements.
See more about baking equipment here: Baking Equipment that I Use.
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Check out my online baking course: “BAKE REAL ARTISAN SOURDOUGH BREAD.”
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