Baking Pan Conversion Calculator
Swap one baking pan for another: the new batter depth, how much to scale the recipe, and which way the bake time moves.
Result
Batter depth in your pan: 1.84 in
Straight-sided pans; sloped sides hold a little less. No pan sizes are stored: enter your own.
- Depth change
- 84%
- Scale the recipe by, to keep the depth
- 0.5437
- Bake time
- Deeper: it will bake slower, with a risk of a raw centre. Expect a longer bake and test the middle.
https://calcgallery.com/recipe/baking-pan-conversion-calculator/
Results are arithmetic on the figures you enter. Cooking times are estimates: ovens, cuts and starting temperatures vary, so check doneness with a thermometer. Safe temperatures are the USDA's; guidance differs by country, so check your own. Read the full disclaimer
How to use the Baking Pan Conversion Calculator
- Choose the shape of the pan the recipe uses and enter its size, with the depth of batter the recipe gives in it.
- Choose your pan, its size, and how many of them you will use.
- Read how deep the batter will be in your pan, how much to scale the recipe to keep the original depth, and which way the bake time moves. Add your pan's height to see how full it gets.
Depth is what matters
A pan swap changes the batter’s depth, and depth, far more than volume, decides how a cake or bake turns out. Heat reaches the centre of a shallow layer quickly, so it sets fast and can dry at the edges; a deep layer takes much longer, and the outside can overcook before the middle sets. That is why the headline is the new depth, compared with the original.
new depth = original depth × original pan area ÷ total area of your pansscale the recipe by = total area of your pans ÷ original pan areaTo keep the original depth exactly, scale the recipe by the second figure: more batter for a larger pan, less for a smaller one.
Pan shapes
A rectangular or loaf pan’s area is length times width, a square’s is the side squared, and a round pan’s is π times the radius squared. A bundt or tube pan is a ring: the circle of the pan less the circle of the tube. The page treats every pan as straight-sided; pans with sloping sides hold a little less than their top dimensions suggest.
With your numbers
- New depth = original depth × original area ÷ total area of your pans
Quick reference
Straight-sided pans; sloped sides hold a little less. No pan sizes are stored: enter your own.
| Example | Batter depth in your pan |
|---|---|
| 9 × 13 in to one 9 in round | 1.84 in |
| 9 × 13 in to two 9 in rounds | 0.92 in |
| 9 in round to 8 in round | 1.27 in |
| 8 in square to 9 in round | 1.01 in |
| 9 × 5 in loaf to 8 in square | 1.41 in |
| 10 in bundt to 9 × 13 in | 1.13 in |
Common questions about the Baking Pan Conversion Calculator
- Can I use a 9 by 13 inch pan recipe in round pans?
- Yes, in two 9-inch rounds. One 9-inch round has a little over half the area of a 9 by 13, so the whole batter in one would be nearly twice as deep and would struggle to bake through. Two rounds together have about 9% more area than the 9 by 13, so the batter is slightly shallower and bakes a little faster.
- What pan is the same as an 8-inch square?
- A 9-inch round. Their areas are within 1% of each other, so a recipe for one works in the other at the same depth and very nearly the same time. It is the most useful substitution to know.
- Why does the page not give a baking time?
- Because it cannot know one. Time depends on the depth of batter, the pan’s material and colour, the oven and the recipe. What the page can say reliably is the direction: shallower batter bakes faster and deeper batter slower. Check for doneness rather than trusting any adjusted time.
- How full should a cake pan be?
- Most cake batters rise, so pans are commonly filled no more than about two thirds. The page flags a fill above that, since it risks overflowing; the right level depends on how much your batter rises.