Baking banana bread is something that should be a lot of fun, and it’s great to make it and share it with all of your loved ones.
Sometimes when you’re craving something sweet it’s the easiest thing to make. You can use leftover bananas that are getting a bit too ripe and turn them into something delicious.
When baking the bread, you might worry about being able to get it out of the pan. It’s not always easy to get the bread out cleanly if you don’t take the right approach.
Keep reading to learn more about keeping your banana bread from sticking to the pan. This should help you to keep the loaf intact.
Let the Bread Cool Properly
It’s not wise to try to remove banana bread from the pan as soon as you take it out of the oven. You need to let it cool down for a little while or it’s going to stick and crumble apart in your hands.
Typically, it’ll take fifteen minutes for it to cool down enough. It needs to reach a certain level of coolness for you to comfortably remove it from the pan.
This process can potentially be sped up, though. You can place the bread pan in an area with good ventilation or turn a fan on to improve air circulation.
After fifteen minutes have passed, you should be able to remove the bread from the pan. Remove it the right way so it doesn’t come out in pieces or get damaged.
How to Remove the Bread From the Pan
After allowing the bread to cool in the pan for fifteen minutes, you should remove the bread from the pan. Don’t let the bread sit in the pan for too long.
If the bread stays in the pan too long, the moisture might make the bottom of the bread soggy. Thankfully, it should be easy enough to remove the bread from the pan most of the time.
Put oven mitts on to protect your hands. Place pot holders on the counter because you’ll be putting the banana bread on top of them temporarily.
You want to grab the bread pan and tip it upside down. Use your free hand to guide the bread out of the pan safely.
Hold it just above the pot holders so that it will slide down on top of them. Often, the bread will slide out easily, but if it doesn’t, there are things you can do.
Sometimes you might need to take a thin knife or a spatula to help guide the bread out of the pan. This is only necessary when the bread sticks to the bottom of the pan a bit.
Once the banana bread is out, you’re still going to need to allow it to cool. Place it on a cooling rack and allow it to cool down the rest of the way before serving it.
Even if you like eating warm banana bread, it’s best to let the bread cool some more before eating it. It should take another ten to fifteen minutes for the bread to be cool enough to eat without burning your mouth.
Grease the Pan Before Baking the Bread
Simply taking the time to grease the pan before baking banana bread helps a lot. You can make it easier to remove the bread from the pan by taking this step.
There are a few ways that you can approach this. You can grease the pan with butter so that the banana bread won’t stick to it.
It’s also fine to use oil to grease the pan. Some don’t like doing this because the butter and oil can alter the flavor of the bread slightly.
You could use a type of cooking spray that doesn’t have any flavor, though. This ensures that the bread won’t be altered and you can still grease the pan properly.
Consider Using a Non-Stick Bread Pan
Using a non-stick bread pan might be an even better idea. You can use a pan that is made to prevent sticking issues from happening.
These pans use coatings that keep food particles from sticking to them. If you buy a pan such as this it won’t be tough to remove the bread from the pan under most circumstances.
You still need to allow the bread to cool a bit before trying to remove it. Even so, it’s going to be easier than using a pan that isn’t made to be non-stick.
Non-stick bread pans can be purchased at department stores if you’re interested. You can also find what you need online if you’d like to upgrade and have an easier experience.
Consider Using Parchment Paper
Parchment paper is incredibly handy to keep in your kitchen. When you’re baking things, you can use it to easily remove baked goods from pans.
Simply line the bread pan with parchment paper and ensure that the edges of the paper can be grabbed. When the banana bread comes out of the oven, you’ll have a simple time removing it from the pan when the time is right.
Instead of fighting to get the banana bread out of the pan, you can lift it right out. It saves you so much time and effort.
Parchment paper doesn’t cost much money either. Pick up a roll or two the next time you go to a department store or grocery store.
You don’t have to use parchment paper to get the banana bread out of the pan, but it helps out. This is simply something that can save you time if you choose to do it.
What if the Bread Is Stuck to the Pan?
Sadly, sometimes the banana bread will get stuck to the pan if you don’t use the tips above. Does this mean that you’re doomed to rip the bread out of the pan in chunks?
There are some things that you can try that might help you to get the bread out of the pan cleanly. One of the best ideas involves cooling the bread pan in water.
Fill your sink with a little bit of water, but don’t fill it enough that the bread pan would become submerged. You want a few inches of water to help cool the bottom of the bread pan, but you don’t want the water to touch the bread.
Leaving the pan in the water for three minutes should help to loosen things up. It’ll make it simpler to slide the bread out.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.