i've been getting by with the bare minimum....

i'm going to invest in some more next month....

would you guys mind sharing what you got?

also do you get much call for the odd shapes?..like the petal pan etc?

i've never made a petal pan wedding cake...seems like it would be a PIA.

my widdle blonde brain finally figgered out if i had multiples of the same sizes it would save time baking...ha ha.

my best seller is the 14/10/6 in the round....how bout you guys?

My biggest waste of money was the heart shaped pans. I use the petal shapes for party cakes, but I don't offer it as a wedding cake shape. I have yet to make an oval wedding cake, but I do use the ovals for other designs. I'd really like to get a set of hex pans.

I buy two of each size so I can bake the whole cake at once. I have rounds in one inch increments from 4 to 16 inches. I do use the odd sizes quite a bit. Sometimes the design or number of required servings demands it. They give you the flexibility to do 3 inches between tiers, which can get you closer to the desired amount of cake.

As long as you're investing, don't waste your money on Wilton pans. Magic Line all the way!

Try looking at bakingtools.com. I have some Wilton pans but only the Decorator Preferred kind. They have the straighter edge. The ones from bakingtools.com - total thumbs up!! Good prices and super-fast shipping. And if they send you the wrong one, you get to keep it and they send you the one that was originally ordered. This just happened to me last week.

We have more we have more 8" pans at least 10 of those. We have about as many 6" and 10" rounds
4- 12" and 14" rounds. 2 -16" and 18" rounds.

I bake full sheets and cut to size for squares.
I have a set of hex maybe used 3 times in 11 years.
Hearts maybe once a year.

I agree with DianeLM... no wilton pans
mpc

just curious, but why no Wilton? I'm wanting to learn also. Your experience far outways mine!

Yes, I buy the sets in double. Most brides want rounds for some reason.

The odd shapped pans I have like hearts and such are used more for party cakes..

go figure!

If you don't want to go out and get more funny shaped pans, keep your rounds and offer more non traditional designs.

I paid about 300 bucks for a set of Austrailian pans that I used ONCE! and don't even know what storage facility they are in!! lol

well, thank you!! I don't guess I bake enough to have found that out yet.

I'm just now starting to build my supplies up as you are and what I did was thoroughly research what I wanted to do within the realm of cake baking. I want to do weddings and bigger party cakes because you get more return for your time. With that said, I currently have Wilton's 6, 8, and 10 inch pans in round, and 8 inch in the square. My plan is to buy a set of Magic Line Square Pans because I need square pans the most. After I get my squares, I'm moving on to the rounds. And once I get those, I'm going to get a set of contoured rounds. Now if I get a really big infusion of cash, I'm going to buy more pans at once. Just depends on how business goes.

because i am just a home hobby baker...i have one set of rounds 4"-12" and one set of square 4"-12" . I have plenty of shaped pans (balls, egg, wondermold etc) but dont use those too often except for a special holiday. I have learned to carve more so now i realize that special shapes arent too necessary. if i had the money and more demand, i ' d get two sets of each to save time.

my rounds are wilton, and my squares are magic line. the magic line cakes ALWAYS come out so much better than my wilton pan cakes. they cook more evenly and rise nicer. i think the aluminum is much thicker and made to last. great quality. expensive but excellent investments. i paid 17 for the rounds at michaels with a coupon, and 61 for the squares online.

well i got WAY to many 8 inch rounds and half sheet pans with collars....

i prolly got 50 8 inch rounds and 50 half sheets...

when we got started we over estimated how many we needed...

i'm thinkin' sell on EBAY!.....they usually get a pretty good price for pans on there...

then i could buy some more wedding cake pans....

i bought my stuff from a restuarant supply, i had a couple of wilton pans from when i took classes, and there definately is a difference!

I've been using the Wilton pans for years and none of them have warped yet. I am also a neat freek and take really good care of my pans. I have this addiction of buying cake pans. This is what I have on hand.
Andrea
6 sets of the 2" depth round(6",8,10,12,14,16)
2 sets of the 2" depth round (2",3,4,5,6,8,10,12,14,16,1
4 sets of the 2" depth round (6",8,10,12)
2 sets of hexagon
2 sets of petal (this is a pain in the but cake to make)
4 sets of square (6",8,10,12,14,16)
4 sets of round 3" depth (6",8,10,12,14)
2 sets of heart pans