I want to invest in a great set of cake pans, maybe Magic Line from what I have read about them. I don't know the advantages or disadvantages of the different depths of cake pans that are available.
I also was curious about the pans with the smooth edges and how well they work...
Right now I have 2-inch Wilton pans and I don't feel like they give me the straightest sides to start out with when icing and covering in fondant.
Any cake pan recommendations and input on the depths would be greatly appreciated!

I am curious about this too! I hate my wilton ones. The ones I can get loccally are Fat Daddios. Anything bad about them?

I'm not a professional by any stretch of the imagination, but I just recently purchased several sizes of the ML square and rectangle pans. I have Wilton round pans, as well. I really can't tell a difference in the end result as far as baking times, clean-up, etc.

BUT...IMHO, the straight sides on ML are worth the extra $$ and when the budget permits, I will get different shapes to replace my Wiltons.

2 inch or 3 inch depths? Depends upon whether you want longer baking times or more layers to bake. I just tried my 6x3 pans this past weekend, and they took way longer than a 10x2 to bake. HTH

I also just switched to ML pans & agree that they do take much longer to bake (duh, more batter). That said, I don't think I'll go back to my old pans.

Haven't tried FD but have heard good things about them as well.

You can bake a taller cake in a 2" pan, just add a "collar" of parchment paper & voila!

I buy 3" pans at Michaels and they're called Decorator something or other. I live in a townhouse with a tiny little kitchen so I overfill the 3" pans and torte to get 2 layers. Less pans to store.

I personally love magic line.

There are tons of threads on here comparing and contrasting the various brands of pans. To sum it up, Magic Line is the best, hands down. Although there are some people who like the FD pans, I personally do not. I own one and there won't be another one in my closet.

I gave away my 3" deep pans because I didn't like the way they baked. However, many people use them all the time and like them.

The only universal sentiment is magic Line pans are the best. And worth the money. Seriously, they should last you a lifetime.

Ditto to everything that Leah said. Love my 2" Magic Line pans. Wilton are sitting in a box in the basement.

Although it hasn't affected the outcome, I did notice when I first opened my eagerly-anticipated ML pan order, I was a bit stunned to see what I thought were flaws in the pans...scuff marks on the bottoms and the look of lines in the inside bottoms. The packaging and shipping box was intact, so I wonder if this is simply characteristic of the pans? Anybody else notice this?

Love ML pans...working on getting a full set, one pan at a time!

new, sometimes they get scuffs and line from being stacked/nested. I nest my pan and get those marks.

Newbaker55 - I just purchased my first ML pans at a restaurant supply store and all of them had those marks. The salesman said it's from the way they get stacked so I just went along with it. I tried them out and it didn't make any difference at all. Cakes turned out wonderful. I really love them.

Thanks, leah & ren! I waited so long to get them, I figured I'd try at least one. No problems with the cake.

Leah, I'm with you on the 3 inch! Won't be buying any more of those

Good to know about the 3 inch pans, I wasn't sure if it gave more layers for torting or taller cakes. I wish I had a double oven - might have to be a future add on Then I could bake as many cakes as I needed lots quicker!
Magic line sounds like the way to go for me, hopefully the kit has the most essential starter pans in it.

I really believe it is your preference. I have Fat Daddio 3 inch pans and I love them but some people complain. I have no problem with mine.

Magic Line

All of mine are Magic Line. I use my old, non-ML ones for other things (pizza, cinnamon rolls, etc.).