Does anyone have any experience or opinions on these two? I've heard the rave reviews about the Goldtouch and I'm tempted, but it seems that they are made by USA Pans, and I can get the USA Pans for half price. I couldn't find any comparisons of these two though.
I've had the Goldtouch for a long time, and I couldn't bake without them. I love them.
They are exclusive to Williams Sonoma. Long ago they were manufactured by Chicago Metallic and the Chicago Metallic regular (silver) ones were not the same as the Goldtouch Chicago Metallic (I tried them both, then got rid of the regular Chicago Metallic ones).
Then WS changed manufacturers, to the USA Pans company. I have never seen the regular silver USA Pans. My advice is to go check out the GoldTouch USA Pans at WS and also check out the regular USA Pans, and compare if they feel the same.
If you're not going to get the Goldtouch, I've heard that Magic Line is the preferred kind of pans around here.
I hope SCP1127 shows up here. She's the other baker I know who uses Goldtouch.
I don't know as much background as imagenthatnj, but I do know that Goldtouch is exclusive to Williams-Sonoma. With the branding of these pans tied so close to WS, I doubt the quality will be available elsewhere. I am sure WS retains exclusive rights to these pans.
Without going into great detail, if you are a serious baker, the difference in the final product is substantial. I own a bakery and use their pans exclusively in the sizes available. Magic Line and Fat Daddio's do not produce the same quality. I own stacks of these pans and it is one more way, just as important as using fine ingredients, that I set my baking apart from all others. Most pans run between $25 to $30. They have a lifetime guarantee.
The WS goldtouch do at times go on sale. This past year there were several times they went on sale either individually or as a bundle. The WS Goldtouch are guaranteed for life so if anything happens you just bring them back to WS and they will give you a replacement for free. The cake pans are only 2" high so if you do need a higher pan of 3inch or more you won't be getting the Goldtouch. Also their cookie pan design changed in the past year or so and I personally do not like the waffle like bottom versus the flat bottom. That's just my preference but I don't think the waffle bottom cooks as evenly as the flat bottom.
Cheriej, I use the silver WS cookie sheets because I always use parchment. I have the old and new designs, and with parchment, I don't see a difference between the old and the waffle style. I do have one GT, in case I ever have a recipe that says not to use parchment. It is the old flat style. But so far, I haven't come across a recipe that calls for no parchment.
I have both the medium and standard size cc GoldTouch pans from WS. I sometimes bake hundreds of cupcakes a day, and can fit 8 standard pans in my double oven at a time. My husband went to buy me more of the medium ones, and we found they changed the design. I'm so disappointed. It's now more of a mini than a medium. Glad I have 4 of the older ones on hand!! I buy all WS GT pans if they have the sizes I am looking for.
ForTheLoveOfFrosting, when was this? I'm only curious because I buy stuff to send to my sister in Ecuador too. And sometimes I don't send the stuff for months, sometimes even close to a year, when I don't have time.
I have some of those trays here in my office, and I want to know if I have old ones or new ones!
ForTheLoveOfFrosting, when was this? I'm only curious because I buy stuff to send to my sister in Ecuador too. And sometimes I don't send the stuff for months, sometimes even close to a year, when I don't have time.
I have some of those trays here in my office, and I want to know if I have old ones or new ones!
Very easy to tell if you have the newer ones or the older ones. They were redesigned to have more of a lip on the sides to take it out of the oven easier. I called every WS in the tri-state area looking for the old ones when I heard they were being redesigned... but had no luck finding any others. I also think they changed the side of the "mediums" because they required liners that you just don't get anywhere. The newer ones use the small mini papers. I can take a pic tonight of both pans and show you the difference side by side if you'd like.
~Lisa
That would be great, Lisa. I have not been able to get out of the office lately during the day, so I haven't been shopping in person lately. I like going to the store and check out all they have before ordering online. Thank you!
I wonder if the redesign was when they switched from Chicago Metallic to USA Pan? I just picked up one of each (the WS GT and the standard USA Pan) and the shape and size is identical. I can post a full review when I test them out if anyone is interested.
Sure, ucbc, come back here! Do you think the weights of the pans are identical too?
The 8" GT from Chicago Metallic is heavier than the 8" GT from USA Pans. I have both kinds, but I bake all my cakes with 3 layers, so I am using the 8" GT from USA Pans. I only have one of the old ones. I gave away the other two, and left one to compare. OCD. lol. Maybe I should have kept the whole set. But I think scp1127 said that she uses them all together, so there must be no difference in the final product.
I love the USA pans and have bought several at the William Sonoma outlet. Theyl are not carrying these in the regular store anymore. I just purchased 6 mini and 6 regular size muffin pans at the regular store. After doing much research and openig a cupcake business in Atlanta I think these are worth the investment! They are solid and bake very evenly. I hope this helps!!!!!
I'm confused about the size change in the muffin cups. Do you mean the minis? Of so, I haven't bought any of those in awhile. And I only use those for cookies, so the size is not really an issue. But I only have 3 or 4 of them.
As for the old 8" vs. new 8", the interior is exactly the same. I have pre-cut parchment rounds, so I know they are exact. As for baking times, I don't have to alter it for the heavier pans, just a pain to weigh when filling.
Yes, the change was in the mini muffin cups. My daughter is taking a pic so I can post it -- I forgot before I left for work this morning.
If anyone here has the old minis, I'll trade you brand new ones for your old style ones. I've been searching for used ones for almost a year (they changed over about a year ago).
here's a picture of the two pans together... The top one is the older style, and the bottom one is the newer pan. You can see that the pan is the same size, so in order to give more "holding" room, the cups had to be made smaller. This greatly disappoints me.
Sorry it's so big... 
In the older pan, are the cups shallower than the newer pan? Chicago Metallic makes mini cupcake pans that are a weird shape - it always frustrated me because I could never find any liners to fit. They are wider and not as deep as most others. And based on the history (WS used to be made by Chicago Metallic and then switched to USA) maybe the size you are looking for is the same as the Chicago Metallic minis. Both the commercial and professional lines of Chicago Metallic are the weird size.
Hmmmm, I'll have to check the depth. I get the "non-standard size" liners from either www.wesellcoffee.com (they're the 3.5 size) or from simplycaked.com (minis for professional pans)
When using the liners above, the cupcakes come out the size of ones you'd get at BJs or Costco - they're not mini and not standard... so they're sort of "in the middle". They are also the size that fit in commercial clamshells (which I also get from wesellcoffee.com. I'm going to have to order a Chicago Metallic and compare it to my GT.
Ok, I can't really figure out a good way to measure the individual wells. Any suggestions? I took a few pictures in case that helps. One similar to yours with the Chicago Metallic mini and a USA Pan mini. The USA Pan is the standard mini - I believe it's the same as the current WSGT model. I also took a liner that fits the mini pan and took pictures of that liner in each. It's not great, but it gives you an idea. Let me know if you have any other suggestions on how to measure it for you.
Measure the bottom of the well from side to side.
Measure the top of the well from side to side.
Measure the height of the well from bottom to top flush with the pan.
Maybe that way?
Here are my un-scientific measurements. Keep in mind that moving my head even slightly changed my view of it.
From the bottom of the pan (outside of the cupcake well) - diameter 1 5/8" height 5/8"
From the top of the pan (inside of the cupcake well) - diameter 2" height 5/8"
I hope this helps!
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