Pan size converter
Baking in a different pan? Pick the pan the recipe uses and the one you have. You get how much to make, how deep it bakes, what that does to the time, and what done looks like.
Rescaling Classic Creamy Scalloped Potatoes, written for 9x13-inch rectangle. Pick your pan and the amounts below change.
9x5-inch loaf → 8½x4½-inch loaf
Make about ¾ of the recipe: multiply every ingredient by 0.78.
| Pan | Area | Holds to the rim | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recipe: 9x5-inch loaf | 45 sq in | about 9 cups | 3 in rim |
| Yours: 8½x4½-inch loaf | 38 sq in | about 7 cups | 2.75 in rim, batter 92% as deep |
Your pan is shallower, so this is scaled to what it holds (by area it would be ×0.85, too deep for its rim).
Bake time
- The batter stays about as deep as in the recipe, so the time stays close. Start checking about 5 minutes early, since a different shape bakes a little differently.
- In a light metal pan, keep the oven temperature the recipe gives. Glass and ceramic heat up more slowly than metal, then hold the heat, so batter in them often takes longer to bake and the edges can overbake before the middle is done. For glass, King Arthur Baking's advice is to lower the oven 25°F and allow up to 10 minutes more. Dark metal browns the most, so watch the edges.
Without scaling, the batter would be 1.2 times as deep and fill the pan past about two-thirds, which risks it rising over the rim. A smaller pan bakes longer, often 10 to 15 minutes; don't fill it more than two-thirds.
How you know it's done
Bubbling at the edges and hot in the center: 165°F on a thermometer for dishes with eggs, meat or leftovers (USDA).
The recipe's own cue in its steps comes first; the clock is only a guide.
Classic Creamy Scalloped Potatoes, for 8½x4½-inch loaf
Every amount × 0.78: about 6 servings instead of 8.
- Potatoes
- 2 ¾ lb yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
- Sauce
- 3 ⅛ tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for the dish
- ¾ medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 ⅓ cloves garlic, minced
- 3 ⅛ tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 ⅓ cups whole milk
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- ⅜ tsp black pepper
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 ½ tsp fresh thyme leaves, or 3/4 tsp dried
- To finish
- 1 ½ tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
Rounded to kitchen measures. Pinches, salt and leavening can go to the nearest easy amount.
Common swaps
| Recipe pan | Your pan | Make |
|---|---|---|
| 9x13-inch rectangle | 8x8-inch square | ×0.55 |
| 8x8-inch square | 9x13-inch rectangle | ×1.83 |
| 9x13-inch rectangle | 2 × 9-inch round | ×1.09 |
| 9-inch round | 8x8-inch square | the same amount |
| 9x5-inch loaf | 8x8-inch square | the same amount |
| 8x8-inch square | 9x5-inch loaf | ×0.7 |
| 9x13-inch rectangle | 18x13-inch half sheet | the same amount |
| 9x13-inch rectangle | 13x9-inch quarter sheet | ×0.5 |
| 10-inch Bundt (12 cups) | 9x13-inch rectangle | ×1.35 |
| 9x5-inch loaf | 8½x4½-inch loaf | ×0.78 |
An 8x8 square and a 9-inch round hold about the same, so they swap without changes. Two 9-inch rounds come close to one 9x13.
How the converter works
- A pan's area is width × length, or 3.14 × radius × radius for a round. Flat pans compare by area, so the batter stays as deep as the recipe meant.
- If your pan is shallower than that depth needs (a sheet pan for a 9x13 recipe), the amount is scaled to what your pan holds instead, and it bakes thinner and faster.
- Bundt and tube pans compare by how much they hold; fill any pan about half to two-thirds full so the batter has room to rise.
- It's better to go a little bigger than smaller: a too-full pan can overflow and bakes slowly in the middle.
- Capacities are filled to the rim with straight sides; sloped sides and rounded corners hold a little less. Pie plates vary the most.
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More conversions
Pan size tablesAll kitchen conversionsOven temperaturesBaking recipes
Sources
- King Arthur Baking: Why the size of your baking pan matters so much: bigger pans bake faster, smaller ones slower; fill pans half to two-thirds full; glass, ceramic and dark metal.
- King Arthur Baking: Glass or metal or stoneware: glass heats slowly, then holds heat, so it often bakes longer; lower the oven 25°F and allow up to 10 minutes more.
- King Arthur Baking: The essential alternative baking pan sizes: working out a pan's area; 8-inch square equals 9-inch round; the 2-inch depth the math assumes.
- USDA FSIS: Safe minimum internal temperature chart: 165°F for casseroles.
Pan areas and capacities are our own math from the pans' sizes; the bake-time and fill advice follows the sources. Read October 2026.