A recipe for potato kugel says to put a cast iron skillet or a “heavy baking pan” in the oven while the oven is pre-heating and while you’re shredding the potatoes and onions. I don’t have a heavy baking pan or a cast iron skillet. Can I use a pyrex baking dish instead?
It will work. Adding the mixture will cool the Pyrex dish rapidly so the consistency of the crust may not be the same, and it may not darken as well. Shouldn’t make much difference for a kugel unless you want a dark heavy crust for some reason. Also, it had better be the real borosilicate Pyrex, there was a thread about that recently.
So, what if I don’t preheat the dish. Just put the stuff in and pop it in the oven?
It cooks too slowly on the bottom and is done before the crust browns. You may have to overcook the top to get the bottom right.
Pretty much the same. Less chance of cracking the dish when you pour the cold ingredients in. I make kugel in regular metal baking pans without preheating. Just make sure the pan is well greased. It’s a dish that’s not easy to wreck. If you don’t get a good crust on the bottom and sides let it cool down and then cut slices out of the pan and it should hold together.
Damnit! I’m on a diet. Stop tempting me.
I’ll grant you, kugel with a slightly doughy crust is still pretty darn good. The worst kugel I ever had was terrific, so there’s that.
Ok - compromised with fingers crossed. I put the pyrex dish in the already warmed oven. No cracks from the sudden temp change. Then after it had been in there 15 minutes or so, I took it out, oiled it up and dumped in the ingredients. Not a prob.
Stay tuned.