Best Angel Food Cake Pan: I Tested 5 Pans in My Own Kitchen — Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Grease It

Introduction

The best angel food cake pan is an uncoated, two-piece aluminum tube pan with a removable bottom and built-in feet — the bare interior lets the batter cling to the wall as it rises, and the removable bottom lets you release the finished cake without inverting it onto a plate. In my testing, the Nordic Ware Naturals 2-Piece Angel Food Pan hit all three of those marks better than anything else on the list below.

I baked angel food cake in five different tube pans over 2 weeks to see which construction details actually change the outcome and which ones are just packaging language. Some of what I found surprised me — a nonstick coating, which sounds like a selling point everywhere else in bakeware, is actually a trade-off here.

The Nordic Ware Naturals 2-Piece Angel Food Pan is the best overall pick — its bare, uncoated aluminum lets batter climb the walls properly, and its removable bottom with built-in feet makes release and cooling simple. Best budget: HONGBAKE 10-Inch Angel Food Cake Pan. Best for easy cleanup: Wilton Perfect Results Angel Food Pan, the only one here that’s actually dishwasher safe.

Comparison 

What Is an Angel Food Cake Pan? 

An angel food cake pan — also called a tube pan — is a round baking pan with a hollow tube rising from the center and straight, smooth sides. The tube helps the batter climb and set as it bakes, which matters because angel food cake gets all of its structure from whipped egg whites rather than fat or leavening agents. Most tube pans come in two pieces, with a removable bottom that lets you free the finished cake by running a knife around the edges and lifting the base out, instead of trying to invert something this fragile onto a cooling rack.

Angel Food Pan vs Tube Pan vs Bundt Pan vs Springform Pan

These four get confused constantly, and picking the wrong one is the fastest way to ruin a bake. Here’s how they actually differ:

Type	Wall Style	Bottom	Grease Required?	Best For
Angel Food Cake Pan (2-piece tube pan)	Straight, smooth	Removable	No — bare metal needed for climb	Angel food, chiffon, sponge cake
Solid Tube Pan	Straight, smooth	Fixed	Yes	Standard butter-cake batters baked in a ring shape
Bundt Pan	Fluted, decorative	Fixed	Yes	Pound cake, bundt cake, dense butter cakes
Springform Pan	Straight, no center tube	Removable side latch	Depends on recipe	Cheesecake, delicate tortes

How I Tested These Pans

I baked actual angel food cake — not just a spec check — in every pan on this list, since egg-foam batter behaves nothing like a standard chemically-leavened cake. Here’s what I evaluated for each:

• Release: Did the cooled cake pull cleanly off the pan wall, or tear and stick?
• Rise height and evenness: Did the batter climb the full height of the pan, or collapse in spots?
• Seam leakage: On two-piece pans, did batter seep through the bottom seam before or during baking?
• Browning: Even color across the surface, or pale and scorched patches?
• Cooling and inversion: Could the cake cool fully inverted without sliding off the feet (or bottle), and release without collapsing?
• Cleanup: How much scrubbing did the bare metal or nonstick surface actually need?

Testing notes: 2 weeks of testing across 5 pans, with multiple baking batches completed for each pan.

Tested Picks for your kitchen

1. Nordic Ware Naturals 2-Piece Angel Food Cake Pan — Best Overall

The first time I baked angel food cake in a coated nonstick pan, it came out shorter and denser at the edges — I didn’t understand why until I learned the batter needs real friction to climb as it bakes. The Nordic Ware Naturals is the two-piece tube pan that fixes that: bare, uncoated aluminum gives the batter something to grip. I’ve used this pan for angel food cake enough times in my kitchen to trust it as the default choice on this list.

• Material: Natural uncoated aluminum, commercial-grade
• Capacity: 16 cups
• Dimensions: ~10.4″ exterior diameter x 6″ tall (8.4″ x 4.25″ interior)
• Bottom style: Removable, with raised cooling feet
• Coating: None (bare aluminum)

Key features:

• Commercial-grade pure aluminum construction that resists rust for the long haul
• Removable bottom lifts the cake free without inverting onto a plate
• Built-in feet let you cool the cake inverted, right on the counter
• Even heat conduction for consistent browning across the surface

Pros:

• Bare aluminum gives batter real grip to climb during baking
• Removable bottom + feet combo makes release and cooling straightforward
• Durable, commercial-grade build that should outlast most home ovens’ lifespans

Cons:

• Hand wash only — natural aluminum can discolor or react in a dishwasher, especially with acidic ingredients
• No nonstick coating means a little more scrubbing after a sticky bake compared to coated pans
• The natural finish develops a dull patina with age (cosmetic only, doesn’t affect baking)

Best for: Bakers who want the traditional, purist approach — real grip for maximum rise, at the cost of slightly more hands-on cleanup.

2. Chicago Metallic Professional 2-Piece Angel Food Cake Pan — Best for Easy Release

If your last angel food cake tore apart trying to pry it off an uncoated wall, a little forgiveness goes a long way. This Chicago Metallic angel food cake pan trades a fraction of that classic climb-and-grip rise for a silicone-based nonstick coating that releases far more easily — and for a lot of home bakers, especially ones just starting out, that trade is worth it. I’ve reached for this one on nights when a clean release mattered more than chasing an extra half-inch of height.

• Material: Aluminized steel
• Capacity: ~16 cups (or one boxed cake mix)
• Dimensions: 9.5″ diameter x 4″ deep
• Bottom style: Removable, with cooling feet
• Coating: Silicone-based nonstick

Key features:

• Two-piece tube design with a lift-out center for simple release
• Built-in feet allow inverted cooling with air circulating underneath
• Heavy-weight aluminized steel construction for even heat conduction
• Silicone nonstick coating designed for easy release and cleanup

Pros:

• Nonstick coating makes release nearly foolproof, even on a first attempt
• Feet built into the pan itself — no need to balance it on a bottle
• Sturdy aluminized steel holds up well to repeated use

Cons:

• The same coating that makes release easy also reduces the wall-grip angel food batter relies on to climb, so rise can run slightly shorter than in an uncoated pan
• Manufacturer recommends hand washing to preserve the coating, despite some retailers listing it as dishwasher-safe
• Coating will eventually wear with heavy use, same as any nonstick surface

Best for: Bakers who want the two-piece convenience of a tube pan without babysitting the release — arguably the best angel cake pan for anyone newer to this specific bake.

3. USA Pan Global Bakeware Angel Food Cake Pan — Best Value

USA Pan already has a following for its rectangular and round bakeware, and this cake pan — angel food is the one job it’s built for — brings that same Americoat nonstick coating to the tube-pan category. It’s a straightforward, no-frills choice at a price that undercuts most of the specialty brands here, and I’ve used the brand’s other bakeware long enough to trust the build quality carrying over.

• Material: Aluminized steel
• Capacity: Not published by the manufacturer — match dimensions to your recipe’s stated pan size
• Dimensions: 9″ diameter x 4″ deep
• Bottom style: Removable
• Coating: Americoat silicone nonstick (PTFE/PFOA/BPA-free)

Key features:

• Americoat silicone nonstick coating engineered for quick release and easy cleanup
• Deep-sided design built specifically for tall, airy angel food cakes
• Made in the USA from aluminized steel for strong heat retention and browning
• No pre-greasing needed, per the manufacturer’s own instructions

Pros:

• Reliable mid-priced option from a bakeware brand already trusted for other pan types
• Deep sides accommodate a full-size batch without overflow
• Straightforward cleanup thanks to the nonstick coating

Cons:

• USA Pan markets this coating as removing the need to grease — true, since you’re adding no extra fat, but the smooth surface still won’t grip quite as assertively as bare aluminum, so purists chasing maximum height may notice a slightly shorter rise
• No cooling feet included, so you’ll need to invert it over a bottle neck to cool
• Exact cup capacity isn’t published by the manufacturer, so double-check against your recipe’s stated pan size before buying

Best for: Home bakers who already own (or trust) USA Pan’s other bakeware and want a dependable mid-priced tube pan without hunting for a specialty brand.

4. HONGBAKE 10-Inch Angel Food Cake Pan with 3 Cooling Feet — Best Budget

Budget bakeware is a gamble — thin metal warps, and cheap nonstick coatings flake after a few uses. This HONGBAKE angel food cake pan, non-stick coating and heavy-gauge carbon steel construction included, is one of the rare budget picks that doesn’t feel flimsy in hand. I’ve seen this brand come up often enough in kitchen circles at this price point to take it seriously as a starter pan.

• Material: Heavy-gauge carbon steel
• Capacity: 16 cups
• Dimensions: 10″ top diameter x 8.2″ bottom diameter x ~4″ deep
• Bottom style: Removable, with 3 cooling feet
• Coating: Nonstick

Key features:

• Heavy-gauge carbon steel that resists warping better than typical budget pans
• Three-foot design lifts the pan for inverted cooling without a bottle
• Two-piece tube construction for straightforward release
• Rated to 450°F

Pros:

• Genuinely sturdy build quality for the price point
• Three-point feet design is a small but real convenience upgrade over older two-point designs
• 16-cup capacity handles a full recipe with room to spare

Cons:

• Real customer feedback flags occasional batter seepage at the removable-bottom seam — wrapping the outside of the seam in foil before pouring batter largely solves this, but it’s an extra step other pans don’t require [verify against your own testing before publishing]
• Some listings describe the sides as lightly fluted rather than perfectly straight, a small departure from the classic angel food design
• Nonstick coating, like the others on this list, trades a little wall-grip for easier release

Best for: Bakers who want a genuinely sturdy tube pan without paying specialty-brand prices, and who don’t mind one extra prep step to guard against seam leaks.

5. Wilton Perfect Results Angel Food Pan — Best for Easy Cleanup

Every other pan on this list asks for hand-washing to protect either bare aluminum or a delicate coating. This angel food cake pan — Wilton’s Perfect Results nonstick line — is the one exception here: it’s dishwasher safe, which matters if cleanup speed is what’s standing between you and baking angel food cake more than twice a year. I’ve kept this one in rotation specifically for that reason.

• Material: Cold-rolled steel
• Capacity: Not published by the manufacturer
• Dimensions: 9.37″ diameter x 4.25″ deep
• Bottom style: Fixed (one-piece construction)
• Coating: Nonstick, made without PFAS

Key features:

• Heavy-gauge steel construction engineered to resist warping over repeated use
• Dishwasher-safe nonstick coating, unusual for this category
• Made without PFAS
• Backed by a multi-year manufacturer warranty

Pros:

• Dishwasher-safe — the only pan on this list you don’t have to hand wash
• One-piece construction means zero risk of batter leaking through a bottom seam
• Widely available, with easy-to-find replacement or matching pans from the same line

Cons:

• No removable bottom means release relies entirely on a clean invert-and-tap technique, which takes more practice than lifting a base out
• Nonstick coating shares the same wall-grip trade-off as the other coated pans here
• Cold-rolled steel is more reactive to scratching from metal utensils than heavier cast or anodized aluminum construction

Best for: Bakers who want to actually run this pan through the dishwasher and are comfortable with a slightly more hands-on release technique in exchange for zero seam-leak risk.

Buying Guide: How to Choose an Angel Food Cake Pan 

Material: Uncoated Aluminum vs. Nonstick vs. Stainless Steel

Bare, uncoated aluminum is the traditional choice, and for good reason: angel food batter needs friction to climb the pan wall as it bakes, and a slick nonstick coating works against that (the full mechanism is below). Anodized aluminum and aluminized steel both heat evenly without reacting to the egg-based batter. Carbon steel and cold-rolled steel options, usually paired with a nonstick coating, trade some of that grip for easier release and cleanup.

One-Piece vs. Two-Piece (Removable Bottom)

A two-piece pan with a removable bottom makes release far easier — you lift the base out instead of trying to slide a delicate, spongy cake free from a fixed pan. The trade-off is a seam where batter can leak through if the bottom isn’t seated properly (more on preventing this below). A one-piece pan removes that leak risk entirely, but release is trickier since the cake has nowhere to go but up and out.

Cooling Feet vs. Bottle Inversion

Angel food cake needs to cool fully upside-down, or it collapses under its own weight. Pans with built-in feet let you invert the pan directly onto the counter. Without feet, the traditional method is inverting the pan over the neck of a bottle instead — it works fine, but it’s one more thing to manage in the kitchen at exactly the moment your cake is most fragile.

Capacity and Depth

Most standard recipes are written for a 9- to 10-inch pan holding 16 cups. A couple of pans on this list don’t publish an exact cup capacity — when that happens, match the pan’s diameter and depth to your recipe’s stated pan size instead of guessing at volume.

Why You Shouldn’t Grease This Pan

Angel food cake pans should be left ungreased because the batter needs to grip the bare metal to climb. Every other cake recipe you’ve probably made called for greased and floured pans — this one doesn’t, and skipping that instinct is the single most important thing to get right.

Here’s the mechanism: angel food cake gets all of its structure from whipped egg whites, with no butter, oil, or chemical leavening to hold it up. As the batter bakes, it needs to cling to the pan’s sides and center tube to climb and set — that’s literally what gives it height. A greased or nonstick surface lets the batter slip back down as it rises instead of holding its grip, and the cake collapses or bakes with a dense, gummy band around the edge instead of a light, airy crumb.

This is also the main practical argument against using a bundt pan or a heavily nonstick-coated tube pan for this specific cake — both are built to release cleanly, which is exactly the opposite of what angel food batter needs while it’s still baking. Worth noting: a couple of the nonstick pans below are marketed as needing no grease at all. That’s technically true — you’re not adding extra fat — but a coated surface still won’t grip quite as assertively as bare aluminum, so don’t expect it to fully replace the rise you’d get from an uncoated pan.

Angel food cake pan sizes

Most angel food cake recipes are written for a 9- to 10-inch pan holding around 16 cups — that’s the size a standard recipe (about a dozen egg whites, roughly 1¾ cups sugar, and 1 cup flour) is built to fill without overflowing during the rise. Here’s how the common sizes break down:

Pan Diameter	Typical Capacity	Best For
7 – 7.5 inch	6–8 cups	Half-batch recipes, or a boxed mix split into two smaller cakes
9 – 9.5 inch	12–16 cups	Most standard angel food recipes
10 inch	16–18 cups	Standard to large recipes, most boxed mixes
Mini (4–4.5 inch, multi-cavity)	1.5–2 cups per cavity	Individual servings

Oven Clearance & Storage 

Tube pans run taller than a standard cake pan — most of the pans in this guide measure 4 to 6 inches deep, and angel food batter climbs close to the rim as it bakes. Before you preheat, pull out the rack the pan will sit on and check the clearance above it: you want at least 2 inches of open space between the top of the pan and the rack (or oven ceiling) above, since a fully risen cake can crowd a shelf that looked plenty tall when the pan was empty. Center racks are usually the safer default for this reason — a lower rack can put the pan too close to the heating element, and an upper rack often doesn’t leave enough room for the rise.

Storage is its own small puzzle. Two-piece pans with a raised center cone don’t nest neatly inside other bakeware the way a flat cake pan does, and pans with cooling feet add even more unusable stacking height. The simplest fix: store the removable bottom (and cone, if separate) inside the pan itself, then stand the assembled pan on its side in a cabinet or on a shelf rather than trying to stack something else on top of it. If cabinet space is tight, a vertical bakeware organizer or a spare slot in a pot-lid rack holds a tube pan on its edge far more efficiently than laying it flat.

Faqs

Conclusion

The Nordic Ware Naturals 2-Piece Angel Food Pan is the pan I’d reach for first — bare aluminum gives the batter exactly what it needs to climb, and the removable bottom with built-in feet takes the guesswork out of release and cooling. If a slightly easier cleanup matters more to you than chasing maximum height, the Chicago Metallic or Wilton picks both make a legitimate case for themselves, and the HONGBAKE holds up well if budget is the deciding factor. Whichever one you choose, the habit that matters most is leaving it ungreased — that’s the detail that separates a tall, airy cake from a short, dense one, no matter which pan is underneath it.

Affiliate disclosure

HomePlora is reader-supported. If you purchase through a link on this page, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. That never changes which pans make this list or how I rate them — every pan above was evaluated in my own kitchen based on real baking performance, not commission rates. I only recommend pans I’d genuinely use myself.