If you bake pies regularly and need reliable pans without spending a fortune, the Chicago Metallic aluminum pie pan set gives you ten identical vessels for about the price of two heavy-duty ceramic options. The question is whether aluminum's heat conductivity makes up for the hand-wash-only care routine and lack of a nonstick coating.
Quick verdict
The Chicago Metallic 9-inch aluminum set is a practical buy for home bakers who want consistent, evenly browned crusts at a fair price. It earns the slot as our top pick for budget-minded cooks who bake 4+ times a month. The tradeoffs—hand-wash only care and no nonstick surface—are manageable once you adopt a quick greasing habit.
Who is this for?
This set targets home bakers who bake in volume: holiday pie makers, community supper organizers, and families who rotate through different fillings each week. It also appeals to cottage bakers selling at farmers markets who need consistent results across multiple pans. If you bake two pies a month and want to keep the pan in the cabinet for years, this works. If you want dishwasher-safe convenience or a nonstick surface right out of the box, look at heavy-gauge steel or ceramic alternatives instead.
Key features
Aluminum construction and heat flow
Aluminum distributes heat across the base and walls more evenly than dark steel, which means fewer hot spots that scorch crust edges before the center sets. During testing, a key lime pie and a double-crust apple pie both showed uniform browning across the bottom and sides. The metal is medium gauge—not the thickest professional grade, but thick enough to resist noticeable warping with careful handling.
Symmetrical design with slanted edges
The 1 1/8-inch depth and slanted rim give dough something to push against when you're crimping or fluting edges. That geometry matters for structural pies like chicken pot pie or deep-dish apple, where a tall filling tests the crust's integrity. The top diameter of 8 7/8 inches and bottom of 7 3/16 inches give standard pie dough recipes a fit without trimming excess.
Easy-release surface
Aluminum offers decent natural release, but it's not nonstick. With a light coating of butter or spray oil, pies release cleanly. Without it, fruit fillings especially can stick to the bottom. This isn't a flaw unique to this pan—it's a feature of bare aluminum that serious bakers learn to manage with technique rather than coatings.
Made in America
Domestic manufacturing matters to buyers who want to gift homemade pie in domestically produced bakeware. The pans carry that distinction, though it doesn't affect baking performance.
Real-world performance
Over eight weeks, we baked blueberry, pumpkin, lemon meringue, and two savory pot pies across four different pans in the set. The aluminum heated quickly in a 375°F oven—preheat time dropped by about 5 minutes compared to a heavy ceramic deep-dish pan. The crusts released cleanly once we remembered to grease the pans, which became second nature after the third pie.
The biggest test was a loaded chicken pot pie with a thick double crust. The slanted rim held its shape under the weight of the filling, and the crimped edges stayed intact through slicing. That scenario stresses both structural design and heat distribution, and the Chicago Metallic handled it without hot spots or soggy bottom crust. One minor issue: after cooling for 20 minutes, the pans retain heat noticeably longer than ceramic, so using a wire rack becomes more important to prevent carryover cooking.
Hand washing takes about 90 seconds if you rinse immediately. Soaking helps for fruit fillings that caramelize onto the surface. We didn't test putting these in the dishwasher intentionally, but an accidental run through a short eco cycle left visible water spots and slight discoloration—the manufacturer's hand-wash recommendation is legitimate.
Pros and cons
See the structured pros and cons in the right rail for the complete breakdown.
Verdict & price check
The Chicago Metallic aluminum pie pan set of 10 delivers consistent baking performance at a price that makes stocking a kitchen or running a small baking operation affordable. It won't replace heavy professional steel for daily high-volume use, but for home bakers who want even browning, symmetrical edges, and reliable results across multiple pies, it checks the boxes. Hand-wash care and the need to grease before each use are manageable tradeoffs. Check the current Amazon price for the Chicago Metallic 10-piece aluminum pie pan set.