The Great British Family ‘Bakeware’ Off – Utensa Wonder Bake Review

The Utensa Factory – Birmingham

We were recently contacted by Utensa who wanted us to do a review of their British made bakeware and, as a keen cook, I was more than happy to accept. Their baking tins have been manufactured in Birmingham for the last 125 years and, although the last few years have not been easy for them, they have stuck to their commitment to provide quality products at favourable prices.

They sent us an oven tray, an 8″ loose bottom cake tin and an enamel roasting tin to review. First impressions are that they are certainly better quality than any other bakeware in the house, most of which is far beyond the point of providing any reasonable level of non-stick.

What they provided is clearly very solid but not too heavy. Utensia themselves suggest that the weight of bakeware is not a good indicator of quality as a light weight product offers a far more even bake. This might be contrary to expectations but the key is in the durability of the coatings and how they are applied.

The good people at Utensa are keen to point out to us that all of their products have a double layer roller-coat application of non-stick to ensure even coverage and extended life expectancy. In fact they are so sure of the longevity of their tins that they claim that they last up to 8 times longer than typical Far East imports. I also like the clear labelling giving simple instructions on the maximum temperature recommended for each item as well as the size and the best news, that it could all go in the dishwasher if necessary!                            

Excited by my new kitchen ware I used all three pieces in one day. First deciding to use the baking tray to make some lemon curd biscuits before then using the round loose bottom tin to make a pizza rustica. Both of these are from one of my most used cook books ‘How to be a Domestic Godess’ by Nigella Lawson and are lovely recipes.

The enamel roasting tray was used for a super British rib of beef for our Sunday dinner along with the roast potatoes. Normally the trays I use for this get ruined pretty quickly as the high heat tends to make for a pretty trashed tray bottom. The Utensa roasting tray, however, held up brilliantly even going on top of our induction hob to make the gravy (something very very few pans can do)! In short all three trays held up to the abuse we hit them with on the first day and still look like new nearly 2 weeks on. This is helped by the fact that they wash like a dream.

I cannot recommend these tins enough and as such they get an almost clean sweep in our numerical review below. They only lost some points on design as the lip on the roasting tray is a little larger than I would have liked (very pedantic I know). I have already started looking through their website, through their vast range of bakeware, for other ‘must have’ items. If you would like to ogle the fantastic range with me go to www.utensa.co.uk

In short Utensa prouce a fantastic product with a fantastic story, here’s to the next 125 years!!

– Emily