I use my loaf pans all the time for yeast bread, very rarely for quick bread. My pans are relatively heavy, and my yeast breads consistently turn out perfectly cooked.
I am not a fan of quick breads, but in the last two days I made two different recipes of banana bread for the Sunday School kids. Both loaves turned out much too dark at the bottom.
I did the "insert knife" test on both loaves at 50 minutes. Each time the knife came back sloppy enough that I left the loaf in 5 more minutes. On the second loaf, I added aluminum foil loosely for the last 15 minutes. Both loaves were a nice moist texture for the upper half.
I'm not sure how to fix the issue. I already have the oven rack at the second highest position. I can't imagine raising it two more inches will make that much difference, will it?
The only other thing I can think of is the color of my pans. My mother always insisted that baking pans should be a shiny aluminum color, but my loaf pans are a dark grey. Could that be the problem?
Any other ideas? Thank you! Julie
