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“Because aluminum is a great heat conductor, pans get hot very fast and you get fast oven spring,” says Robert Johnson, marketing manager for LloydPans. “Steel is sturdy, but it heats up slower.”

Bakery and pizza pan manufacturers such as LloydPans and Chicago Metallic Bakerware showcased their latest innovations during the International Pizza Expo March 4-7 in Las Vegas.

New from Chicago Metallic, Exact Stack Pizza Pans are engineered to stack securely yet release easily when lifted. The pans can be used to proof dough while stacked and won’t stick together due to the proprietary design, according to the company. Exact Stack Pizza Pans are available plain or pre-seasoned with Americoat ePlus glaze.

Pans can be stacked with dough inside without the use of lids or pan separators, reducing overall equipment costs and saving walk-in, retarder and prep area spaces, according to Chicago Metallic. Pan sidewalls contain an engineered rib that enables pans to stack precisely, eliminating a need to pry stacked pans apart.

In the pizza business, it is important to realize that regional styles are gaining popularity from coast to coast, and LloydPans offers pizza pans for all regional styles including Sicilian, Grandma style, Chicago deep dish, Detroit style and the new Roman style pizza al taglio.

“We’ve carved out a niche in the pizza industry by expertly developing and crafting regional-style pizza pans,” says Traci Rennaker, LloydPans’ president and chief executive officer. “Pizza al taglio is destined to be the next big restaurant trend, and these pans give pizzaiolos, retail bakers and commercial foodservice operators the perfect pan to deliver a light, airy crust with bite.”

Pizza al taglio traces its origins in Rome. It is quickly gaining popularity in the United States behind restaurants such as Bonci Pizzeria in Chicago. The Roman-style pizza is rectangular in shape, served by the slice and designed for a grab-and-go eating experience.

LloydPans merged traditional Roman-style pizza pans with its proprietary pan technology. To determine pan sizes, LloydPans replicated the size of authentic Roman pans, changing the company’s standard measurement from inches to centimeters for accuracy. To ensure durability in a commercial operation, the company uses a heavy 12-gauge aluminum to construct the pan, anodizes it and then applies the company’s proprietary PSTK coating. This permanent, stick-resistant coating does not require seasoning and will never rust.

“We focus on partnering with our customers, and we have in-house design so that we can design pans to their specifications,” Rennaker says.

“We are more than just a pan manufacturer,” Johnson adds. “And the advantage we have as a US manufacturer is that we control production and delivery times.”

The new pans are two centimeters deep and feature a double-thick folded rim to increase durability. LloydPans also has developed two cutting boards to complement the pizza al taglio pans. Both the pans and the cutting boards were introduced at the International Pizza Expo.

Also at the show, Chicago Metallic Bakeware featured NSF StayFlat Sheet Pans, the world’s first sheet pan (available in full- and half-size) to have the strength of a completely enclosed pan rim, according to the company, and to be certified by National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) International. The NSF StayFlat Full-Size Sheet Pan features stronger sidewalls and a concave bottom that significantly increase the pan’s durability and resistance to warping and bowing.