A bread pan is a kitchen utensil in the form of a container in which bread

Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...

 is baked. Its function is to shape bread while it is rising during baking

Baking

Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items...

. The most common shape of the bread pan is the loaf

Loaf

A loaf is a shape, usually rounded or oblong, mass of food. It may refer to a bread, or meatloaf.The term "loaf" sometimes refers to "head" from the rhyming slang "loaf of bread" ....

 - a convenient form from which usable slices of bread may be cut. The bread pan is made from a conductive material

Heat conduction

In heat transfer, conduction is a mode of transfer of energy within and between bodies of matter, due to a temperature gradient. Conduction means collisional and diffusive transfer of kinetic energy of particles of ponderable matter . Conduction takes place in all forms of ponderable matter, viz....

 such as metal

Metal

A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

 which might be treated with a non-stick coating. They can also be made of a special type of paper that sticks to the dough and that once it is cooked it becomes easy to separate. These paper bread pans are mostly used at bakeries and they are an elegant and useful way to transport the bread without extra weight. Bread pans are to be found in an important variety of designs and sizes in order to provide the baker with lots of different possibilities not only for baking bread, but also a variety of diverse cakes and puddings.