Why I grease the tin before the batter

The tin is already on the table — and the hand reaches to pour the batter “at once, butter later”. Easy: the edge sticks, the middle tears on tipping out, a ring of crust stays in the metal. I first grease the base and sides thinly with butter or a scrap of buttered paper — then I pour the batter.

Why I grease the tin before the batter. A traybake drowned in oil under vegetables is another habit; butter paper on the table is another gesture; keeping the baking tray itself is another shelf; fat from the roasting tin into the pot is another spoon. Here it is the tin itself before the batter: a thin coat, so the cake leaves whole — not a lecture about non-stick coatings.

If it already went in and the rim seized — I run a knife along the side, I grease the next tin earlier. I don’t flood it with oil “just in case”. I’m not praising a new spray from the shop display here — it’s about the tin that already stands on our table.

I don’t need a cake that stays half in the metal. I need a tin from which the sponge leaves quietly and whole. In your kitchen before the batter do you grease the tin — or already pour at once “to be quicker”?