I grease a cold pan with melted-and-cooled shortening. It solidifies in the nooks and crannies, just before adding the batter. Then when I take the done cake from the oven, I give it a shake up and down by quarter turns. So far, I've had the most success doing that. Once air gets between the cake and the pan, it will come out easily when cooled. I always soak the dirty pan in soapy water for an hour before cleaning and use a soft Oxo bottle brush to scour the tight crevices with Dawn platinum. No dishwasher. Now if only that would work half as well with muffin pans...

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