Credit:
Reviewed / Madison Trapkin
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Credit:
Reviewed / Madison Trapkin
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Nordic Ware's commercial-quality half-sheet baking tray lasts a long time if you treat it right. Its large area makes it multipurpose, too. Read More
Great Jones' baking sheet is a spacious nonstick option that evenly bakes cookies, pizza, and roasted veggies. Plus, it's super easy to clean. Read More
Your food will glide off of Farberware's non-stick cookie sheet, but it's prone to warping at high heat. Read More
This sturdy half-sheet pan has ample surface area and solid nonstick coating, but its corrugated bottom can be tough to clean. Read More
If your oven is small, this baking sheet from Chicago Metallic could be a good choice. It's sturdy and has a good nonstick coating, but it's tiny! Read More
A dependable baking sheet is a vital—and versatile—tool in the kitchen. Whether baking cookies, roasting vegetables, or cooking a frozen pizza on busy nights, a great baking pan will make your life easier.
The best baking sheets and pans can stand up to high temperatures, release food with ease, and aren’t difficult to clean. But which cookie sheets are up for the task, and which just aren’t worth the money?
To find out, we tested the top rated baking sheets, making seemingly endless batches of cookies, oodles of roasted vegetables, and enough frozen pizza to feed a small army. We also washed everything, taking note of what was an easy clean and what required some elbow grease.
After extensive testing, the Nordic Ware Baker’s Half Sheet (available at Amazon) stood out as the best baking sheet. It’s lightweight, large enough to fit more than a dozen cookies, and not difficult to clean.
The Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Baker's Half Sheet is the best baking sheet we've tested.
The Great Jones Holy Sheet is the best baking sheet for baking cookies thanks to its size and nonstick surface.
Good nonstick coating
Cleans up easily
Warps at high heat
Solid construction
Nonstick coating holds up well
Small
Comfortable to grip
Sturdy
Easy to clean
Small
Heavy
Affordable
Great size for cookies or roasted vegetables
Needs non-stick cooking spray or lining
Warps at at 400°F
We cooked pizza and veggies in the pans to really get a sense for what it's like to use them.
Hi, I’m Madison Trapkin, the kitchen and cooking editor here at Reviewed. I have a huge sweet tooth and chocolate chip cookies are one of my favorite treats, so a good baking sheet is essential in my home. By no means am I a professional baker, but I’ve tested everything from boxed cake mixes to pie dishes (further proof of my affinity for sugar).
And I’m Bethany, an avid home baker and freelancer for Reviewed. I’ve been terrorizing my mother in the kitchen since I was too small to hold a baking sheet straight. Now as an adult, I regularly bake too many cookies, and weekly roast vegetables and other delights for dinner.
To find our winner, we tested products of various styles (rimmed, rimless, AirBake, nonstick), materials (aluminum, aluminized steel, carbon steel, steel), and sizes. We used each pan to cook various baked goods, including frozen pizzas, sugar cookies, and mixed veggies, and scored each based on size, weight, warp resistance, ease of food removal, how much effort it took to clean, and the overall experience of using the pan.
The worst thing you can do for your kitchen is stock it with equipment that you don’t like. That’s especially true with baking sheets—because they can be used for everything from baking cookies to sheet pan dinners.
Size is an important factor in a baking sheet. When testing baking pans, we judged them by how many cookies comfortably fit, whether or not a frozen pizza would squeeze in, and of course whether or not they would fit in a standard oven.
Most of the baking sheets we tested were about the size of a half sheet pan, roughly 13x18 inches, often with a 1-inch lip. That’s a good size for most home cooks, as it fits standard ovens and stores relatively easily. Smaller quarter sheets fit less food, while full sheets, which are often used in commercial kitchens, hold more food but don’t fit into most home ovens.
While a baking sheet with a bit of weight isn’t necessarily a bad thing—solid construction means it’s less likely to warp—a heavy sheet is tough to hold on to. When testing, we looked at how easy it was to handle each tray with one hand, and whether you could hold the sheet comfortably while also removing your food to settle on the cooling rack.
Through our testing, we paid close attention to the overall experience of using each pan. Was it easy to grab? Did it hold food securely? Was baking even? We also judged the nonstick factors after cooking. Specifically, how easy was it to remove food from the tray? And how easy was it to clean?
The best baking pans and cookie sheets can be handled easily, hold food, and most importantly bake evenly. After baking is done, food should be easy to remove and cleaning shouldn’t cause headaches.
We tested nonstick capabilities and how easy each pan was to clean.
No one wants to scrub and scrub to get a baking sheet clean. If you have stubborn messes on your baking pan, follow these three steps.
First, measure 1/4 cup of baking soda and 1/4 cup of vinegar. Then, evenly spread the baking soda on the baking sheet and pour vinegar on the baking sheet and let the ingredients react to each other.
In a sink, submerge the baking sheet in hot water and let it sit for half an hour to 45 minutes. Drain the sink and scrub away the grime or dirt with steel wool.
Finally, wash the sheet with regular soap and water and let it dry.
Bethany Kwoka
Contributor
Bethany is a freelance contributor for Reviewed. An avid home baker and aspiring home cook, she reviews and writes mostly about kitchen gadgets (with the occasional fitness review thrown in). Her specialty might be fancy desserts, but she's never met a batch-cooked dinner recipe she didn't like.
Outside of her work for Reviewed, Bethany is a content creator working on clean energy and climate change at a regional non-profit and runs a tabletop game at her local comic book shop.
Madison Trapkin
Contributor
Madison covered all things cooking as the kitchen editor for Reviewed in 2021. Formerly the editor-in-chief of Culture Magazine, Madison is the founder of GRLSQUASH, a women's food, art, and culture journal. Her work has also appeared in The Boston Globe, Cherrybombe, Gather Journal, and more. She is passionate about pizza, aesthetic countertop appliances, and regularly watering her houseplants.
She holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia and a Master's of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy from Boston University.
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