Need new cookie sheets
So I'm in the market for new cookie sheets, and I'm willing to spend for high quality ones that will last. Any suggestions, anyone? Any specific brand anyone likes? Bad experiences with other brands? Do you prefer ones with a lip on one side, no rim at all, or a jellyroll pan? What about the finish - aluminum, non-stick, insulated...? I don't know if it makes a difference or not, but I much prefer cookies that are chewy/cakey as opposed to crunchy. I appreciate any input anyone has!
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11 Comments:
I used to have a 'wafer' style pan, with a double-bottom. It trapped the heat in between the layers and turned out nice cookies that were crisp on the bottom but nice and soft on top. Mum has it now. You leave the country for a decade, and all your things disappear...
I always go with non-stick, or else I use an old pan with kitchen foil on it, mainly because it makes it easier to turn out batches in succession. I don't think super-expensive baking pans are worth the money, myself.
NotAmerican at 12:17PM on 08/16/09
I'm really partial to half sheet pans (jelly roll pans). King Arthur has parchment sheets sized to fit, and I use a silpat a lot. I cover it with foil and roast my veggies on it, even roast meat in it. Very sturdy.
But even with old flea-market cookie sheets you can put your cookies on parchment paper, then pull them on to the pan when you're ready to cook.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/set-of-2-half-sheet-pans
You might be able to find the half-sheet pans and the parchment paper less expensively at a local restaurant supply store.
lemonfair at 12:29PM on 08/16/09
Should add that for a cookie sheet I actually prefer pans without a lip - easier to get a thin spatula under the cookies for transfer quickly.
But I like having a multi-purpose pan, and I've come to love the pan with the jelly roll lip. If I want to get delicate cookies off quickly I use parchment and then I can pull the parchment paper and cookies off in one sweep.
lemonfair at 12:33PM on 08/16/09
I have been using half sheets for about 17 years. They are multi taskers and you cna also bake half sheet cakes with them. I will never buy another cookie sheet.
JerzeeTomato at 1:02PM on 08/16/09
I like the jelly-roll style pans, and I get the aluminum ones from a local restaurant supply store. However, for some things I like the dark coated sheets better. In that case, the best ones I've found are made by Chicago Metallic. There are Calphalon ones that look the same, but they're flimsier. They tend to warp and unwarp from the heat, which is not a good thing.
The lip doesn't cause me any issues getting cookies out. If they're a little sticky and I didn't use parchement, I go for the middle ones first, they I can get the ones on the edge by coming at them from the center.
A while back I got a nonstick cookie sheet, lipless, with one edge that's tilted up, with a silicone grip on that edge. First time I tried to use it, the unbaked cookies were sliding around as I tried to get the thing into the oven. Nonstick is good, but this was silly. However, it's not a total loss. This thing makes a perfect pizza peel, since everything slide off of it so well. And if something does snag, unlike a wooden one you can leave it in the oven for a minute or two, then slide the bread or pizza off.
dbcurrie at 1:04PM on 08/16/09
I like the plain, half-sheet pans from whatever restaurant supply is around. They're cheap and they last forever.
beth1 at 2:52PM on 08/16/09
Screw cooky sheets - get half sheet pans from a restaurant supply store - or at any good cooking tool store. Get the ones with the rolled edges - rolled all the way around. They are a FANTASTIC generic sheet pan. As long as you have parchment, you can bake nearly anything on them. They last about forever - I still have some from my restaurant which are over 10 years old. They are not expensive and an entire box of sheet-pan sized parchment is within most financial means. Just slice a piece in half for use on the half-sheets. Once you try these pans, you'll never bake cookies or scones or whatever on anything else.
therealchiffonade at 2:57PM on 08/16/09
HA! on you, @therealchiffonade. My restaurant sheet pans are almost 40 years old and have been through six sons and, so far, seven grandchildren. I've used them for cookies, brownies, some kinds of pizzas, biscuits, peanut brittle, fondant, roasting tomatoes and other vegetables, drying herbs, draining french fries, and on and on.
Someone once gave me a couple of rimless cookie sheets. Because they're smaller and fit better in the fridge, freezer and on the counter, I use them for drying royal icing roses and individually quick freezing fruit slices and some vegetables before bagging, and for little else.
I do use a lot of parchment, but even without it, I don't have a real problem with sticking. I love them because I don't have to worry about metal utensils--yes, I'm bad, and have cut brownies in the pans--or what kind of cleaning products I use on them. They can be used and abused.
betteirene at 5:55PM on 08/16/09
My experience is that time and temperature listing in recipes for cookies is based on a shiny aluminum cookie sheet. The shiny aluminum reflects heat and gives you the best results for baking cookies. I do not like the Doughmaker brand, which gives my baking a funny taste. I have been baking cookies for more than 40 years on my vintage Mirro aluminum cookie sheets. The trick is to remember to scrub the bottom of the sheets to keep them shiny.
Suzzanne at 8:32PM on 08/16/09
another vote for the restaurant half sheet. love mine.
cybercita at 9:03PM on 08/16/09
i use the disposable foil tins (2/$1) as a cover for my real baking sheet on certain things that i bake. i dont use them as disposable because they do clean easily. they last as long as my "real" baking sheets were at 1/30th the price. and now my real baking sheet is simply a frame, although i can use it with parchment or foil also...
blizcheetah at 7:46PM on 08/17/09