Wednesday Baking-Some rockin' cookie sheets
I promise I will post an actual recipe one of these Wednesdays...but for today, I wanted to talk about baking sheets.
I've had baking sheets my whole married life, but until the last few years, I've never had one I really liked. I've had ones like this:
with a stupid non-stick finish that burns the bottom of my bread, rolls, and cookies. This one is also fairly flimsy and warp-prone, as you can see.
I also dislike this one:
While it doesn't have the dreaded dark finish, it's an air-bake cookie sheet(the insulated sort). This leaves the bottoms of my baked good in a sickly, pale, not-baked-quite-enough state, which drives me nuts.
Thankfully, Cook's Illustrated came to the rescue(I know...you probably wish I would shut up about Cook's, but honestly, they do rock. You really should read their magazines or join their website. On second thought, you could probably just keep reading here and get the same effect, considering how often I blab on about them). They rated baking sheets a while back, and a little-known, hardly marketed cookie sheet came out on top.
May I present to you the Vollrath baking sheet(doesn't that name just sound sturdy??)
These baking sheets are seriously awesome. There's no insulation, no dark finish, and they are so thick and heavy, I can't imagine I will ever be able to warp them. They're downright indestructible, and I don't anticipate ever having to buy another baking sheet.
When I bake with these sheets, the bottoms of my cookies, rolls, and loaves are all perfectly done...not too light, and not too dark.
The one downside is that each sheet will set you back about $25. This isn't cheap(you can get other cookie sheets for $10-$15), but I think that these are worth it. If you take a look back at my flimsy cookie sheet, you can see that it's not meant to last a lifetime. I fully expect my Vollrath cookie sheets to outlive me, though, so I think that in the long run, they're a more frugal purchase(it's better to spend $25 one time than $15 multiple times). In addition, I'm not going to have to throw away a bunch of old, worn-out cookie sheets, so I think this is a greener option.
Of course, these will make your baking efforts more enjoyable too. It's not exactly fun to make a dough, knead it, let it rise, punch it down, shape it, and let it rise only to have your baking sheet burn the bottom beyond recognition.
Save your pennies, and do your baking self a favor by buying a couple of these. I promise you won't be disappointed!
You can get these on Amazon individually for $24.95, or you can get 2 from Chef's Resource for $46 Right now, Chef's Resource is offering free shipping on orders over $49, so if you can manage to find a little inexpensive item to include in your order(just enough to bump you up over $49), you wouldn't have to pay for shipping!
(just so you know, these baking sheets are made of aluminum. If this unnerves you, you could always put parchment paper down before you bake with them.)
Ha! Vollrath sounds to me like the wrath of He Who Must Not Be Named from a certain children's series.
And really..I've had the first two kinds of cookie sheets (I'd wondered if you'd taken photos of mine through the years!), and now I'm ready for a cookie sheet that will work consistently and not burn/under bake my items!
I thought CI liked the Lincoln food service baking sheets? Me, I prefer the gold touch line from Williams Somoma. Those are THE BEST bakeware I've ever used. I have 3 pieces and I plan on getting something else next time I go to MI.
Randi, I just checked, and they still say they like the Vollrath the best. They weren't big fans of the Gold Touch cookie sheets(although they do like the bread pans, and I do too).
If it works for you, though, then I say stick with it!
Unfortunately, I have cookie sheet #2. I thought I was so grown up and smart when I got it a few years ago at Crate & Barrel. Little did I know as I didn't really cook at the time. Now I know.
But (amazingly this is a good but), it worked well enough for my husband to make his mother's cookies tonight. I do not jest. The man in my house made cookies. All by himself. And they were really good. I'm still in shock. But I'm sure it will wear off when I have to wash the dishes later.
Have you ever tried a silpat? I'm very intrigued by these but wonder if they're a Martha must-have (read: another way to spend money for kitchen stuff that isn't really needed to cook, just ask your grandmother)?
Those cookie sheets look sturdy! I do like things that'll last, it's worth the extra money.
People don't need to worry about aluminum causing Alzheimers or something like, it's never been proven. (I'm a caregiver for someone with ALZ so we've went down the aluminum route before.)
http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_myths_about_alzheimers.asp.
Kat
Katrina, I think Alton Brown said that eating off of Alluminum cookware every day for a year would cause someone to ingest less Al than taking one Rolaids. I still use Al-free Baking powder, though.
Kristen: If you have a restaurant supply store near you, (and you probably do or can order from one) then Al half sheet pans are the way to go. Personally I like something with a bit of a lip on it as my cookie sheets tend to be used as anything from grease traps to making my famous pretzels to well baking cookies. Parchment paper, by the way, is your friend indeed but I may splurge on one of those Silicone baking mats some day.
Here's an idea for the old ones (unless you plan on scrapping them)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/prettydaisies/2368629327/
Calimama, I baked bread in a silicone loaf pan once, and the bread came out tasting weird and plasticky. I have a silicone mat, but I've been nervous to use it. If I do get up the nerve, I'll let you know how it goes!
Battra, the half sheet pans are like jelly roll pans, right? With lips all around? I do want to get some of those to use as jelly roll pans(it's what Cook's recommended, after all!), but I like to have a lipless edge on my cookie sheets. It makes it easier to slide delicate cookies or large, fruit-filled coffee cakes out onto the counter or cooling rack.
I use the old pans when I'm doing something like freezing chicken breasts(I lay them out, freeze them, and then put them into ziploc bags), but I try never to use them for baking(at least the dark one!).
These are now on my wish list! And since Dave likes to bake even more than I do....hmmmm, do you suppose I could get them for him for Father's Day? Probably not; last year I bought him the immersion blender I had my eye on. Although he uses it lots to make Swedish pancakes, so it wasn't totally selfish.
We have about a dozen old pans that we pull out at Christmas when we make tons of candies and cookies that need a flat surface on which to rest/cool/freeze. But it would be nice to have some really nice ones, and ones that I wouldn't have to worry about the kids scratching the non-stick surface off of!
He got me a pair for Valentine's Day this year!!!
I like to use a baking stone or one of my iron skillets for baking. Try an iron skillet (well seasoned is best 🙂 ) sometime when you're making biscuits.
That 2nd picture looks just like my pans too, how funny. The Vollrath ones are now in my cart at Amazon, awaiting a $25 certificate I get from charging stuff on my Amazon visa (paid off in full each month, naturally!) Thanks for the tip. Now I feel like baking today. This is probably not good for trying to lose the 11 pounds I gained last year, but my guys will be appreciative.
Vollrath sounds like some sort of celtic conqueror from the North Country. Vollrath the Magnificent, Vollrath the Destroyer! (LOL)
Oh FG - i am so ashamed of my cookie sheets. They are a collection of disposable pans from the Dollar Discount Store. They are sad. They are soooo sad I couldn't even share a photo with you (sigh....)
ok, I get it now. You were looking at the cookie sheet reviews and I was thinking of the baking sheet reviews. For baking sheet aka jelly roll pan, they liked Lincoln Food service, but also the vollrath jelly roll pan. They didnt review the Gold Touch which I have in Jelly Roll size and which I use to make Peter Rheinharts overnight foccacia. I dont have the gold touch cookie sheet!!!
I have two of the hollow cookie sheets and they work best for ginger snaps, but are awful for chocolate chip cookie, (the cookies spread out and are awful.) I have a sturdy jelly roll pan that I use for everything else. (Oven roasted potatoes, as a surface for freezing individual whatevers and to put under drippy things in the oven.) It was a gift from my sister and came with a plastic snap-on lid that is my very best friend.
I also have a ventilated pizza pan that I pulled from a free pile. I use it for . . . well . . . pizza!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
I thought I had the saddest cookie sheet until I saw yours. I have a battered, warped, and dark baking sheet that I finally retired into a outside garden tray this spring. I guess this proves that people who love to bake will put a hubcap in the oven if that's all there is.
Kristen, Thank you so much for doing this post! My baking sheets are pathetic and way overdue for replacing. Like you, I had tried several different types but none lasted/worked well. I haven't bought new ones because I just didn't know what to buy that was decent. Now I do!
What the heck do you guys do to your cookie sheets. I can keep a cheap one a life time and still not have it look like your picture....you obviously bake a lot more than I do. What is a good cheaper brand?
Fran, I don't know...I haven't found any cookie sheets I like other than the Vollrath ones! lol I do bake a lot...I'd say my cookie sheets get used several times a week on average, mostly for bread baking.
Honestly, I think the $25 is well worth it for a cookie sheet that will last a lifetime. A cheap one would probably be $10-$15, and really, what's another $10 to get a sturdy one that makes your baked goods turn out better? It's not like you have to keep forking over an extra $10, you know?
I will check out the Vollrath baking sheets. I have several of the cushioned sheets. I may be a bit anal about keeping mine clean. I use Cameo Aluminum & Stainless Steel cleaner. My roommate calls it the magic powder. I think part of being frugal is keeping your equipment in good shape. Here is a link to the product on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Cameo-CAMEO-STAIN-STEEL-CLEAN/dp/B001QR23I8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1250198976&sr=8-1.
Thank you for the tip. I've been searching for good quality cookie sheets. I just ordered them and they still have free shipping.
Hello, I'm just curious about the sheet you say you dislike, the insulated one. Do you know yhe brand of it or does it have what looks like a crosshair on the bottom. If so to either question can you please let me know the brand and where i can get them if i can get them.
I'm sorry-I don't have that one anymore!