Sheet Pan Recommendations

[HumbleHomeCook]

Looking for a good half and quarter sheet pan. No frigging raised logos in the center of the pan. Home use. Is this a case of just get whatever or is there a genuine quality difference if you bump up some?

What say you KKF?

 

[esoo]

Home user here - I have some Nordic Ware quarter sheet pans that I find quite nice. Bought from Amazon and Costco. I do think the ones from Amazon are heavier, but the Costco set is still very good. I also have a pair that I bought from Winners with a herringbone type pattern on the bottom. Work very well as well.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Home user here - I have some Nordic Ware quarter sheet pans that I find quite nice. Bought from Amazon and Costco. I do think the ones from Amazon are heavier, but the Costco set is still very good. I also have a pair that I bought from Winners with a herringbone type pattern on the bottom. Work very well as well.

The smooth-bottomed Nordic Ware offerings look nice.

 

[timebard]

I have a Nordic Ware half sheet as well as a couple cheaper ones, it feels more solid and gets used first but it has warped a bit and to be honest I don't think it gives any better or worse results than the cheap stuff.

 

[Chicagohawkie]

Chicago metallic commercial II pans will last a lifetime, at least they used to.
Edit:
Guess CMs been bought and sold several times after I did contract work for them 10 years ago. Now production is in China and considered garbage. Sad, was a good product back in its USA days.

 

[M1k3]

Restaurant supply.

 

[rmrf]

I HIGHLY recommend AGAINST the cheapest half sheet trays. I bought a pack of cheap chinesium half sheets that are basically garbage. They warp at 350F and are basically only useful as shelf liners and to hold whetstones.

That said, I have pretty high standards for half sheets as I use them at 500F to bake bread on baking steels. Its also very easy for me to tell if they warp because of that.

For half sheet, I just got some vollrath 13 gauge that are better than the old ones I had. Don't get Baker's mark half sheets. They warp terribly (twisting mode) when cooled too quickly. That is, if you pull them from a 500F oven and put them on a countertop, they will twist every time. Heating them back up untwists them but this is not ideal, especially if filled with oil. Normal half sheet cooling racks also don't fit in them perfectly; they're slightly too large or the slope of the sides isn't quite right. Nordic isn't bad. They're not as thick or have some anodized coating that flakes under heavy use. Nordic tends to bow in the middle like a drum. For bread, this prevents the bottom from browning. One of my thicker nordic pans twists when cooled.

I was looking for chicago metallic 1/2 sheet, but the thickest they had was 14 gauge and I wanted ones as thick as possible. Baker's mark was 12 gauge (but they warp) and vollrath was 13 (smaller number = thicker metal)

So far, I haven't had problems with my 13 gauge vollraths, but I've only used them a few times. Right now, those are the ones I recommend.

For quarter sheets, I'm less discerning. I have a nordic that was fine and I bought a few baker's mark 16 gauge that aren't bad. I don't think quarter sheets matter as much for warping. I love quarter and eighth sheet trays for heating leftovers or pizza or roasting nuts. I have chicago metallic eighth sheet pans that are pretty nice but I don't think it really matters.

EDIT: Really it depends what you're doing with them. My use case (baking bread on very flat baking steels and shallow frying potatoes in the oven) is probably a tad extreme and my fanaticism reflects that.

 

[AT5760]

What @M1k3 said. Get the heaviest gauge you can get from web restaurant store or another restaurant supply store. Cheap, durable, easy to clean.

 

[M1k3]

Bun and Sheet Pans | Chefs' Toys

Buy baking sheet pans from Chefs' Toys, your source for commercial full size, half size and quarter size baking sheets for cookies and more since 1988.

chefstoys.com

 

[McMan]

Chicago metallic commercial II pans will last a lifetime, at least they used to.
Edit:
Guess CMs been bought and sold several times after I did contract work for them 10 years ago. Now production is in China and considered garbage. Sad, was a good product back in its USA days.

Agreed. I had a few old ones--very nice, very heavy--and wanted to replace soon. Expected them to still be made in USA. Bummer to hear that they're not anymore.

I had some Nordicware too. Warped in a few months.

Had a few USA Pan that I liked. The uncoated not the nonstick. Thick, made in USA. Warped eventually.

 

[DitmasPork]

Best of my sheet pans, very sturdy.

 

[Jovidah]

Any EU recommendations? I'm in this same position where I'd be open to replace all the cheap and bendy crappy oven trays I have... but I don't want to end up replacing them with the same level of junk.

 

[tomsch]

I have been using Nordic Ware for some years now and they perform well with even cooking. I don't bake much so it's more about vegetables, chicken, etc.
Once I have one that is too funky and takes too much time to clean I toss it since I typically have a new one waiting for use.

 

[TB_London]

Any EU recommendations? I'm in this same position where I'd be open to replace all the cheap and bendy crappy oven trays I have... but I don't want to end up replacing them with the same level of junk.

In Uk I’ve been happy with the hard anodised mermaid

Samuel Groves | British Cookware Manufacturer over 200 Years - Samuel Groves Online

Samuel Groves Cookware for professional and home use, Tom Kerridge cookware range.

www.samuelgroves.com

I also have their stainless clad copper pans and they’ve been solid performers

 

[PNWanderlust]

2nd.. or 3rd for Vollrath, they work very well.
Had good luck with OXO sheet pan too, but it's not smooth bottom.

 

[lane]

It isn't just about thickness. A thick pan can warp as easily as a thin one. A sheet pan has to be tensioned properly so it stands up to the uneven stresses of heat changes. The only Nordic Ware sheets I've seen that warped had been dropped hot into dishwater or otherwise abused. Vollrath have been good but the quality has been less lately. Nordic would be my first choice, and their warranty is first rate.

 

[boomchakabowwow]

I have 4 of these. I think I paid $11 at a restaurant supply house. Maybe my favorite kitchen tool. Here is my crustiest one. My MVP.

 

[boomchakabowwow]

bonus! It makes a good photo prop/backdrop

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Bun and Sheet Pans | Chefs' Toys

Buy baking sheet pans from Chefs' Toys, your source for commercial full size, half size and quarter size baking sheets for cookies and more since 1988.

chefstoys.com

The path is chosen.

I like that that place doesn't advertise the product at $3 but then charge $22 for shipping like some of those supply shops do.