Tucked beneath all the shinier, newer, and all-around nicer baking pans and sheets in my drawer is one very old cookie sheet. It's surface is dull and mottled with stains. It's dented and slightly warped. And every time my husband asks me if we can get rid of it, I snatch it from his hands and nestle it back in its place. Here's why.
A battered baking sheet is a surprisingly useful thing to have. It's crucial for messy jobs like catching drips from a pie or broiling meatballs. It also makes a handy tray for carrying food out to the grill or a double batch of cookies to a family picnic. This is the baking sheet you don't have to worry about because it's already taken a few licks.
Besides, the battered baking sheets in our kitchens have history! Mine is actually the very first baking sheet I ever owned, given to me by my mother when she visited my first post-college apartment and was mortified at my kitchen set-up (or lack thereof). This baking sheet has seen it all. Some might say its silly to get attached to an object like this, but to me, it's part of my history as a cook.
Do you keep one old baking sheet in your cupboard, too?
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I only have a few baking sheets, but yes, one is considerably more "lived in" than the others. I always pick it as I rarely have to use more than one at a time. I also find the "lived in" one is basically stick-free now - "well seasoned" perhaps?
We once got advice to buy a used canoe with at least three dings in it." The idea was that when the next ding happened, you didn't care. I feel the same way about baking sheets. I have a bunch and a couple are more battered than the rest, perfect for messy jobs.
Yep, I've definitely got one of these! Great for baking pies on; I don't even worry anymore about getting sticky, burnt stuff off.
Heck - all my baking sheets look like that. My mom once told me that baking sheets don't get scrubbed with soap cuz you want them well seasoned. By now mine are a blackened, speckled mess. I'm also pretty clumsy, so they're all dented. My boyfriend finds our baking sheets disgusting, but I figure that if I never need to grease them and they bake evenly then I'm perfectly happy with them.
You should see my mom's baking sheets. She's had the same ones at least my entire life.. they're black. But they still get the job done!
Absolutely! I even remember the meals that caused a few of the more notable scars and splatters! Good memories and definitely useful!
All of my baking sheets are battered... because I can never keep them looking good.
*shame*
@Allison - I think my mom has the same baking sheets! They've seen so many batches of cookies they look like cast iron. My dad offered to clean them once but she told him to keep his hands off.
The little baking sheet for our toaster oven is getting pretty well blackened. We use it frequently for baking chicken so the seasoning builds up fast.
ABSOLUTELY. and the one that i've got was also useful for crafting when i made bubble magnets; my newer baking sheets wouldn't hold the magnets while they were drying; the one that's older than me sure did!
Yes! Though I don't use it much, it's not because it's "well-seasoned" -- I just like using my well seasoned stoneware sheets better. Related: I also make almost no effort to keep spills and stains off of my recipe cards and cookbooks -- I like when they look "loved." :)
My sheets are "well loved" but I worry that others will find them disgusting... When I entertain I pull out the cleaner shiny ones b/c I dont want ppl scheeved at my dingy sheets.. especially those who dont cook and cant appreciate the beauty of a well used, well seasoned cookie sheet.
Mine all look like that. I think it's mostly a result of using non-stick spray on them. That stuff never comes off and I stopped using the sprays because of how those sheets looked (makes me wonder what it does to your insides). It doesn't make them useless though... a good greasing or a sil-pat or some parchment paper and it's just as good as any other sheet.
Same reason I love my old baking sheets. Pans too. You just use them more because you're not so concerned about messing them up!
My husband soaked something in paint thinner in mine the other week and rather than freak out I just shrugged it off and said "I'll come clean"
We call that patina at my house.
That picture looks like you just murdered a strawberry-rhubarb pie.
And all my baking sheets have that "patina" you were talking about. I've got better things to do than clean my baking sheets until they are sparkly!
I love dingy baking sheets. My roommate has started buying new ones with the intent to get rid of the old ones because she can't get past thinking that they're dirty. It just makes me nervous to use the new ones: I know there will come a time when something stains, scratches, or sticks and I'll feel obligated to offer to buy her a new one. I prefer my kitchen tools to be functional and well-used, and yeah, sometimes dingy, than pretty and shiny. I'd rather worry about what I'm cooking than being careful with the baking sheets.
What funny timing - I JUST took barkeeper's friend to one of ours last night. It didn't really help (those were some intense stains!) but after reading everyone's comments I can forgive myself, move on, and never do that again :-)
Two shiny new baking sheets, one crummy old one -- yep that's us. Mainly we keep the old one around because my partner won't let me use the newer ones. Also great for toasting nuts.
Yes! And I was just thinking recently how nice it is to see Deb at Smitten Kitchen and Joy at Joy the Baker using their battered and stained baking sheets in their beautiful food photos. They know as well as I do that a sheet of parchment paper can work wonders on an old (or even new) baking sheet.
All my cookie sheets are battered. I try and keep one decent so when I pull it out in front of guests. :)
It was too hot to go outside yesterday afternoon, so I filled my two battered cookie sheets with shaving cream for my children. We made snow people and ran the zamboni.
They are also great for baking drippy sweet potatoes.
I have four baking sheets, two nice and shiny ones, two old and blackened ones. I only use the shiny ones with the silpats on them. And I'm paranoid about spills, so the old ones come out whenever there's anything messy cooking (baking bacon on a rack comes to mind LOL).
All of mine are grody. I've been using them for almost 20 years. I just lay down parchment or a silpat and get my bake on.
Admittedly I haven't had any of my cookie sheets for long, but I must confess that I have yet to use my new ones, because I don't want to make them dirty-looking! I found out with my first sheet that cooking spray + really hot oven is bad, as is burning things onto the sheet. Now I used that one for high temp oily cooking (corndogs from the freezer, too) and the other one for lower temp things like cookies, etc. Some day I'll work up to using the new ones!
Y'all must have a lot of room, because I don't keep my old ones. Things burn more quickly, they are warped with hot spots, and that "patina" is grimy.
I treat it like a well-seasoned cast iron pan. Tough, efficient, saves on soap (don't cook animals or by products however, so I don't deal with certain cleanliness issues.)
My omnivore mom still has her deep baking sheet that hosted cookies and cinnamon toast for going on 52 years.
I've kept a baking sheet for probably 47 years, the age of my son. Who remarks everytime he sees it.."is that the same cookie sheet you had when I was young?" and I always answer yes, and we chuckle. There are many objects in my kitchen dating way way back, including a vegetable peeler that was my mother's. I love them all.