4 Ways You Might be Ruining Your Sheet Pans

It took me a long time to learn how to properly care for all the tools in my kitchen, and sheet pans were no exception. No matter how diligently I cleaned them or how hard I scrubbed, they only ever lasted a year or so before grease was caked on and I was itching for new ones. The issues were often mainly cosmetic. The burned-on oil wasn’t necessarily going to hurt anyone—some would argue that it’s just extra seasoning!—but it still led to food sticking to them and made handling them unpleasant. 

Once I invested in a bit higher-quality sheet pans, their lifespans certainly extended but not without some changes to how I treated them. Here are a few ways you might be mistreating these essential tools, and advice on how to show them just a little more love.

Putting Them in the Dishwasher

Especially if your pans are pure aluminum, dishwasher detergent can cause oxidation of the metal, leaving your pans looking rough much faster than they otherwise would. For the best results, hand-wash them. Which leads me to the next point…

Cleaning with Harmful Chemicals

Plain soap and water are your friends. As mentioned, dishwasher detergent and other chemicals will often oxidize the metal and leave you with a pan that is at best unsightly and at worst with a much shorter lifespan.

Not Using Foil or Parchment 

If cleaning is proving to be a pain, save yourself some time and stress by lining your sheet pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Clean up will be a snap, with the foil or paper shouldering the majority of the oil, scraps of food, and other dried bits that would otherwise be directly on your pan. Be sure to use parchment paper and foil wisely—they don’t always work equally well for every task. Parchment paper isn’t as great for high heat like foil is, but it is naturally nonstick while foil typically requires a non-stick spray.

Damaging the Coating

Particularly if you have a nonstick baking sheet, the coating can be damaged by knives or other utensils, or by exposing it to extreme heat. Be mindful of the tools you’re dragging along your nonstick sheets’ surfaces, and if you’re inching above a 350-degree-ish bake, consider a different pan.