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See why.The Best Rimmed Baking Sheets
A rimmed baking sheet is essential for sheet cakes and handy for cookies. But if yours is flimsy or you use it only for baking, you’re not getting your money’s worth.
We recently tested two additional baking sheets. We recommend both, but the Nordic Ware Baker’s Half Sheet remains our favorite.
Top Picks
See Everything We TestedWhat You Need To Know
Rimmed baking sheets, also called half-sheet pans, are true workhorses in the test kitchen. We have stacks of them that we use every day for obvious tasks like baking cookies or roasting oven fries or root vegetables. But we also use them for baking chicken or fish, toasting nuts and seeds, roasting vegetables such as green beans and asparagus, and baking jelly roll cakes. More unusually, we use baking sheets for sorting dried beans or spreading out cooked rice or pasta to cool before making salads. In a pinch, an inverted baking sheet can even stand in for a pizza peel or baking stone. And that’s just the start. Slipping a wire cooling rack inside (to elevate food for increased air circulation and also to contain mess) makes these pans even more versatile—it’s our go-to setup for roasting and broiling meats, holding breaded foods before and after frying, and drizzling chocolate over desserts.
To find the best rimmed baking sheet on the market, we selected eight standard-size models, all priced around $25.00 or less, to put through their paces in the test kitchen. We baked our way through jelly roll cakes and dozens of sugar cookies and then roasted 30 pounds of chicken thighs and more parsnips than anyone should ever have to look at. For each recipe, we examined how evenly foods browned across the surface of the pan, as well as how cleanly they released. Throughout testing, we kept a close eye on warping and evaluated how comfortable each pan felt when loaded with heavy foods.
Sizing up the Competition
First, some good news: It’s possible to bake, roast, and broil using all of the pans we tested. Most cookies and cakes baked to an appropriate pale golden brown. Meanwhile, chicken thighs and parsnips browned and cooked evenly in most of the pans and didn’t stick to any of the pans. But some pans made it harder to achieve good results.
We selected pans that either listed their dimensions as approximately 18 by 13 inches or that called themselves “standard” size; the dimensions refer to the lip-to-lip measurements, and the actual usable cooking surface on most of these pans was about 16½ inches by 11½ inches. There was one noticeable outlier. Its cooking surface was 18 inches by 12 inches, so a jelly roll cake made in this pan was too thin, which threw off the ratios of the filled and rolled cakes. Even more damning was that this irregularly sized pan wasn’t compatible with our favorite wire cooling rack. The rack slid around precariously and left swirls of scratches. Racks sat snugly and securely in most other models.
The style of the pans’ edges also mattered. One had low, sloped sides; when we walked around the kitchen with ...
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
- Baking: 3 stars out of 3.
- Warping: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 3 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 3 stars out of 3.
- Rack Compatibility: 3 stars out of 3.
Everything prepared in this sturdy, warp-resistant sheet cooked appropriately and evenly. Best of all, our new favorite is a few bucks cheaper than our old winner.
- Baking: 3 stars out of 3.
- Warping: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 3 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 3 stars out of 3.
- Rack Compatibility: 3 stars out of 3.
Our old favorite performed flawlessly when baking cookies and cakes. It did warp slightly when roasting, but the food still came out well. It resisted scratching and snugly fit wire racks.
Recommended
- Baking: 3 stars out of 3.
- Warping: 2 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 3 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 3 stars out of 3.
- Rack Compatibility: 3 stars out of 3.
The sole aluminum-coated steel sheet in our lineup, it matched the performance of the all-aluminum models. Although it didn’t warp noticeably more than most other sheets, it rested unevenly at the end of testing and made a disconcerting rumbling, popping noise when we pressed against it.
- Baking: 3 stars out of 3.
- Warping: 2 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 3 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 3 stars out of 3.
- Rack Compatibility: 3 stars out of 3.
This sheet has a ridged pattern on the cooking surface (ostensibly for increased strength and easy release) that left a houndstooth pattern on the undersides of the cake and parsnips. It held a wire cooling rack as snugly as our top models did.
- Baking: 3 stars out of 3.
- Warping: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 2 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 3 stars out of 3.
- Rack Compatibility: 3 stars out of 3.
This sheet baked and roasted foods evenly. Its straight, tall walls held liquids well without spilling, even when we walked around the kitchen with it. It warped slightly as it preheated but returned to its original shape after cooking.
- Baking: 3 stars out of 3.
- Warping: 2 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 3 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 3 stars out of 3.
- Rack Compatibility: 2.5 stars out of 3.
This sheet cooked and browned foods evenly in both baking and roasting tests. It was less warp-resistant than our favorites, especially when we roasted chicken thighs. A wire cooling rack fit fairly well and left behind minimal marks.
- Baking: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Warping: 2 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 2 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 3 stars out of 3.
- Rack Compatibility: 3 stars out of 3.
This sheet pan roasted and baked foods to a perfect, consistent brown. Unfortunately, it warped slightly over time, struggling to return to its original shape. Its walls are tall but slightly sloped, so jelly roll cakes made in this baking sheet came out with beveled edges that were less ideal for rolling. And those sloped walls also let liquids splash over the sides more easily, making for trickier handling.
- Baking: 3 stars out of 3.
- Warping: 2 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 3 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 3 stars out of 3.
- Rack Compatibility: 2 stars out of 3.
This bargain-priced sheet felt exceptionally strong and sturdy. It did twist slightly in our chicken thigh test. The sides have a unique ridged shape that imprinted on the edges of the cake, but most testers didn’t mind.
- Baking: 3 stars out of 3.
- Warping: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Rack Compatibility: 3 stars out of 3.
Although this sheet cooked parsnips, chicken, and cookies well, it warped awkwardly, and its low, flared sides gave us pause. Chicken fat almost spilled out of it, and our cake had odd beveled edges.
Not Recommended
- Baking: 2 stars out of 3.
- Warping: 1 stars out of 3.
- Handling: 2 stars out of 3.
- Roasting: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Rack Compatibility: 1 stars out of 3.
This sheet was the longest in our lineup; it made a jelly roll cake that was too thin, and a wire rack slid around. It browned foods almost too well, and we had to watch them carefully so they didn’t burn. It warped dramatically.
Reviews you can trust
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
Kate Shannon
Kate is a deputy editor for ATK Reviews. She's a culinary school graduate and former line cook and cheesemonger.
Valerie Sizhe Li
Valerie is an assistant editor for ATK Reviews. In addition to cooking, she loves skiing, traveling, and spending time outdoors.