In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticlePretreatingScrubbingPretreatingCleaning HackPan Protection
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
Pretreating
Scrubbing
Cleaning Hack
Pan Protection
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I cook a lot and I’m a bit of a neatnik, buteven Iam guilty of neglecting my baking sheets. No one really ever sees them and I’m just going to dirty them again, so I don’t always do the best job cleaning them. This is not great in terms of my domestic goddess status, but it does make me an ideal person to try out some of these so-called hacks—and try them I did. Read on for what I found (surprise, surprise, most of them didn’tpanout), plus what I suggest you actually do to clean your baking sheets and how to keep them plenty clean.
Brie Goldman
Pictured recipe:Sheet-Pan Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs
Try Pretreating Your Pans
As I “cleaned” my way through the various miracle tricks, I found that most simply don’t work or don’t work well enough to bother doing. For seriously dirty pans, it can help to use a combination of baking soda or cream of tartar plus white vinegar to start the cleaning process—think of this combo as the stain stick of pan cleaning. Combine enough powder and liquid to create a paste and spread that on the pan, or sprinkle the pan with powder, spray with vinegar, and sprinkle with more powder. Either way, let it sit for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours, then start scrubbing. You will likely need to use steel wool or some kind of scouring pad plus hot soapy water and some elbow grease, but this kind of pretreatment can lessen how much you have to work.
There are other pretreatment options, but I found baking soda or cream of tartar plus white vinegar to be not just more effective but also more convenient. You might not have cream of tartar on hand (plus it’s more expensive), but baking soda and white vinegar are staple ingredients most people keep in the kitchen.
The 7 Best-Tested Pans for Roasting Vegetables
Get Ready to Scrub
It’s not exciting and it’s certainly not a hack, but using hot, soapy water and scrubbing with steel wool or a scouring pad really is the best way to clean pans, even the ones that are in really bad shape.EatingWell’s test kitchen manager, Breana Killeen, confirmed that “steel wool, elbow grease and hot soapy water” are the tools of the trade in the test kitchen when it comes to cleaning dirty baking sheets. Keep in mind that while the baking soda (or cream of tartar) and white vinegar step is safe for all kinds of pans, you can’t use scratchy materials like steel wool or scouring pads on any pan that has a nonstick surface, including aluminized steel pans. I found pretreating nonstick surfaces with baking soda and white vinegar and then cleaning with a soft sponge was fairly effective, but the real secret to nonstick maintenance is to keep them clean in the first place, which I’ll get into.
Pictured recipe:Oatmeal-Coconut Cookies with Cranberries & White Chocolate
When Homemade Cleaners Aren’t Enough
A Baking-Sheet Cleaning Hack Worth Trying
While most hacks left me disappointed—I’m looking at you, dryer sheets—I did find Mr. Clean Magic Erasers somewhat useful. They act like microscrubbers, lifting and removing dirt, and are especially helpful in tight corners. Cleaning a large baking sheet, especially a very dirty one, would take a while, but I found Magic Erasers helpful for trouble spots and crusty corners.
Prevent the Need to Clean
Short of not using your pans, the best way to eliminate the need for such serious cleaning is to keep your pans from getting super dirty in the first place. Nonstick pans are usually fine as long as you clean them properly after using, but other pans benefit greatly from being lined with parchment, foil or a silicone mat—just watch for food or fat getting underneath and burning, especially with foil or parchment. I also find when I’m roasting vegetables or other food directly on a pan that if I brush the pan with a little oil before adding the oil-tossed ingredients, it prevents sticking, which is one of the main culprits of dirty pans. Other than that, clean your pans properly after each use and you can mostly avoid all this extra cleaning.
And just in case you’re still curious: I found that ketchup doesn’t clean baking sheets and is best used on fries—or maybe scrambled eggs.
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