Best baking tray for everyday use

The perfect options for a range different tasks, from making cookies to heating up a pizza.

By PopSci Commerce Team | Published May 19, 2021 2:30 PM EDT

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A baking tray is always better with freshly-baked biscuits. Nathan Dumlao, Unsplash

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Baking trays are extremely versatile and can be used for everything from making tray bakes to heating up a pizza, and because of this, there are lots of different styles to choose from. For tray bakes, you’ll need a deeper tray with a higher wall for example, but if you’re just making cookies, a tray with a low wall is much better. For heating up a pizza, a tray with a perforated base could offer the crispiest results.

You’ll also need to consider the material, as this will affect what you can use the tray for, the price point and how much it weighs. Here’s what to consider when choosing a baking tray for your home.

Material: Most trays are stainless steel with some sort of non-stick coating. These are durable and great for everyday use, but they can be very heavy. A great alternative is aluminium—make sure you get one that’s anodized to prevent food from sticking and protect it from acidic foods. Vitreous enamel trays are much more expensive, but you can use them directly on the hob before popping them in the oven, or vice versa, which is ideal for things like making gravy or roast potatoes.
Rolled or Straight Edges: Most baking trays have a rolled edge, where the edge of the metal is rolled under to create a neat border. The downside of these rolled edges is that water can get trapped in them and drip out when you least expect it. In the long run, they can also rust. You can get trays without rolled edges, which are generally more expensive, but these are much better if you want to use the dishwasher to clean your baking tray.
Solid or Perforated Base: Some baking trays have a perforated base, to allow extra aeration, which is great for heating up things like pizzas and pastries. You can also get baking trays with grooves on the bottom to improve its non-stick qualities and reduce scratching from kitchen tools. But if you mainly want to use your tray for baking cookies, a no-frills flat-based baking tray is best.