Sheet-Pan Basics

Made of aluminum or stainless steel, sheet pans were originally designed for baked goods, such as cookies, rolls, and biscuits, but are equally well suited for savory dishes and are a mainstay for home cooks and chefs alike. Commonly known as rimmed or sided baking sheets, they may also be called jelly-roll pans, as they are traditionally used to make thin sheets of sponge cake. While restaurant-style sheet pans tend to be large (18 by 26 inches/45 by 66 cm), the ones used by home cooks are either small (12½ by 8¼ inches/31.5 by 21 cm, known as quarter sheet pans) or standard (18 by 12 inches/45 by 30 cm, known as half sheet pans). Regardless of size, sheet pans are rectangular in shape and have rims that are 1 to 1½ inches (2.5 to 4 cm) high. All of the recipes in this book were made using one or two heavy-duty half sheet pans with a 1-inch (2.5-cm) rim.