If you cook very much you probably have a pan or two that has developed the “cook’s patina.” Some say that blackened edges on cookie sheets are the sign of a great cook. Well, for the rest of us, there has to be a solution to the build-up that bakeware gets from repeated heavy use and quick cleanings. If the surface of your favorite aluminum half-sheet is starting to resemble a sticky fly trap, it’s time to do something about it.
Figuring out exactly how to get all that stuff off of your bakeware is the problem. It isn’t that we don’t want to do it. Goodness knows how many hours those pans have soaked in the sink, bathed in the latest miracle grease fighter only to come out still bearing the marks of ten years of cookies and the occasional chicken wing. Depending on the main source of the stains on your pans, one method may work better than another.
One of the simplest kitchen hacks we’ve heard of in a while may just be the salvation my cookie sheets have been waiting for. If you want to renew your stained bakeware you need two common items and a little time.
Pick a place to lay your cookie sheets out where they can remain undisturbed. Sprinkle them with baking soda then add hydrogen peroxide. Add another layer of baking soda and let them sit for a couple hours. After you’ve binge watched a few episodes, head back to the kitchen and wipe away the baking soda and peroxide mixture. You’ll find that your stains leave right along with it.
Once you have shiny clean pans it’s time to get back to baking. Chicken wings anyone?