Sheet Pans & Wire Racks
The most versatile and underrated tool in the kitchen. Cheap, simple, and endlessly useful.
If I had to pick the most useful piece of equipment in my kitchen relative to its cost, it's the sheet pan. You can buy one for $15 to $20 and it handles an enormous range of cooking tasks — roasted potatoes, chicken thighs, vegetables, sheet pan dinners, you name it. They're simple, they're cheap, and you should own at least two.
Why Sheet Pans Are So Useful
A sheet pan gives you a large, flat surface that distributes heat evenly in the oven. You can spread food out in a single layer, which is critical for getting good browning and crispy edges instead of steamed, soggy results. They're versatile enough for proteins, vegetables, potatoes, and even baking. Most ovens have two racks, so if you have two sheet pans you can cook a full meal at once — protein on one, sides on the other — and everything comes out together.
The Tin Foil Trick
This is the simplest time-saver in the kitchen: line your sheet pan with tin foil before you cook. When you're done, pull the foil off, throw it away, and most of the time you don't even need to wash the pan because nothing bled through. It saves you cleanup on every single oven cook. Some people use parchment paper instead, which works just as well. Either way, the five seconds it takes to line the pan saves you minutes of scrubbing later.
Wire Racks: Nice to Have
A wire rack that fits inside your sheet pan elevates the food off the surface, which lets air circulate underneath. This is especially useful for things like chicken thighs where you want the skin to crisp up on all sides, or roasted potatoes where you want even browning without flipping. They're a genuinely useful tool and they make a difference. That said, I'd rank them below the sheet pan itself in terms of priority. The sheet pan is essential; the wire rack is a nice upgrade. Wire racks can also be a bit of a pain to clean since food gets stuck in the grid, so keep that in mind.
Quick Tips
- ●Own at least two sheet pans. Most ovens have two racks, and cooking a full meal across both is a game changer.
- ●Line your sheet pan with tin foil or parchment paper for almost zero cleanup.
- ●Spread food in a single layer with space between pieces — crowding leads to steaming instead of roasting.
- ●Wire racks are a worthwhile upgrade for anything where airflow underneath matters, like crispy chicken skin.
- ●At $15 to $20 each, sheet pans are one of the best value purchases you can make for your kitchen.