The Common Sheet Pan Dinner Mistake That Has Nothing To Do With Your Ingredients - Tasting Table

"The idea behind sheet pan dinners is that you can get a meal on the table with minimal fuss and no hands-on cooking. It's just a matter of prepping the ingredients and then letting the oven do all the work. It's simple. Foolproof, even. So why then do some meals just not turn out right? The mistake you could be making is not using an actual sheet pan. This might sound obvious, but there's an important distinction between a baking pan and a baking dish."

"Baking pans (including sheet pans) are made from metal, while baking dishes could be ceramic, glass, or silicone. Even if they're the same shape, it's the material that determines how your food turns out. Glass and ceramic are not good heat conductors, which is ideal for low and slow cooking, particularly where you want to maintain the moistness in a dish. This is why baking dishes are perfect for making a saucy lasagna or a bubbling mac and cheese."

"When you're looking at stove-top cookware, the best quality items are often made from heavy-duty metals such as stainless steel or cast iron. But when it comes to choosing a sheet pan, you should be opting for aluminum. Although this lightweight metal might have a reputation for being cheap or flimsy, it's one of the best conductors of heat, much better than steel or iron."

Sheet pan dinners rely on the oven to finish cooking after simple ingredient prep. Using a true metal sheet pan is crucial because material affects heat transfer and final texture. Glass and ceramic conduct heat poorly, making them suited to low-and-slow, moist dishes like lasagna or mac and cheese but likely to steam vegetables and proteins on a sheet-pan meal. Metal pans conduct heat well, producing quicker cooking, even heat distribution, and desirable browning and caramelization. Aluminum sheet pans are recommended for their excellent thermal conductivity, while dark nonstick pans brown faster on the bottom.

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