Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Baker’s Half Sheet, 2-Pack, Silver

After months (close to a year) of searching and trialing different baking sheets, i have found the perfect (or two perfect) ones for your consideration. I am hoping this to be a very informative review and i hope you will like it! I hope this is going to be helpful to you. Learn from my experience (and trial and error) so you buy the correct baking sheet the first time—save you time, money, and energy.

This review is going to focus on two of my favorite brand’s quarter sheet baking sheets. The results may or may not apply to half sheets or any other sizes. Why? Because a manufacturer may make their products differently for different product lines. Just like ford may make good truck but not their sedans, or subaru makes good suvs but not necessarily pickups. It’s just an analogy! Anyway, nordic and vollrath are being compared here. I didn’t get the chicago metallic brand… Maybe next time!!

To start – i baked side-by-side using both brands and here are my findings:

they are both “standard sized” quarter sheets – but one is slightly larger than the other. The vollrath brand is slightly larger (or perhaps nordic is slightly smaller??). Your “standard size” quarter-sheet baking rack will sit perfectly inside the vollrath sheet flush and flat. On the other hand, the same rack will not sit flush in nordic pan. In fact, you will have to very carefully balance the rack on the edge of the nordic quarter-sheet … And if you but it just a little . .. . Slush~ the rack will fall into the pan or fall off entirely.

See the attached photos. So, is backing rack an important feature for your particular bake job? If yes, then you will have a hard time using the nordic brand—either that or you have to buy purposefully smaller sized baking rack than what is “standard sized.” if not, who cares. I do need a baking rack for many of the things i bake—a rack that falls off easily is not acceptable to me. But who needs a rack for cookies? Wings? You have to think about this aspect for your own purposes.

Manufacturing: the nordic pan was perfect in attention to details. The photo of the back of the quarter-sheet pan shows you how each manufacturer rolled their heavy duty aluminum. Nordic rolled theirs much more perfectly and more detailed. See photo. On the other hand, vollrath pan was kind of …meh~ like as if the manufacturer said “that’s good enough of a roll.” does the bad rolling job make the vollrath pan useless? No. The baking result is not impacted from my test-baking. But there’s something to be said about perfection.

True heavy weight?: both brands claim to be “heavy duty.” check out the photos: vollrath weighs in at 348 grams while the nordic weighs in at 460 grams. If you do the math, this means the nordic quarter sheet is approximately 30% more material! Yes, there’s 30% more aluminum in the nordic quarter-sheet than the vollrath product. That’s “30% heavier” duty.. I suppose you can put it that way. But the baking result with the vollrath is not impacted (no warping, food bakes out equally on a side-by-side bake test). So is the extra 30% more material necessary? Thin baking sheet has the problem of bending and warping during baking (this is a known problem). If the product does not bend of warp… 348 gm vs. 460 gm ? Hmm. I dunno.

But then again .. . Nordic is heavier weight, great, but it doesn’t accommodate a “standard sized” baking rack!!! Which is more important?? Now that’s where you need to decide for yourself.

If you bake often foods that require a rack, you absolutely need a smaller rack or use the vollrath quarter sheet to accommodate standard quarter-sheet racks. The nordic will not fit those. On the other hand, if your bake often foods that sit directly on the pan and do not need a rack, or only uses the rack sporadically, you might be better off getting the nordic quarter sheet and enjoy its 30% heavier weight and better machine job / better attention to details. Or get both – one vollrath for one job, one nordic for another job.

Or, go find a smaller quarter-sheet rack (say, 1/8” smaller each side) to accommodate the nordic quarter-sheet, then you have the best of both worlds. But that means you have to buy “less than standard sized” baking rack by about 1/8” smaller each side. Why can’t just “standard sized” things work standardly? Why don’t they just work perfectly? That was my frustration with nordic quarter-sheet this entire time. I love that quarter-sheet but whenever i needed to use a rack, nordic became useless to me.

Thickness: you can see from the photos that the nordic quarter-sheet is slightly thicker than the vollrath. This came from being 30% more weight/material. I am not detecting the benefit of this extra thickness. Better heat retention? More anti-warping? More stable? Heavier? Stronger?

Other things: both quarter-sheets are not (i repeat, not) safe in dishwasher. They both need to be hand washed. They both do not come seasoned and they are not non-stick. Your best bet is put down a sheet of silicon baking sheet. I personally don’t recommend aluminum foil (but that’s what everyone does). My recommendation against aluminum foil is the excessive intake of aluminum which may be associated with alzheimer’s disease. (this is not a medical preach, please use your own research). I simply recommend you use a silicon baking mat instead of an aluminum foil bottom to avoid getting even more aluminum in your diet. I do not recommend baking directly on either nordic or vollrath quarter-sheets: food spot will be permanently baked into the pans, black scorch marks and carbon deposits will permanently cook into the aluminum sheets and there is no easy reversal (if at all). I know, it’s only $15 a quarter-sheet so it’s not too expensive. I happen to like my things to last for years. 🙂

i hope this has been helpful. Write me comments if you need to ask more questions. I am attaching 8 or 9 photos to help with this review. Thanks!! Happy shopping!!

I had to return these because they were just too big for my oven-heat won’t circulate around them. I have the same one in a smaller size and they are terrific. Perfectly browned cookies, great heat distribution. They will take a hearty scrub, too-no worries about nonstick spray buildup making them gummy. They can even go in the dishwasher if you so desire. I’ve been using nordic ware for over 40 years, and inherited a bundt pan from the late 50’s that is still going strong today. Highly recommend!

This thing just works great. It’s a piece of metal you put stuff on and cook on and boy does it do its job. The only con i can say is that it can stick a little on the bottom portion when sliding into the oven, but that could also be due to my oven’s wires so i won’t dock off a point. Overall, solid product and at a reasonable price.

I don’t buy these to bake cookies or any pastry or breads. I buy them to oven cook frozen food such as fish, potato fries, etc. If necessary, i spray the pan with oil, put in butter, or some non stick ingredient. The one thing i do not like is the size of the pans. They are too big for most of my uses. Also, regardless of what the manufacturer says i would like to put them in the dishwasher. However, they are too big. I have quarter size sheets and they come out fine.

I’m really satisfied with this pan. I lost my toaster sheet pan in a move, so using this as a replacement ( to1313sbd black + decker toaster), and it’s worked well as a replacement. Does discolor slightly / feels the need to be hand washed, but so far it’s fit my purposes and i would purchase it again. For a size reference – it’s about half the size of a normal piece of printer paper.

I love that it bakes evenly and the pans have not warped yet. I don’t like the faded color it changed to so after washing it i always make sure i wipe it with a paper towel to clean any residue. I hope it’s not harmful!!!!

I use this pan for sheet pan dinners and it is the best! I love the high side so i don’t have to worry about juice dripping if i accidently tip the pan. It doesn’t warp at high temps. It’s easy to clean (esp when using a silicone mat with it). Can’t go wrong with this one! Feels very sturdy and will probably last a long time. Highly recommended.

I guess you could call me a ‘lazy consumer’ for i rarely give reviews, which is very wrong, for i rely on other consumer’s reviews. So i guess i have to be very impressed or very unhappy for me to be compelled to write a review. These bakeware are ‘awesome’ i have a oven that has two separate oven in which the top is small and the bottom is large normal size. The upper i use most often, because it is quicker and i do not have to wast electricity warming up an entire stove to cook for just two people. It also is my main go to for baking etc. However, i soon found out that my wilson bakeware non stick would warp in the upper oven. So i began looking for bakeware that would have a higher heat tolerance.

I have never used a non stick bakeware before, but this was all i could find that would take the heat. As advertised. Well let me tell you. I am in love now and abscessed with this brand. I also find that it is easy to make non stick. Also once i thought about it i forgot that i most always use aluminum foil to save clean up. I now have tossed my wilson bakeware into my yard sale pile. I plan to purchase all of this brands array of bakeware as i can afford. But for now i have all the bake sheets and all sizes, as well as the rectangle cake pan with nifty lid, muffin pan. I highly recommend this brand.

These are wonderful sheet pans. These aluminum pans have great heating capacity. I particularly like how easy they are to clean. Do not put them in the dishwasher. They will loose there sheen. The bright finish of aluminum is what makes them easy to clean. After they have been through roast chicken and vegetables or the like and have black goo covering them. I just put them in the sink (1 at a time) cover them in hot water with a little dish soap. Let them sit for 20 minutes. I am always surprised how easily all that black is rinsed off and i have my brilliant aluminum pan back. No scrubbing involved.

Great light-weight baking sheet! I use it for cookies and strips of veggies mostly.

Heats and therefore also cools quickly, useful when you need to stop food from cooking further than when you remove from heat. Transfers heat to food quickly, as aluminum is known to do, so it’s easier to burn food on the bottom while the top remains undercooked . This does not have a non-stick coating, so if you don’t take the necessary precautions food might stick, especially burned food!

I haven’t had any problems with these pans warping at all when used normally in an oven, on the racks. I did, however, noticeably warp a half sheet pan when i tried seasoning it like cast iron on the bottom of my very small oven because it wouldn’t fit anywhere else. Not too bad, but it can spin on a flat surface now. It was essentially directly over the broiler fire. I use it to sort rocks out of dry beans now, since it doesn’t even fit in my oven. I haven’t had any problems with using my smaller sheets *under* the broiler, with food in it. I would advise against trying to use aluminum sheets on a stove top, gas or electric.

I’ve seen reviews complaining of these pans shedding metal even after washing. I’ve seen this happen to my pans too, though i quickly realized why and how to stop it. Pure aluminum, and a lot of aluminum alloys, are very soft relative to things like stainless steel. Like, almost gold-soft. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you expect this already and still want the other, more desired characteristics of aluminum cookware.

But if you don’t know how to take care of a certain metal, you may end up having to deal with a lot more drawbacks. You shouldn’t boil or even leave water in a cast iron vessel lest it terribly rust, or cook acidic food on bare copper lest it turn green, and even hardy ol’ stainless steel will corrode if you dare try to clean it with bleach or boil brine in it.

As for aluminum, scrubbing with most typical scrubbing sponges and steel wool is like taking sandpaper to wood and should be avoided. The damage is easily halted, though. Just like sanding wood, the aluminum will stop shedding when you stop scrubbing. Instead, soak aluminum in plain, hot water until stuck-on food is soft, then use soft side of sponge or a soft brush to lather and rinse!

I personally season my aluminum sheets as one would with cast iron (burning thin layers of oil on (i prefer canola to flax) until solid and hardened) to help make it less stick-prone and more resistant to scrubbing, but i still am careful with how i clean it.

Hope this helps someone!

My review is only on inadequate packing of the products, i have not used them yet. The logo is stamped from the front to the back of the pan, when it should only be on the back of the pan, previous review said food stuck in logo, but i ordered it anyway because it was made in the usa. *packing consisted of the clear sticky gel like product between middle of pans only that did not keep it from scratching in delivery. It would not take my review without the stars, so i had to put stars before using pans.

Nice,inexpensive set. All common usable sizes. Do not cut on them or you will leave marks on the bottom. Lightly spray with pam or similar for easier cleaning

Being single, i needed a baking sheet for small portions. After reviewing several baking sheets, i determined that this quarter sheet pan would fit the bill. I was pleased about the sturdiness and thickness of the metal. I also found it to fit perfectly the small amount of food i needed to bake. It seems to distribute heat evenly. The only thing i am a bit displeased about is the ease of clean up. I always use something in the bottom of the pan — aluminum foil or parchment paper, so as not to need much clean up. I have found, however, that there remains a sticky, yellowish-brownish residue along the outer portion of the sheet pan. Although i am able to remove most of this with the help of the scouring pad, which, luckily, i still found a few at the back of my cabinet, some does remain. This is only a small matter and is probably only an issue for people like me who are a stickler for clean dishes.

Love these for baking. On the heavy side but does the job.

I like them, but the rolls around the edges really collect water when washing. I do expect better for price. Thank you for reading. They are good pans.

I really like these, a lot. Unfortunately, i didn’t read that you can’t put these in the dishwasher.

They become ugly, discolored. If they just became distressed looking – that would probably be okay with me. If you dishwasher these though, you can even see where the glue from holding on the packaging was on them. You can see outlines of what you cooked on them previously. If you are okay with hand washing these every time i say go ahead and buy them.

I will prob donate these and buy others where i pay attention to how to wash them or make sure they are dishwasher safe!

Very nice product however i did not measure – too small for most of my baking or roasting needs. Would be perfect for most toaster ovens? Love the brand though. I sent them back and was refunded without issues.

Good

This pan is great just don’t put it in the dish washer because it will discolor it.

I find my pans so useful that i purchased several singles to give to family. I use mine for reheating in the toaster oven, air fryer . I defrost meat and other frozen items in them to prevent dripping on the counter or refrigerator. Use it next to the stove for spatulas and mixing spoons, next to the grill to carry spices and tongs and spatulas so i don’t have to dirty the side shelves of the grill. Endless uses. Easy to hand wash or line with foil. I would have given 5 stars but buying a single pan is overpriced- buy the 2 pack- it’s cheaper.