Oven trays

[Sleepyfergus]

I'm sick of throwing out oven trays because my DH cremates just about anything onto them rendering them eventually uncleanable and disgusting to look at. Is there an answer? Is there a wonder oven tray out there that will take a great deal of abuse and still come up looking nice and clean?

I suspect the oven trays of my dreams will be expensive though....

Please help!

if you have a dishwasher, stainless steel. It sticks but you can send it through multiple times, and you can use a green scourer without damage, or some kind of scraping tool.

I use re-usable liners a lot, makes everything easy to come off.

we have those ceramic(?) coated ones that came with the oven.
after a while they get a burnt on patina, but that's ok.
to clean them I put them on top of the hob, fill halfway with water, then add a tablespoon of soda crystals. bring to the boil and then leave to cool and leave for a few hours (over might ideally). worst stuff will come off with some light scrubbing. rinse well.

Baking parchment is great - stops things sticking, keeps trays pretty clean & can be binned afterwards

I have tried silicon sheets & they work but are vile to clean

The cook has to remember to use them though...

Thanks all...I've been looking at Amazon and for every pro there seems to be a con for any type of tray.

Stupid question, but baking parchment, that's the stuff you usually line cake tins with, yes? Is it really fine for stuff like sausages or bacon which my dearest H cooks in the oven.

I've also toyed with idea of using that sheet thing from Lakeland (usually for the bottom of the oven) as a liner for food. Or is that a no no?

It's great for anything you'd bake on a tray, & your sausages (for example) come away intact which is a bonus

Magic oven liner. Supermarkets and Lakeland sell it. Cut to fit your oven trays. You can wipe clean when done or quick wash in sink then put it back in the tray

I've got a shiny black oven bottom liner that came from Aldi & I wouldn't use it to bake on.

I do have stainless steel roasters which clean up really well with a scourer after a good soak but I've never seen a baking tray like them.

Another benefit of baking parchment is that you can fold the edges up to make a lip & that's good for catching fat from things like sausages (although it doesn't matter if fat does get underneath as it doesn't burn on)

I just want to say re oven bottom lining parchment...DONT do what I did and put it on the floor of an oven with a heating element in the base. I did and it was my brand new oven. The parchment totally welded itself to the oven. I did eventually manage to scrub it off but it took me ages and I was sobbing all the time thinking Id ruined my new oven.

Pampered chef stoneware. It seasons to become non stick and is also very easy to use and gives great results. It is an investment... Not cheap but worth every penny over the years!

I usually line them with foil and chuck it away afterwards as life is too short to scrub the things every time they are used. If I am cooking something which doesn't ooze fat or have fat added to it for cooking then I use parchment or the magic liners.

For burnt on food, try soaking in warm water with biological washing powder added - you can sprinkle it directly onto the worst bits so the enzymes start working as the powder dissolves - leave for an hour then scrub with a stiff brush or scouring pad. Worked like a dream on a cast iron griddle I welded pork chops to the other weekend!

The best & easiest to use scourers I've ever found (only for bare metal or really sturdy enamel though) are a pack of 3 from Aldi - they have a padded inner with nylon fabric + metal scoury outer. They work incredibly well, don't fall apart like traditional metal scourers, don't wear out quickly like the nylon ones, & don't get bits trapped in them.

Dead cheap too although I don't remember how much.

We use baking parchment to line the oven trays. as a p said, you can fold it up to create a rim and catch all the fat. Brilliant for burgers, sausages etc. It then goes straight into the compost wheelie bin. I've sometimes not even needed to rinse the oven tray our afterwards as no food or fat has touched the actual tray.

I have no idea why it took me about 20 years to figure this trick out.

Baking parchment is amazing. Agree with all the comments about it, easy to use, minimal washing up. I use it for everything, sausages, fish fingers, bread, any baking, joint of meat...
My family are similar to your DH and it has made a big difference.

I seem to have killed most of mine by removing chunks of the non stick coating. I've absolutely no idea how, they don't go int he dishwasher and I didn't use a scourer. I blame Fairy Platinum washing up liquid

Magic oven liner is fab. Just wash it and it's clean.