A Love Letter to the Sheet Pan

One flat piece of aluminum is quietly the most useful thing in our test kitchen.

If we could keep only one pan, it might be the humble half-sheet. It roasts vegetables, catches drips under a pie, holds a dozen cookies, and doubles as a landing pad for mise en place.

The trick to great sheet-pan cooking is space. Crowd the pan and everything steams; give each piece a little room and it browns. When in doubt, use two pans rather than one.

Buy heavy-gauge aluminum, not the flimsy stuff that warps with a bang the moment it hits a hot oven. Pair it with a wire rack and you have a roasting setup that costs less than a nice dinner out.