How to clean and care for your sheet pans — and worry less about how they look

For more intense jobs. All right, stuff happens, we know. The other week I pooh-poohed a recipe’s instructions to put parchment under roasted meatballs — and ended up with charred black spots all over my sheet pan. So I tossed it in the sink, squirted it with dish soap and let it soak in warm water for a bit, which is McManus’s advice for stubborn messes. (Aluminum is reactive, so also keep in mind that the pan may darken, pit or corrode if it’s in extended contact with acidic ingredients.) Voila, easy to clean. That’s the most involved tactic I’ve ever taken on my Nordic Ware sheet pans, which are about a decade old and still look great enough to elicit questions on social media about how I keep them in such nice shape.