Most galley ovens are a little smaller than “shore” ovens — I don’t want to call them “home” ovens, since my boat is my home — and thus standard-sized cookie sheets won’t fit in them. And the ones for toaster ovens are so small that they’re often not useful. So what’s a galley slave to use?
Well, you can use a sheet of aluminum foil, but that’s really a pain. That’s what I did before I found ones that would fit. But I finally found some that do work!
Once again, I’ll start by saying that before you buy anything, measure YOUR oven. Any pan you get should have about an inch of airspace on all four sides for airflow. Hot spots are enough of a problem in galley ovens, and restricting the airflow will only make matters worse.
Heavy pans will do a lot to lessen hot spots as they’ll distribute the heat more evenly. That’s one reason that baking on a piece of aluminum foil generally isn’t all that satisfactory.
And yes, heavier pans are generally more expensive initially. But I found that “cheap” pans actually cost me more as I had to replace them every couple of years as they’d develop rust spots or other problems. My preference is to have fewer pans (you don’t have much room on the boat anyways!) but to have good ones.
My choice are those made by Chicago Metallic — they’re good and heavy, don’t have problems with rust, come in sizes that work in most boat galleys and aren’t as expensive as some of the “premium” brands. They come in both nonstick and plain. The Chicago Metallic nonstick is very high quality and scratch-resistant, unlike many cheaper brands which also seem to lose their “nonstick” quality after a year or two.
If you’re wondering about the Baker’s Secret pans that you can find everywhere, my experience — and that of several cruising friends — is that they lose their nonstick properties in a year or two and begin having rust spots even sooner. They also have a lot of little crevices that are hard to really get clean when washing by hand — something you don’t really think about until you’re living aboard with no dishwasher.
I personally prefer a cookie sheet with sides on it — technically a jelly roll pan. I often bake bread on a cookie sheet (baguettes, braided bread) and the sides keep the dough (and egg wash when I use one) from spilling over. It’s also good for things like pizza on the boat — the motion of the boat can otherwise cause sauce and toppings to spill over a bit and the sides make this less likely (not impossible, though!). I also sometimes use the pan to contain messy kitchen projects and the sides help here, too.
Depending on your personal preferences and what size pan you can use, here are my recommendations for a good “cookie sheet.”
Non-Stick Jelly Roll Pans:
- Chicago Metallic Non-Stick Small Jelly Roll Pan, 12-1/4 by 8-3/4 by 1-Inch (my choice, shown at right)
- Chicago Metallic Non-Stick True Jelly Roll Pan, 14-3/4 by 9-3/4-Inch (looks similar, slightly larger)
Non-Coated Jelly Roll Pans
- Chicago Metallic Commercial II Traditional Uncoated Small Jelly Roll Pan, 12-1/4 by 8-3/4-Inch (shown, best size for most boats)
Non-Stick Cookie Sheets
Uncoated Cookie Sheets
I’m not recommending the Chicago Metallic ones in this category, as I can’t find anywhere that carries them in anything but a full-size, and the full size ones are too large for virtually all boat ovens — they’re more the size that a commercial bakery would use.
Further, I’ve spent several hours looking online for a uncoated cookie sheet without sides in a size that is likely to fit in boat ovens, and I simply can’t find any. Anthing that’s small enough has sides. If anyone reading this HAS found one, please leave a note and I’ll research further.
NOTE: I don’t recommend the air-insulated sheets as I don’t like the way they bake. I’ve had two different ones, and they both were re-purposed as I hated baking with them.
Toaster Oven Size
If you need an even smaller pan, you can get “toaster oven” cookie sheets that are about 7 x 10. There aren’t a lot of choices, but here is one that got good reviews (leaving aside the reviews talking about how small it is):
Making Boat Life Better
Gloria Rooney says
Another nonstick cookie sheet I found is by Farberware. It is 15 1/2 inch by 9 3/4. I have used it for a couple of years in my Force 10 stove on the boat after searching high and low for it and finally finding it at Walmart!
I do use a number of Chicago Metallic products, but so far only at the house. We are weekenders for a couple of more years before we move aboard and go cruising! Love your website!
Carolyn Shearlock says
Since I read Gloria’s note, I have looked and looked for the small Farberware cookie sheet, and can’t find it still being sold anywhere — online or at my local Wal-mart. The one Farberware one that’s similar in size now has “oversized handles” which make it too large for most galley ovens.
Has anyone seen the smaller ones recently?
Carolyn
carol says
Hi
Pampered Chef sells very durable, great quality jelly roll sheets in several sizes. They also sell a variety of pizza stones and stoneware pans, with and without edges. I sell Pampered Chef and we are currently outfitting a boat to cruise – if you want to take a look go to pamperedchef.com and shop online.
Thanks for a great site.
Carol Barkow
Racine, WI
JoAnne says
I was so excited when you said you had a link to a stainless cookie sheet as I have been trying to find one for our boat. I was disappointed to find that the link led to an aluminized steel (aluminium coated steel) version like all of the others I’ve seen so far. The Pampered Chef Stoneware pans look interesting, though heavy. Has anyone tried them? Do they break easily?`
Trying to avoid aluminium.
Thank you!
barb krieger says
I started to do live abord may 1st 2013 I started to collect silicone pans bake ware and muffin silicone I love them I do recommend a metal one to slide under for putting in and taking out but fit nice in my oven. I started to use silicone when I lived in the apartment. I love them
The Boat Galley on Facebook says
Tonight’s use for the cookie sheet: oven-roasted Brussels sprouts. SO good!
tOM Trottier says
Wouldn’t it be easy to cut silicon cookie sheets to size very easily? Maybe even add some air circulation holes?
Carolyn Shearlock says
Yes, you can. But they’re hard to transfer into and out of the oven without a “real” cookie sheet under them. They aren’t stiff at all and food spills very easily!
Brim Stone says
sUe a metal pizza peel to remove the silicone pans. You can get an aluminum one with a dowel type handle and cut down both the sides and the handle to make it fit. good for moving all kinds of hot things from the oven. Like…pizza.
Kelly Conrader says
We bought 1/4 sheet pans in a restaurant supply store before moving aboard our boat hoping they would fit in the oven. They fit perfectly in our eno oven.
Lisa Engel says
Is 1/4″ between jelly-roll cookie sheet (1/4″ on each side) and sides of oven enough space? I mean… Do you think the closeness is okay or might burning result? I’d like to buy the 14-3/4″ X 9-3/4″ if proximity to oven walls won’t matter. Otherwise, I’ll go with the 12-1/4″. Thanks for any insight. 🙂
Lisa
Carolyn Shearlock says
You really should have one inch of air space on all sides. Otherwise, the air won’t circulate and yes, hot spots will develop.
Karen Hall says
Our boat has a microwave convection oven, and I’m still trying to figure out the pans. Apparently the fast baking component uses a combination of microwave and convection cooking so metal isn’t supposed to be used, and glass is recommended. But I don’t want to use glass on the boat. Any recommendations?
Carolyn Shearlock says
Almost anything that is microwave compatible is going to be breakable to a greater or lesser extent. I mean, a lot of ceramics are also microwave friendly, but they’re just as liable to break. On both our boats, I have had a couple of Pyrex pans and they haven’t broken. I’ve always been worried, but they’ve been okay. I think Pyrex is pretty heavy duty; I’m not sure I’d have some thinner knock-offs.
Vala says
I happened to have a quarter sheet pan when we moved onto the boat, and that has become my “use for everything” pan. I have a small wire rack from a roasting pan that just fits inside, and I will set food or other pans (like pie pan, muffin tin etc) on top of that to protect from hot spots. I really missed my old air bake cookie sheet that was way to big to fit, and one day we found a 9.5×14 inch size one left/recycled, up by the garbage bins (we call it the “will call” as we often find just the thing we need left up there).
Debra Bryan says
I’ve been using pizza pans to do cookies and bread, works great, multipurpose, fits the oven perfect.
Anonymous says
Mary, Laurie, Grace
Anonymous says
I am on the email list for the boat gallery. Good info from it
Anonymous says
IKEA has the perfect size.
The Boat Galley says
Depends on your oven size . . .
Anonymous says
The Boat Galley True, they have smaller and less expensive sheets.
Elly says
I have several Pampered Chef baking stones and love them! I would imagine as long as you buy the proper size for your boat oven they’d be great! For now, I am a landlubber/weekend and occasional week long cruising sailer with a galley sized kitchen.
Michel Guay says
I’ve got to say your articles are inspiring. I have been using a 12 inch cast iron pan as a cookie sheet for the last year or so. I haven’t been cooking for more than two people though. It works quite well keeps the heat even and the baked goods I have produced have worked out well. I haven’t taken this south yet, only fresh water sailing in the great lakes so far. I will look out for smaller non-stick rectangular pans when I get around to measuring the oven cavity. Thanks for the article,