My Teflon baking sheet is a large so I folded it over to fit.
My reusable Teflon baking sheet is large so I folded it over to fit my tray. Normally I don’t need to line the glass trays because they clean up well but I find my chocolate slice needs to be lined or I can’t get it off the bottom.

I found myself a reusable baking sheet to replace disposable baking paper! If you use a lot of aluminium foil you can replace this too. Best thing is that it came with no packaging, just some string.

Bought with next to no packaging! Only a bit of twine - double win 👊🏻
Bought with next to no packaging! Only a bit of twine – double win 👊🏻

My baking sheet is Teflon but you can get silicone mats too. I’ve been assured it’s safe and I read that silicone mats can alter cooking times because of their thickness and heat absorption, and that they are harder to clean. They also can’t be easily folded to fit a loaf pan. Many of you might already use BBQ mats to help keep the BBQ cleaning effort to a minimum; these work just like that.

Using my Teflon baking sheet for the first time.
Using my Teflon baking sheet for the first time.
Grease marks after use are present.
Grease marks after use are present.

My baking sheet should last one or two years of heavy use. They can be used in the oven, microwave, freezer, and dishwasher. It will get a ‘used’ look about it, but it will save a lot of baking paper, and therefore natural resources, in that time. It will also  save me money.

After hand washing in sink. (I was warned they do get marked). Should last a year or two.
This is what the sheet looks like after hand washing in the sink.

Yes, the Teflon baking sheet will go into landfill at the end of it’s life rather than being composted or recycled. But I believe that it is more important to not use up resources in the first place. Remember to apply the 5 Rs in this order: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot.

Of course we can even go without the baking sheet by choosing cookware like glass and stainless steel which is easier to clean, but I have found there are still times when a non stick baking sheet is very handy.

I’ve spent a lot of hours looking for product lifecycle  information for these Teflon baking sheets to do a more thorough comparison with baking paper but I haven’t yet come across anything satisfactory to me.

Anyone else using these? Feedback? Thoughts?

If you can’t find Teflon or other reusable sheets like this, then the If You Care brand of baking paper is good and can be found in many stores. Regardless of what you have, I don’t think baking paper is really single use anyway. I get lots of uses out a of single sheet before it crumbles to pieces.

Happy baking!

UPDATE APRIL 2019:

The baking sheet lasted for 3.5 years with heavy use. It’s recently started to tear when I wash it so I’ve put it into semi retirement. Here’s a photo of what it looks like now:

img_8553

Here are a couple of follow up posts with more alternatives to baking paper:

Butter Wrappers Better Than Baking Paper

Agreena 3 in 1 Wrap Review

44 thoughts

  2. Good stuff – one Teflon baking sheet now on my wishlist!
    I’ve just found your blog today and have read it right through (and followed!). Lovely writing style, and you make things sound very do-able. Looking forward to more posts 🙂

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  3. Hi Tammy, interesting discussion. I currently use quite a bit of baking paper but choose this one http://www.biome.com.au/kitchenware/8579-if-you-care-baking-paper-unbleached-chlorine-free-pre-cut-24-sheets-770009011924.html I can use it about 4-5 times before it is past it. Still not ideal and I love the sound of the teflon sheet which I haven’t heard of before. I need something for when baking my sourdough in the cast iron pot which makes it safe to manage putting dough in and removing from such a hot vessel. I have a silicon mat but find it’s too big and inflexible for anything apart for using as a mat on the bench but I can’t really see the point of that. I don’t use cling film at all and if I can’t seal things in containers I would choose foil simply because it can be recycled. Thanks, will check out the teflon sheet too. Maree

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    1. I’ve seen that baking paper, it’s definitely a good option. It will be interesting to see how the Teflon sheet goes over time and hopefully I can find out more about them.

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  4. I have just had a gotcha moment. Went rummaging in the back of the cupboard and voila, I found one underused reusable baking sheet. I originally bought it to cook vegetarian food on a bbq but your post reminded me that it had an original purpose. Thanks!

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  6. I avoid Teflon wherever possible. Bad for our health and the people and places where it is produced. More on that here:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/magazine/the-lawyer-who-became-duponts-worst-nightmare.html

    Silicone sheets work well for reuse and delicate items. I’ve had a Silpat sheet for years and it works well. I’m a bit murky on the health impacts of silicone as a material.

    Can the If You Care paper be composted? Anyone know?

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    1. Thanks for the information Elizabeth. I had concerns about Teflon too so I mentioned this in the store and I was told that Teflon is only a problem at very high temperatures, not the sort that you bake with. Here is an ABC article about this http://www.abc.net.au/…/stories/2006/02/23/1576391.htm
      As I mention in my blog post, I could not find life cycle information about the product or Teflon. I must not have been using good search terms. Anyway, I will further consider this info and see if I can come up with anything better. Once my old trays have had-it, I will get more glass and stainless steel ones so that cleaning is much easier.I appreciate the information you have provided because that is what this page is all about – working together to make better decisions. Cheers Tammy

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    2. Oh, and I also tried to find out about composting silicone and didn’t have much luck. The info I was reading seemed to suggest that it couldn’t be. Would be good if someone could clear this up.

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      1. Whoops, I thought I deleted my first post, so I reposted, and now there are two.

        These are tricky tradeoffs. I still have Teflon in my life (shell outerwear), and I don’t think there is a comparable material on the market. So now that I can’t unsee what I’ve read about Dupont, I suppose I need to make the jacket last as long as possible.

        Great blog, keep up the good work.

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  9. Pingback: Our Plastic Free, Zero Waste Family Home – Gippsland Unwrapped
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  11. Hey all, great idea but be warned if you have a pet bird in the house fumes from teflon cookware makes them sick. So to protect my feathered friends I’d becreuctant to use a teflon sheet.

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  13. I’m an old fashioned person who never went away from eating butter, so I always have plenty of butter papers to line my cake and slice tins, I rarely use baking paper, and when I do, I put it in the compost bin just as I would my used butter paper after cooking. Is there any reason why it shouldn’t be composted?

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    1. This is something that continues confuse me because most baking paper is coated with silicone these days to make it non-stick. Some of the sources I read say silicone is not compostable and some brands promote that they are compostable with a silicone coating. The nitty gritty of trying to find the answers for some of these issues does my head in sometimes 😉

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      1. I recently learned that many fast food wrappers contain PFOA or similar to make them grease proof. As if we needed more reasons to avoid them…. here’s a link to more info:http://www.ewg.org/research/many-fast-food-wrappers-still-coated-pfcs-kin-carcinogenic-teflon-chemical

        It’s not a leap to think that common baking paper would also have it, and I found this as a reference to a study. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/common_consumer_products_contain_high_levels_of_perfluoroalkyl_and_polyfluoroalkyl_substances_443na4_en.pdf

        If you must use baking paper, choose If You Care or similar who clearly state that the material is compostable. I suppose what Tammy is saying is that even when compostability is claimed, there may be some grey area. look forward to hearing more if you get some answers.

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  14. Read: Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things Paperback – January 1, 2011
    by Rick Smith (Author), Bruce Lourie
    From a review:
    ” Chapter 3 – The World’s Slipperiest Substance
    In chapter 3, Bruce experiments with teflon, as he does a detailed overview of the teflon chemical and the company that brought it to life. He does a thorough analysis of PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), which is just one of many perfluorinated compounds that is toxic to both the environment and our health. PFCs are most commonly found in non-stick cookware, but also make a presence in water-repellent fabric, scotchgard and STAINMASTER.”

    I also try to avoid Teflon and think that throwing a reuseable teflon-coated baking sheet into land fill is very questionable. I either use grease proof paper and compost it, or paper muffin covers or grease the baking tray and wash it, pure and simple. Baking paper is just for convenience. Washing the tray works 99% of the time, with a stainless steel scourer and a bit of soaking in hot water. And if really desperate: use some alufoil; it is 100 % recyclable!:)

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  15. Thank you so much 🙂 I am just new to zero waste living and was in the middle of baking when I thought – I wonder if there is such a thing as an alternative to baking paper! I am so glad I found your blog – I will be following from now on 🙂

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  16. I’m a newbie and at the start line to zero waste journey. I always recycle but now starting to reduce and reuse. I was a clingfilm (plastic wrap) junkie and thought of using greaseproof paper as an alternative to that and foil. So in my wisdom I’ve bought a few boxes of them. As I’ve bought them I believe it’s only right that I should use them, then seek alternative.
    I’m so glad that I stumbled across this article as it’s really made me rethink it’s uses.
    Thank you.

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  17. Pingback: Can Baking Paper Be Recycled? | Reduce Wastage dot org
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  19. Hi, isn’t teflon bad for your health? I mean it isn’t like saucepans… this papery thing is break into pieces in the end… didn’t the pieces go into your meal and cause harm?

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  20. I love parchemnt paper and would not switch to something else, but about 20 years ago, I bought a sheet of something that looks like your teflon sheet and cut circles to line springform pans. Some got lost but there is one that still does its job. Because it is covered by dough the edges don’t get burned and getting more than 20 years of use out of it, is pretty good.
    I use parchment paper mutliple times each.

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  21. Just what is wrong with good old fashioned greaseproof paper? It’s cheap, biodegradable, safe, and you only use what you need.
    Come on greenies stop reinventing and think like gran, we want a world without plastic ! Not 1full of old teflon and silicone!!!!

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    1. It would be interesting to do a lifecycle assessment because generally any single-use product is more environmentally damaging than a reusable product with a long lifespan. Silicone is inert so I don’t think that would cause any problems. Also you might be surprised to know that there are virtually no old-style greaseproof papers on the market these days. Most are coated with silicone to make them non stick.

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  22. I am confused. Has anybody just tried using stainless steel or even aluminum baking sheets or pans that you grease with butter or vegetable shortening? No baking paper is needed. I have stainless steel baking sheets that are 50 years old and look as good as when they were new. In 50 years and a lot of baking, I have probably used 10 feet of baking type paper. I tried it because a recipe called for it. Maybe I am just not understanding the need for baking paper.

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  23. Just going to share my 2 cents that I don’t really agree with this recommendation &I agree with Charlene &Jane’s comment above. This is not a zero waste solution to baking paper &aluminum foil. If anything, it would be a silpat sheet. The best alternative would be to just use cookware/glassware &greasing it, then washing it. Convenience &single use products is what is filling up our landfills. We must do better. Spend an extra couple minutes washing your cook/bakeware instead of wasting money &filling landfills eventually with products like these.

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  25. Have you ever used Liquid Lecithin? It is an edible product. 1 tbsp is 115 calories. I use it on all of my baking sheets and pans. You only need a very, very light coating and I mean a light coat, and they become non stick pans. To help get a thin coat I warm the pans a little before applying it, which helps you get a thin coat. This was great when I used cake pans that had detail in the design. 40 years latter I’m only on my second jar. I keep a small jar at room temperature and store the rest in the fridge. The jars have never spoiled, no matter how old the are.

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  27. Hi, I just stumbled across your website while looking for a reuseable aluminium baking cover. Then I got caught up in the baking paper/teflon/silicone mat discussion. I have a silicone baking mat which I now don’t use. And I don’t use butter or flour to grease cake pans either.

    I use this cake pan release paste which is easily made at home. I use it for anything that I think would ordinarily require baking paper/ butter and flour. This is not my idea so I would like to acknowledge the author – Haley, from If you give a blonde a kitchen baking blog. (I have no association with the author or the website).

    Here’s the ‘recipe’ – for the shortening I use coconut oil, also stable at room temp along with the flour and oil. It generally needs a good stir before use, but is so reliable it’s worth the 10 seconds to stir it.
    https://www.ifyougiveablondeakitchen.com/grease-cake-pan-release/

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