Baking trays

[fatandwheezing]

For such a dull kitchen item, why is it so hard to find a good one?

Either they warp, or the coating comes off with your food. What have others got that just does the job for years?

[Pferdestarke]

There are often good, heavy gauge non stick versions for less than£10 in TK Max.

But yes, most are totally useless low quality pieces of scrap.

[Roger645]

Get some of these:

http://www.mermaidcookware.com/

[LooneyTunes]

Either buy non-coated catering ones from the likes of Nisbets (and receive free firelighters, in the form of their catalogue, for years to come) and have them for life or buy them from a discount shop and replace often - I'd probably do the former, but MrsLT does the latter and keeps me with a good supply of oil drain pans in the process.

[grumbledoak]

Do be aware that the Mermaid range is great as long as you follow the cleaning instructions. Absent mindedly put it in the dishwasher, or get impatient and try the metal scourer, and they are f***ed. I might buy them again, IIRC they were reasonably priced.

[tog]

Roger645 said:

Get some of these:

http://www.mermaidcookware.com/

The Mermaid stuff is brilliant, thick anodised aluminium with great thermal properties.

[Mobile Chicane]

LooneyTunes said:

Either buy non-coated catering ones from the likes of Nisbets (and receive free firelighters, in the form of their catalogue, for years to come) and have them for life or buy them from a discount shop and replace often - I'd probably do the former, but MrsLT does the latter and keeps me with a good supply of oil drain pans in the process.

I'm somewhere between the 'last a lifetime' and 'buy cheap and replace often' camp. I have a £3 Asda baking tray on the go for baking and reheating stuff. Eventually I CBA cleaning it, and in the bin it goes.

This is used alongside a deep Le Creuset cast iron roasting pan for meat, roast potatoes and lasagnes. I've had the LC for years and can't remember how much it originally cost. But - it's too deep to do bread or biscuits in.

Anodized aluminium trays have excellent heat transfer and food release properties, but there's a known link between high aluminium concentrations in food/water and increased incidence of Alzheimer's disease. On that basis alone I'd avoid.

[grumbledoak]

Mobile Chicane said:

there's a known link between high aluminium concentrations in food/water and increased incidence of Alzheimer's disease. On that basis alone I'd avoid.

Unless something has changed recently that was subsequently corrected: high concentrations of Aluminium were found in the brains of Alzheimer's sufferers after they had been sliced thinly with aluminium blades for analysis.

[Mobile Chicane]

grumbledoak said:

Unless something has changed recently that was subsequently corrected: high concentrations of Aluminium were found in the brains of Alzheimer's sufferers after they had been sliced thinly with aluminium blades for analysis.

Surgical blades and those used in histology are always steel, sharpened to within an inch of their lives. I used to do it - 3 grades of grit on a stone, and then finished with a leather strop. It takes hours.

However technology moves on and it's just possible that aluminium blades are used now. However the link bnetween high concentrations of aluminium in the diet and AD has been known for a number of years.

[Roger645]

Aluminium – Very low levels of many metals are present in the brain. Aluminium is a toxic metal that is common in our everyday environment. Small amounts of it are found in water and food. Although initial studies linked aluminium toxicity with Alzheimer's disease, the link has not been proven despite continuing investigation. Importantly, there is no evidence to suggest that aluminium exposure increases your risk of dementia.

From here:
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/document...