Half sheet pan recommendations (2,967 views)

I have a lincoln-wearever, which I believe is now Vollrath, nordicware (has a coating I am not thrilled with) and one with no imprint/label so no clue who made it. They are all aluminum. It was really hard to find stainless when I was looking. The one or two I found at that time were nearly triple the price. I usually line the sheets with foil anyway, so getting stainless was moot for me. The wearever is my favorite. The nordicware is very heavy but it can pop and "bend" and then comes back to shape. I got that from Costco and nordicware honors their products if they fail.
If you have a restaurant supply house near you, they have TONS of this sort of stuff and for a lot less. I got my huge set of All-clad from a supply house for a fraction of the cost way back when.

My favorite is slightly smaller than a true half sheet pan: Chicago Metallic Commercial II Traditional Uncoated Large Jelly Roll Pan, 16-3/4 by 12-Inch. Bought it at SLT several years back and my second one (from Amazon) arrived two weeks ago. Before that I had ordered Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Baker's Half Sheet. It was so lightweight I sent it right back. My mistake as I had a hard time identifying my favorite - it only had Commercial II as identification.
The best ever has been an Anolon, but that heavy duty no warp pan isn't available anymore. Mine is way beyond cleaning by now, but I still keep it around even if it looks terrible. When I saw Anolon Advanced Bakeware 11" x 17" Cookie Pan I thought is was the same but no, that one warped badly

Lantana, reading your post once more I have a question. Would buying a non metal spatula be an option at all?

King Arthur Flour and Sur La Table both market "exclusive! just us! go anywhere else and you'll lose out!" pans. They are not being truthful, unless you count the technicality that a pan labeled "SLT" is indeed a SLT exclusive. They are made by USA Pan, and sold far more cheaply (& coupons!) at Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Best pans in my kitchen, hands-down. I do treat them carefully, but I treat everything carefully--I don't even own a single metal cooking utensil except for a giant All-Clad fish spatula I got b/c it was huge. Perfect for roasting veggies, baking cookies, anything you want to throw at it. The coating doesn't peel, & they're hand-wash-only but they clean up so easily it would take the same amount of time to wash them as to cram them into the dishwasher. (Lantana, I know you said you prefer not to have nonstick, but if you're OK with a top-grade, nonpeeling, amazingly incredibly well-made nonstick, I have two recommendations described in this post. I've used the raw aluminum ones from Sam's & hated them.)

That being said, it is nice to have some dishwasher-proof ones as well; I have two that I like to use for raw meat or pre-BBQ marinades so I can d/w them. They're black nonstick by Chicago Metallic, and honestly I don't know how they make this stuff--I just bought a second one, but my first one is probably 15-20 years old and still looks virtually brand new. No peeling, no scratching. DH puts ribs on those, for example, & then I can give the d/w the job of sanitizing them. BBB calls it a "jelly-roll pan with Armor-Glide coating"; I'm not wedded to BBB but in this case you can one-stop shop & get both types of pans if you like.

Chicago nonstick here: link

USA Pan at BBB here (and my Chicago pans nest perfectly with my USA pans, making storage easy): link (It looks as if BBB doesn't sell the half-sheet size; come to think of it, I got mine at SLT.)

SLT comparison link for their "Platinum Professional," made by USA Pans but they won't tell you that (I have some from SLT also, plus KAF, & it's all the same stuff from USAP--I have cookie sheets from BBB, half-sheet & muffin from SLT, & some specialty ones from KAF, & they're all identical USAP make): link (Watch the SLT site: they frequently run all Platinum Pro at 20% off)

I dumped all my crapola pans last year & went on a replacement binge, so this info is fresh in my mind. Ask away if I've missed anything.

If you want natural aluminum, you could get the Sam's Club two-pack for a fraction of the NordicWare cost. I replaced mine b/c long ago when I got them, I didn't realize natural aluminum couldn't go into the d/w, so I turned mine black, but they were nice & heavy, & a good value if you're OK with using parchment or foil & then hand-washing. I think the Sam's website product number is #933255 for the two-pack for about $10 or $11. I would've replaced mine w/ the same ones after ruining the first ones, but I just kept using my Chicago Metallic nonstick, & then discovered USA Pan.