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If you've spent regular time in the kitchen baking, you've probably experienced the immense frustration of cookies, cakes, and brownies that simply refuse to lift themselves away from your bakeware. Suddenly, instead of social media-ready baked goods that showcase your decorating skills along with your proficiency in the kitchen, you have a crumbly mess, not to mention more scrubbing to take care of.
Enter parchment paper.
What is Parchment Paper?
Parchment paper is a food-safe paper coated with non-stick cellulose (a vegetable component) that make it resistant to sticking, grease, and even humidity. Its purpose: to help prevent food from sticking during the cooking or baking process.
Parchment paper is also ideal for easy cleanup: use it, crumple it up and toss it, and simply wipe down your baking dishes quickly, rather than getting stuck with hard scrubbing in order to get crumbs and baking residue off of your dishes.
Parchment Paper vs Wax Paper: The Difference
The debate of parchment paper vs wax paper is an interesting one. While wax paper and parchment paper are both food-safe, it's important to know which one you're reaching for before you head into the kitchen.
While parchment paper is generally coated with silicone or cellulose for its non-stick, heat-resistant surface, wax paper is coated with soybean or paraffin wax. Wax paper is not heat-resistant, which means that if the paper is exposed to direct heat, the wax may melt into your baked goods and other products.
Both wax paper and parchment paper usually come in rolls, but may be sold in pre-measured pieces to make it easier to complete many tasks.
When is It Better to Use Parchment Paper, and When Wax Paper?
Generally, parchment paper is better when you're planning for your product to go into the oven or around an open heat source. You should not use wax paper in the oven.
Wax paper may, however, be generally less expensive than parchment paper, and it has a variety of uses. You can use wax paper for:
- Separating hamburger slices
- Wrapping up food for cold storage, when you want to avoid moisture
- Cooling candy or other baked goods
- Lining countertops and tables before kneading dough or rolling out ingredients
In many cases, parchment paper can serve the same use as wax paper, if that's what you have on hand. Before you use wax paper on a project, make sure you're not planning for it to go into the oven or be exposed to high heat.
Tips for the Best Way to Use Parchment Paper to Avoid Food Sticking
There are several things to keep in mind when using parchment paper, if you want to avoid food sticking and make sure that you're making the most of your investment:
- Use the shiny, glossy side of parchment paper for your food, with the matte side facing down. This is the side that has been coated with that valuable non-stick coating.
- If you're using parchment paper for cakes, brownies, and other dishes, cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the baking tray. Leave it long enough that the edges will extend over the lip of the tray on two sides. Then, cut a second piece of parchment paper and let it hang over in the other direction to fill in all possible gaps.
- In most cases, you will not need to grease parchment paper before adding food. However, in some cases, greasing the parchment paper can allow for even easier removal.
- If you have to remove food, including cookie dough, from parchment paper, consider greasing before you set it down again to raise the odds that it will not stick to your paper.
- If you're using parchment paper for your baked goods, avoid cooking at more than 400 degrees Fahrenheit, which could cause it to catch fire.
- Avoid direct exposure to your heating elements when using parchment paper.
Ready to get started with your next baking project and a little parchment paper to make it easier? Try these great brands.
The Best Parchment Papers to Avoid Food Sticking
Because parchment paper is designed to avoid allowing food like cake to stick, the best brands on the market are the ones that fulfill that purpose. Whether you're looking for bleached parchment paper, which has been treated with bleach to give it that white color, or you prefer unbleached parchment paper for your baking projects, there are plenty of options to choose from.
Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper
Best Overall
REYNOLDS PARCHMENT PAPER—Contains one roll of Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper with SmartGrid lines, measuring 15 inches wide x 72 feet long (90 square feet total)
SMARTGRID LINES FOR EVEN SPACING...
Reynolds Kitchen Parchment Paper is a parchment paper mainstay, extremely popular in many kitchens. This bleached parchment paper contains smart gridlines that can make it easier to see exactly where you're placing your goods on the paper, leading to better spacing for baked goods. Thanks to the gridlines, you won't have to worry about cookies that turn into one large mound on the baking sheet. You can also use the gridlines to get better measurements before you put the parchment paper in your baking pans.
In addition, Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper can be used up to three times before you toss it, which means you can avoid unnecessary waste and continue to trust it.
Bakers Signature Unbleached Parchment Paper Roll
✔️ SAVE YOURSELF THE HASSLE – Are you tired of baking on thin parchment paper that leaves your baking trays dirty? Well, your struggles are finally over. Baker’s Signature unbleached parchment will...
Baker's Signature Unbleached Parchment paper comes in a longer roll that is completely non-stick, with no additional oils required to ensure that your baked goods don't stick. It's extremely durable and nontoxic, made from natural wood pulp for the best results. It's also able to withstand temperatures up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, which makes it a great choice for many of your higher-heat baking projects.
If You Care Parchment Baking Paper
Best Budget
BEST VALUE: If You Care Parchment Paper comes as pack of one box, providing a total of 70 sq ft of unbleached baking paper. Compare to other brands that only offer 30-45 sq ft.
SILICONE COATED: Wha...
If You Care Parchment Baking Paper is a great eco-friendly parchment paper option, with heavy-duty nonstick paper. The company designs its products to have the lowest possible environmental impact. If You Care Parchment Baking Paper comes in a 70-foot roll for a reasonable price, making it a great budget option for your baking needs.
Vioetry Round Parchment Paper Liners for Air Fryers
【Healthy ＆ Tasty】: Our air fryer paper liners are designed with food grade parchment paper with quality in mind, which is waterproof, oil-proof, non-stick and 100% healthy. Easy to use, lightweight...
If you're looking for a specific parchment paper for your air fryer, these could be the ideal solution for your needs. Perfectly sized for the basket of a standard-sized air fryer, these food-grade liners can help keep food from sticking to the inside of the air fryer and make cleanup a breeze.
Vitever Parchment Paper Sheets
HEALTHY UNBLEACHED PAPER: Made from 100% natural wood pulp, food-grade and healthy. Paper is completely unbleached, non-toxic, fluorescent free and chlorine free, you can directly place food on it....
Vitever Parchment paper sheets are unbleached parchment paper, so it's completely food safe. This parchment paper is a little thicker than many of the other parchment papers on the market, so you can easily use it to lift your baked goods directly on the paper. It comes pre-measured, which makes it easy to reach and grab a piece and move on with your baking project. However, pre-measured parchment paper may also make it more difficult for you to select exactly the size you need.
Reynolds Kitchens Pop-Up Parchment Paper Sheets
This package contains 120 Reynolds Kitchens pop-up parchment paper sheets, each measuring 10.7 x 13.6 inches
Pop-up dispensing makes these precut nonstick parchment paper sheets easy to grab for qu...
If you're looking for remeasured parchment paper sheets, the Reynolds Kitchen Pop-Up Parchment Paper Sheets will fit the bill. They're designed to fit baking pants well, laying flat in the pan and creating a great, non-stick surface for your needs.
Katbite Heavy Duty Unbleached Parchment Paper Sheets
EXTRA STRONG - 200pcs pre-cut parchment paper sheets made of extra thicker 45gsm paper vs commonly used 35gsm or 40gsm paper, it's about 12% thicker than others'. We define it as heavy duty parchme...
If you're looking for remeasured parchment paper sheets, Katbite Heavy Duty Unbleached Parchment sheets are ideal for your needs. They come in a variety of sizes so that you can choose the size that is most likely to work for your specific needs. In addition, these parchment paper sheets come in bulk packages that are great for busy bakers.
Hiware Parchment Paper Roll
IDEAL SIZE WITH ATTACHED CUTTER: The parchment paper is 12 inch in width that fits most standard baking pans and the cutter attached to the box allows you to decide how long to cut the parchment pa...
The Hiware Parchment Paper Roll is a great option for bakers who need a high quantity of parchment paper in roll form. This parchment paper comes from another eco-aware company, which uses no harmful impurities, paints, or additives in their parchment paper to ensure that it is food safe.
Kitchen Geeks Parchment Paper Baking Sheets, Unbleached
BE A GREAT BAKER - Our premium parchment paper baking sheets allow everyone to be a great baker! Enjoy having your baked goods cooked evenly and without scorched bottoms by using our precut parchme...
Kitchen Geeks Parchment Paper is precut and designed to be flat, which means you won't need to worry about the edges of your parchment paper rolling as you use it. In addition, it's unbleached, coated with silicone, and packaged for easy use and selection.
Baklicious Unbleached Parchment Paper
SUITABLE FOR ANY BAKEWARE—Do you love baking but often bothered by the size deviation between parchment paper and baking tray? Baklicious parchment paper roll are 13 in x 164 ft,177 square feet in ...
If you're looking for a solid parchment paper option that is easy to use, Baklicious offers convenient, easy-to-tear parchment paper that will help prevent your food from sticking. It's made of natural wood pulp and has no added chemicals, making it completely safe for your baked goods.
Have you found the parchment paper you're looking for? With the right parchment paper, you can prevent your baked goods from sticking and ensure that they look their best every time, delivering a much more consistent appearance in every bake.
