Why do my silver/gray cookie sheets turn brown? Is it rust???

[cody82414]

can I clean these cookie sheets to make them gray/silver again?

[OneHotMomma]

Mine always did the same thing. I hated it. I bought stoneware instead but I do have some of the old ones hanging around if anyone has any tips.

[434Teresa]

i want to know also..I always thought it had something to do with the heat and things getting bake into them

[Gardencook]

It isn't rust. The oil/fat you use to keep things from sticking builds up and causes the cookie sheets to turn brown. If they are aluminum or stainless steel and you want to put a LOT of elbow grease into them, steel wool scouring pads will take off the coating. Non-stick surfaces are a lot tougher to clean. You have to use a scouring pad that is safe for those surfaces and be careful not to ruin the finish.
Actually, the experts say that dark cookie sheets brown foods better, so if you can live with the color, it is actually best to leave the surface film and let it build up, much like seasoning a cast iron pan.

[JulieDB]

It isn't rust. The oil/fat you use to keep things from sticking builds up and causes the cookie sheets to turn brown. If they are aluminum or stainless steel and you want to put a LOT of elbow grease into them, steel wool scouring pads will take off the coating. Non-stick surfaces are a lot tougher to clean. You have to use a scouring pad that is safe for those surfaces and be careful not to ruin the finish.
Actually, the experts say that dark cookie sheets brown foods better, so if you can live with the color, it is actually best to leave the surface film and let it build up, much like seasoning a cast iron pan.

Agree with you. However if it is the kind of cookie sheet I am thinking of, a scouring pad will ruin it. Will scratch it and then it will rust. I only use those now to put under a casserole or to heat taco shells on. I cover it with foil.

For cookies I LOVE the Air Bake pans. Expensive, yes, but cookies will never burn on them. They too will get that brown film. My MIL saw that and tried to throw them out. I freaked! She would only let me keep them if I scoured them. Bleh. I don't clean my copper bottoms either. Pans work just fine.

[cody82414]

so I am just being anal about this too then (sigh)

[Gardencook]

so I am just being anal about this too then (sigh)

No, I think everyone would love to have cookware that gleams like brand new. Some of us just get tired and decide it isn't worth the effort. I used to haul out the polish or lemon juice and salt for my copper bottom pots, but that fell by the wayside.
I've got a hodge-podge of pans/bakeware. The non-stainless, steel-type cookie sheets really aren't worth buying. I've had to throw out every one of them I've ever bought.
Stainless steel pans and cookie sheets are MUCH easier to clean. I prefer to use them because of all the concern about aluminum and health. I've got a couple stainless cookie sheets that are my favorites and they still have most of their shine after years of use. The same with my stainless pots and baking pans. If I hauled out the steel wool, I could get rid of the few brown spots, but then I would have scratched surfaces.
The aluminum ones turn brown no matter what you do. I've got a couple that were already brown when I bought them at thrift stores years ago and couldn't live without them.
I've also got a small Silverstone one I've had for nearly 30 years and have somehow managed to keep it from peeling. It came out when almond was the "in" color, and it was REALLY disheartening when brown spots began showing up on the almond paint almost immediately. Never could figure out how clean it without ruining the paint. But it has a nice "seasoned" coating on the top after all these years, along with all the brown stains all over the bottom.