The Big Secret About Parchment Paper

Never rip parchment paper from a roll again.

ByAlice Medrich

Published OnSeptember 2, 2013

Every week, baking expert Alice Medrich will be going rogue on Food52 -- with shortcuts, hacks, and game-changing recipes.

Today: Never rip parchment paper from a roll again.

If you are an avid baker, you probably love parchment paper as much as I do -- for lining cake pans and cookie sheets, as a landing place for sifted flour, to make paper cornets for piping, cut stencils, and so on. Nothing more need be said, right?

But if you are a new baker or occasional baker, maybe you've had a rocky time with parchment. After struggling to tear a sheet neatly (yeah, sure) from the roll and wrestling it onto a cookie a sheet, only to have it roll up and shoot across the room, you may wonder why we love the ornery stuff.

More: Crispy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Cleanup made easier, by parchment.

The big secret is this: You have to buy parchment in sheets or rounds! Professionals take this for granted. Pre-cut sheets and rounds are a dream, rolls a nightmare. I'd choose water torture rather than be forced to use parchment off of a roll.

Sheets lie flat in or on pans, there is no need to chase them (across the room), weight them, or trick them into submission and never a need to grease the pan to glue them down. You can order 12x16-inch sheets (perfect for half sheet pans and cookie sheets) online or at a baking supply store, or cajole a friendly local baker to sell you handful of commercial sized sheets (16x24-inch) which can be cut in half: fold several sheets in half at once, crease the fold, then slip a knife into the crease and cut through the sheets.

Store a stack of sheets flat in a rimmed baking sheet. If you don't have drawer or shelf space for a baking sheet, clip your parchment sheets to an old-fashioned clip board and hang it on the inside of a cupboard, pantry, or closet door. There is no excuse not to keep parchment sheets instead of rolls!