Wraps & Liners

Parchment Paper

Nonstick liner for clean, even baking and easy release

A heat-resistant nonstick liner that keeps cookies, roasts, and bakes from sticking and makes cleanup effortless. Use it for sheet pans, cake pans, and en papillote fish parcels. Unlike wax paper, it handles oven heat without melting.

Parchment paper is a cellulose paper treated to be heat-resistant, grease-resistant, and genuinely nonstick — the single most useful liner in a baking kitchen. The treatment is what makes it work: most parchment is run through a sulfuric-acid bath (the same process that 'parchmentizes' the fibers) and coated with food-grade silicone, which is why batter, melted cheese, caramel, and roasting juices release cleanly and cleanup is a matter of lifting one sheet into the bin. It tolerates real oven heat — typically up to around 220–230 °C / 425–450 °F — which is exactly what separates it from wax paper, whose coating melts.

Beyond lining sheet pans for cookies, it does quiet, clever work all over the kitchen: a sling that lifts a whole cake or loaf out of its pan, a cartouche that floats on a braise, a cone for piping chocolate, a wrapper for cooking fish en papillote in its own steam, and a clean surface for rolling dough. It is one of those cheap consumables that, once you keep a roll within reach, you reach for constantly.

Types & varieties

Unbleached (brown)

Natural, no chlorine bleaching — the default many cooks prefer. Performs identically to white; just a tan color.

Bleached (white)

Chlorine- or peroxide-whitened for a clean look in presentation and food photography. Functionally the same nonstick performance.

Roll vs pre-cut sheets

Rolls are cheapest per square but curl and need weighting down; flat pre-cut sheets lie obediently in a half-sheet pan and stack for batch baking.

Pre-cut rounds

Die-cut circles sized for round cake pans and air-fryer baskets — a real time-saver if you bake cakes often.

Parchment vs silicone mat

Parchment is disposable, gives slightly more browning and crisping, and shapes into slings and cartouches; a silicone mat is reusable and best for sticky candy and macarons, but can't be folded or cut.

Parchment Round (Cake-Pan Liner)

Pre-cut circle of parchment sized to a cake pan so layers release cleanly without sticking; saves tracing and cutting from a flat parchment sheet for every bake.

Unbleached (Brown) Parchment

Chlorine-free brown baking parchment with a natural tan color, silicone-coated for nonstick release when lining sheet pans for cookies and roasting vegetables.

What to know before you buy

Confirm two things on the box: the maximum temperature and that it's actually parchment, not wax paper (a common, ruinous mix-up). For anyone who bakes weekly, flat pre-cut sheets are worth the small premium over a curling roll.

Check the heat rating — cheaper papers cap lower and scorch sooner
Wax paper looks similar but melts in the oven; keep them clearly separate
Pre-cut sheets and rounds save fiddly cutting and lie flat without crimping

How to use it

To line a round pan, trace the base and cut a circle (or fold a square into eighths and snip the radius). To tame a curling roll-cut sheet, crumple it into a ball and smooth it back out, or run it briefly under water and shake it off — it'll lie flat in the pan.

Sling: leave overhang on two sides of a cake or loaf pan to lift the whole bake out cleanly
Cartouche: cut a parchment circle the size of the pot and lay it on a braise to slow evaporation and keep food submerged
En papillote: fold a sealed parcel and steam fish with herbs and a splash of wine in its own juices
Piping cone: roll a triangle into a cone for drizzling melted chocolate or fine icing

Common uses

Lining sheet pans for cookies, scones, and roasted vegetablesLining cake and loaf pans for clean, no-stick releaseMaking a sling to lift out brownies, bars, and quick breadsCooking fish or vegetables en papilloteA cartouche to float on braises and poaching liquidsRolling out and chilling pastry and cookie dough between sheetsSeparating layers of cookies, burgers, or dough in the freezerImprovising a piping cone for chocolate or icing

Tips & pitfalls

Stop the roll from sliding off a sheet pan by dabbing a little oil or a few spots of batter underneath as glue.
Don't use it under the broiler or above its rated temperature — exposed edges and dry paper can char and even catch.
Reuse a clean sheet for a second or third tray of cookies; toss it once it's greasy, browned, or brittle.
Parchment promotes browning and crisping; for very sticky things like caramel and macarons, a silicone mat may release better.
A parchment cartouche is the cheap secret to a glossy, evenly reduced braise — cut it the size of the pot, no foil needed.
Confirm you grabbed parchment and not wax paper before it goes in the oven; the wax coating melts onto your food.