Even when you're careful and put baking paper over your baking sheet whenever you use the oven, that grease is going to start building up. As a result, it is incredibly important to clean your baking sheet and remove baked on grease.

We don't know about you, but we're pretty sure that the taste of stale, burnt oil, and baked on grease isn't particularly pleasant. What's even worse is burnt-on nastiness and remnants of old food.

Of course, to each to their own, but you'll need to keep your baking sheet clean if you want your food to taste exactly as it should.

In this household and kitchen guide, TAG24 will take you through everything you need to know to perfectly clean your baking sheet and get rid of that cooked-on grease.

There are a variety of ways to clean a nonstick baking sheet that has become dirty after repeated cooks. Your best bet is to clean the sheet after each use by using the rough side of a sponge and some detergent. The key is to not allow a layer of grease to bake-on over time.

Depending on what type of baking sheet you have and the degree of residue left behind, a gauze can also be an incredibly useful tool when cleaning dirtier trays combined with the simple sponge-detergent method. It's not hard, it doesn't take long, and should be your first choice.

Sometimes, though, your baking sheet is going to lead a little bit more, and that's what we're here to help you with. Here's how to clean stubborn baking sheets...

Salt is the spice of life and, as it turns out, it's also the spice of cleaning. It exfoliates the grease or fat in the bottom of the baking sheet, absorbing the muck, loosening it, and making it easier to remove with a simple sponge and some nice warm water.

Here's how to clean a baking sheet with salt:

Step 1: Spread plenty of salt out over the bottom of the baking sheet, making sure that all surfaces are covered.

Step 2: The baking tray now needs to be placed in a pre-heated oven at 120 °F and baked for 30–50 minutes, or until the salt is slightly brown.

Step 3: Remove the baking tray and pour the salt into your bin.

Step 4: Once the baking sheet has cooled down a bit, simply rinse it with water and use a sponge to get rid of any remaining dirt.

Baking soda is one of those unsung heroes of the kitchen equipment world. It's also perfect for cleaning all sorts of things. It's so fantastic that you can even use it to clean jewelry if you're getting truly desperate! Better yet, it will also do the job for your baking sheet.

Here's how to clean an oven tray with baking soda:

Step 1: Spread about 1/4 cup of baking soda on the baking tray and then add enough water to cover it.

Step 2: Set it aside for a few hours and allow the dirt to soak, so that it begins to dissolve.

Step 3: If this doesn't quite do the trick, now place the tray in an oven heated to about 210 °F for around 20 minutes. The water should evaporate, and the particularly stubborn stains should come off.

Step 4: After removing the tray and allowing it to cool, clean thoroughly with water and dishwashing detergent.

Vinegar can be a fantastic cleaning agent that's great for kitchen appliances, floors, and even for removing mold when push comes to shove. It might stink, but it's an acidic chemical that will quickly dissolve most nasty substances that might be stuck on your baking sheet.

Here's how to clean a baking sheet with vinegar:

Step 1: Pour enough vinegar into the baking tray to cover its entire base. It is best to use white vinegar, or an apple or wine variant instead.

Step 2: Now place the soiled baking sheet into an oven preheated to around 390 °F for about 20 minutes. This should loosen the grease and anything that is burnt-on.

Step 3: Remove the hot tray and pour out all the vinegar and dissolved dirt. Wipe down the tray with a sponge, applying water and detergent.

Using a chemical-like denture cleaner comes with its benefits and disadvantages, but is generally great at getting rid of grease in a dirty baking sheet. Combining it with a gauze or a good sponge makes it even more effective.

Here's how to clean a baking sheet with denture cleaner:

Step 1: Dissolve the denture cleaner tab in a glass of warm water, and pour it over the soiled baking sheet.

Step 2: Put the baking tray into an oven that has been preheated to about 210 °F for about an hour.

Step 3: Remove the baking tray and allow it to cool down so that you can touch it without burning yourself.

Step 4: Finally, the dirt residues are rinsed off with fresh water and a soft cloth. Rinse all the dirt residue off with fresh, hot water.

Step 5: Proceed to scrub the tray with a sponge, washing-up liquid and water.

It might seem a little odd, or perhaps a waste of perfectly good apple (I mean, you could always use them to make apple pie instead), but fresh fruit can do wonders for your wrecked baking tray.

Here's how to use apple peel to clean baking sheets:

Step 1: Rigorously rub any food residues with the wet side of an apple peel. Add a little salt as you do go to combine the two methods.

Step 2: Once you have loosened all the burnt-on food, rinse off the tray with warm water and clean as usual.

No, really! Coca-Cola is actually more useful than you may think. Like several of the additions in this list, Coke is acidic and will effectively remove grease.

Here's how to clean baking trays with Coke:

Step 1: Again, this method is rather simple. Pour some Coke onto the dirty baking sheet, so that it covers the entire base.

Step 2: Allow the Coke to soak for a few hours, until the greasy residue dissolves.

Step 3: Wash off the baking tray thoroughly with water and liquid soap. Be sure to give it a good scrub!

If you want to take proper care of your baking tray, it's a good idea to always use the right utensils when cleaning. It can be especially easy to damage the tray's surface when trying to remove heavily baked-on grease, making it even more important to take precautions.

Here are some tips for cleaning baked-on grease in a baking tray:

• When cleaning baking trays made out of aluminum or some kind of enamel coating, never use a gauze or steel sponge.
• Make sure to always clean a baking sheet after each use.
• Always lay baking paper on the bottom of the tray before cooking to help reduce the leftover residue.
• Instead of using baking paper, feel free to use baking foils or baking mats, many of which can be used several times.
  
• To make cleaning easier, it's best to always soak the baking sheet in warm water and dishwashing liquid immediately after use.

It might seem tempting to simply reuse your oven tray, placing thicker and thicker layers of baking paper upon its sticky, discolored surface. We don't blame you, either! It can be a true pain and highly time-consuming to clean a baking sheet that has been allowed to deteriorate to this level.

If you don't clean your nonstick baking sheets, though, baked on grease and burnt food will likely get into your food. This is not only unhygienic, but tastes pretty gross, too. You can easily avoid this situation by busting out those home remedies and cleaning your baking sheet.