I fully admit that I am not a cook per se. It's only been since Covid that I really started getting into cooking more complex meals. My lack of experience and confidence is also why I like recipe videos that show you absolutely step-by-step what should be done and when. lol
Having said that, I'm pleasantly surprised when I can ocassionaly pass along some kitchen tips to people who claim to be, (or are) very good cooks. I was chatting one time with an 80-ish y/o friend from Jersey. He loves to cook and he really likes to bake also. He mentioned that he and his husband would be making their annual Italian Christmas cookies soon . It's a huge process for him and his husband. He explained that they make several, several dozens of various recipes and they serve them at some of the parties and gatherings they host at home. They make enough extra for their own personal enjoyment of course. But they also give them away as gifts to friends and neighbors. So he was telling me it can sometimes be a full one or two day project, depending how ambitious they are in both the quantity and variety of recipes. He said he does most of the prep, and his (much younger) husband helps him with the actual baking and does all of the cleanup.
So upon hearing this I casually asked if he used parchment paper for baking the cookies. He said no. That he had never used it. He didn't quite know what it was. I was rather shocked by that because he portrayed himself as a rather ambitious and experienced baker. I quickly explained to him that he really should try it. I told him how parchment paper often prevented the bottoms of cookies from getting that burnt black circle on the bottoms. And how with parchment paper, the bottoms of the cookies came out with a much more uniform golden brown that most of us strive for. That you don't get the broken or mutilated cookies that get ruined because the spatula couldn't break that seal as well and get exactly in betweeen the bottom of the cookie and the metal sheet.
Plus the cleanup of the baking sheets is an absolute breeze. The pans hardly get dirty at all. A few good swipes of the soapy cloth (after all the baking is completely done) will usually have the pans ready to be put away. But if you just put the cookies directly on the metal sheet (or some dough inevitably smears) then you've got more scrubbing and elbow grease ahead of of you with the crusted on burnt crumbs in order to to clean them up. But especially if you are making baked goods in bulk, you would have to stop and clean each sheet in between uses. Not so with the paper.
So my friend tried parchment paper for the first time for his Christmas cookies. They loved it of course! haha The ease and the lack of constant cookie sheet cleanup really speeded up their process. And they appreciated that the bottoms of the cookies were of better quality. The cookies were less likely to burn in general since they could remove them from the hot sheet almost immediately if they felt they needed to. So now they pretty much never do sheet baking or cookies without it. haha