Greaseproof Sheet Sizes by Food: Chips, Burgers, Baskets and Trays

How do you measure a sheet for a wrap?

Measure the food at its widest point and its tallest point, with a ruler rather than by eye. Then use this rule: sheet width equals the food width plus twice its height plus 50 mm for the tuck. That 50 mm is what most people forget, and it is the difference between a wrap that stays shut and one that unrolls in the bag.

Take a burger 100 mm across and 70 mm tall. Width plus two heights is 240 mm, add 50 mm and you reach 290 mm, which is why 300 × 300 mm is the standard burger sheet. A taller stacked burger with bacon and onion rings pushes that to 350 × 350 mm.

For a liner the sum is simpler. Measure the inside of the basket or tray at the base, then add the side height on each edge you want covered.

Chip shop portions: cones, open sheets and the full wrap

A chip shop uses greaseproof in three ways, and each one wants a different sheet. An open sheet under a tray portion needs only to cover the base and sides of the tray: 250 × 375 mm does this for most medium trays and hangs just over the edges.

A cone for a small portion is rolled from a 300 × 300 mm square, tip at one corner. A full fish and chips wrap, with the paper folded over the top and the ends tucked, wants the big sheet, 450 × 700 mm, and often a second lighter sheet inside it for the grease.

If you serve both trays and wraps, order both sheets rather than making one size do two jobs. A full-wrap sheet is wasteful under a tray, and a tray sheet will not close over a large cod.

What size wraps a burger with a 100 mm bun?

A 100 mm bun with a single patty and salad wraps in 300 × 300 mm (about 12 in square) with the ends tucked underneath. This is the sheet most burger bars run, and a one-colour logo on a 60 to 90 mm repeat fills it nicely.

Drop to 250 × 250 mm for a slider or a 75 mm bun, and go up to 350 × 350 mm for a double or anything with a tall stack. A 300 × 400 mm oblong suits a long roll, a hot dog or a sub, with the long side running along the bread.

Brioche crumbs are worth a mention. They fall into the fold, so give brioche the next size up and tuck tighter. The four sizes on the burger wrap paper page in millimetres cover most buns.

Basket and tray liners from 250 mm to 600 mm

A liner is judged by how much hangs over the rim. Too little and it slides about as the customer eats; too much and it flaps into the sauce. Aim for 20 to 30 mm over the rim on each side.

A small serving basket, the kind that holds a portion of wings or a scoop of chips, takes 250 × 250 mm. The usual oval or oblong basket takes 300 × 300 mm or 300 × 400 mm. A sharing platter or a large wooden board moves up to 400 × 600 mm, where the sheet becomes a placemat as much as a liner.

Liners work harder than wraps, because a knife and fork go through the food onto the paper. Specify 45 to 55 gsm for anything that lives on a plate or a board, and the basket liner sizes and weights page lists the four typical cuts.

Which liner fits a gastronorm tray or an air fryer basket?

Commercial kitchens size their trays to the gastronorm standard, and liners should follow it. A half gastronorm pan is 325 × 265 mm inside, and a full pan is 530 × 325 mm. A flat liner cut to those figures sits on the base; add the side height if you want the paper up the walls.

Domestic baking trays are less tidy, typically 320 × 230 mm to 390 × 270 mm, so measure yours and quote the inside figure. Round down rather than up, because a liner that bunches at the corners traps fat underneath.

Air fryer baskets are mostly square or round between 160 and 220 mm across. A 160 × 160 mm or 200 × 200 mm liner with the corners trimmed drops into most of them, and an oven-safe greaseproof grade copes with the 200°C setting. Keep the liner flat and weighted by the food so the fan cannot lift it. The tray and air fryer liner sizes page shows both gastronorm cuts.

Sandwiches, baps, wraps and pasties

Cold and warm handheld food has its own set of sheets, and they are generally smaller and lighter than chip shop paper.

• A cut sandwich on a bloomer loaf wraps in 300 × 300 mm, folded as a parcel and sealed with a sticker or a band.
• A warm bacon or sausage bap wraps in 250 × 250 mm with the ends twisted, since there is no sauce to lose.
• A tortilla wrap or a kebab takes a 300 × 400 mm oblong, rolled along the long side and folded once at the base.
• A pasty or a sausage roll sits in a 250 × 375 mm sheet folded into a pocket, open at the top so the pastry stays crisp.
• A slice of cake or a tray bake for a café counter goes in 200 × 200 mm, which is also the usual interleaving sheet between slices in a tin.

A sandwich shop can usually cover the whole counter with two sizes, 250 × 250 mm and 300 × 400 mm, and have the same logo printed on both.

Sheet size by food at a glance

The table collects the sizes above in one place. Each is the typical pick; any other size is a custom cut and is quoted the same way.

If two foods on your menu land on neighbouring sizes, take the larger one. A few millimetres of spare paper never spoils a wrap; a few millimetres short always does.

Should I choose a square or an oblong sheet?

Square sheets suit round food. A burger, a bap, a cone of chips and a scoop of wings all sit in the middle of a square and the four corners meet on top or tuck underneath. Oblongs suit long food: a sub, a hot dog, a kebab, a baguette, where the long side of the paper runs along the length of the bread.

Oblongs also suit trays and baskets, because almost every tray is longer than it is wide. A 300 × 400 mm liner in a 280 × 380 mm basket gives an even overhang all round; a square in the same basket falls short on the ends.

The one case where an oblong is wrong for a round item is the chip cone. A cone is rolled from a square, corner to corner, and an oblong rolls into a lopsided funnel that leaks at the tip.

Measure your own food in four steps

If an item on your menu is not in the table, this takes two minutes with a ruler.

1. Put the food on a sheet of A3 paper and mark its widest point and its height with a pen.
2. Fold the paper around it the way you would at the counter, and cut away the excess until the wrap just closes with a tuck.
3. Unfold it, measure the piece in millimetres, and round each side up to the nearest 25 mm.
4. Note whether the fold went over the top (a square) or along the length (an oblong), and write both figures on the quote with the food named.

Send that figure with your artwork and we will confirm it on the proof. The full sheet and roll size chart lists every standard cut if you would rather pick from a list.

Custom cuts and rolls

The four sizes on each product page are the usual picks, not the only ones. Any size in millimetres can be cut to order, and an odd size costs no more to proof.

Rolls suit counters that tear off a length for each customer: a deli slicer, a cheese counter, a butcher's block. They are quoted by width in millimetres and length in metres, and the print repeats along the roll so a torn length always carries the logo.

Whichever route you take, the minimum is 1,000 sheets or one roll and the proof is free.