Cooling Rack

A kitchen utensil that is used for placing cooked foods onto a surface that will enable the food to be cooled on all sides after being baked, either food still in a hot pan or food removed from a baking sheet or pan and placed directly onto the rack. Typically, a cooling rack is made of stainless steel wires that are formed into a mesh squares of small crisscrossed bars or a number of straight, closely aligned parallel bars so that food to be cooled can easily be supported without falling through, yet allowing enough air to reach the bottom of the food so it does not retain too much moisture and become soggy. Some racks are a single layer while others may be multiple layers of two or three stackable tiers to support a batch of cookies, breads, cakes, or several pies at the same time. Cooling racks can be round, square, rectangular, or oval in shape. Roasting racks can also be used as a cooling rack.