Who needs a baking rack?
Anyone who has ever baked anything could benefit from having a baking rack. When you bake something, your goal should be for it to turn out as perfectly as possible. Even if you only make one dozen cookies a year, you should own some baking racks.
When a baked good is removed from the oven, it is filled with heat. If you attempt to cool it in the pan it was baked in, the steam can't escape. As a result, the parts of the baked goods that aren't exposed to air will become soggy. That's why sometimes you bake the perfect cake, only to discover that the bottom and sides have turned to mush. Baking racks, commonly known as cooling racks, are metal racks that are slightly elevated off of the counter top in order to evenly and quickly cool backed goods. The elevation of the racks allows air to flow above, beneath and around the rack, ensuring that you will never again have to serve your guests soggy sweets.
You might be wondering what types of baked goods you can cool on these racks. Cookies, cakes, pies, muffins, breads, croissants, cupcakes, doughnuts, etc. If you can bake it, you can use a baking rack to cool it. Anyone who has ever had to bake hundreds of cookies or cupcakes for a bake sale or has participated in a holiday baking day with relatives knows how frustrating it can be to have to sit and watch the fruits of your labor cool. All you can think about is the fact that you could be baking more if you had a few more cookie sheets or cake pans. And you know what they say, "A watched baked good never cools..." But now, as long as you have several baking racks, you can save time by freeing up your cookie sheets and baking pans so you don't lose your baking momentum. Keep in mind that nonstick baking racks are ideal for softer baked goods such as cakes and breads because it will ensure that they don't tear once you remove them from the rack.
Baking racks are also great for those mini cakes and doughnuts that need to be glazed. When you try to glaze things on a cookie sheet, the glaze tends to pool around the baked good and promote sogginess. If you place the baking rack on a foil lined cookie sheet prior to the glazing process, not only will you have better results, but clean up will be a breeze.
Walmart, Amazon.com, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond and Williams-Sonoma are just a few of the places that sell baking and cooling racks. Just about any retailer that sells cake pans and cookie sheets will probably have them in stock. They range in price from $5 to $50, however, you can usually find very high quality and durable baking racks in the $8 to $15 range. If you don't have a lot of counter space to dedicate to baking racks, a lot of companies including Wilton and Weston make 3 tier cooling racks that allow you to cool three times as many baked treats with the counter space of one rack.