Wire rack

A wire rack is a grid of metal wire on short legs. It raises food off the counter or the pan so air can move all around it. In baking it is a cooling rack, and in cooking it is used inside a sheet pan to roast, rest and drain food. In the UK it is often called a cooling tray.

How to use it

• Cool baked goods. Let cakes and loaves sit in their pans for about 10 minutes, then turn them out onto the rack. Move cookies to it after a few minutes on the tray. Cooling on a solid surface traps steam under the base and makes it damp.
• Roast and crisp. Set the rack in a rimmed sheet pan and lay chicken wings, bacon, meatballs or breaded cutlets on it. Hot air reaches the underside, so it crisps without turning.
• Dry brine. Leave salted meat or poultry uncovered on a rack in the fridge so the skin dries and crisps well later.
• Drain fried food. After you deep-fry, place food on a rack over a tray. It stays crisper than on paper towels, where the underside steams.
• Rest meat. Rest a roast or steak on a rack over a plate to keep the crust crisp. See resting meat.
• Glaze and ice. Set a cake on a rack over a tray and pour a glaze or ganache over it. The excess runs off cleanly.

Choose an oven-safe stainless steel rack with a tight grid that fits inside your sheet pan. Racks with a coating may not be safe at high oven heat. Check before putting one in the oven.

How to store it

Soak greasy racks in hot soapy water, then scrub with a brush along the wires. Dry fully so a steel or plated rack does not rust. Store it flat inside its sheet pan.

Common mistakes

• Cooling bread on a plate or board. The bottom gets soggy.
• Putting a nonstick-coated cooling rack in a hot oven when it is not rated for that.
• Using a rack with wide gaps for cookies. They sag through the wires while warm.
• Setting the rack straight on the oven floor or with no pan under it for roasting. Fat drips and smokes.

In recipes

"Cool on a wire rack" means lift the food off the hot pan and cool it in open air. "Set a rack in a rimmed baking sheet" means roast or rest food raised above the pan.