A cooling rack is a rack used to place freshly baked items on so they will cool faster. Commonly used when cooling cakes and cookies.

When cooling a cake allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes or as long as the recipe suggests. Run a knife along the edges of the pan to loosen the cake and set the cooling rack upside down over the cake pan. Flip them over together using oven mitts. Carefully lift the cake pan off of the cake. Do not frost the cake until it has cooled for an hour.

When cooling cookies allow cookies to sit in the pan for a minute or as long as the recipe suggests. Gently lift them off of the cookie sheet with a spatula and set them on the cooling rack leaving space between the cookies to allow the air to circulate.

Cooling racks can also be used as a rack in the oven, to cool off candy, or even as a place to set down hot pots.

Choose a cooling rack that is sturdy enough to support heavy cakes. A tighter wire grid will be more supportive than a wider grid. Get one with legs so that it will be up above the counter to allow air to flow underneath it. Consider choosing a cooling rack that is larger than your cooking sheets so that it will be able to carry whatever you bake.

• Google Blog Search: Cooling Rack

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