A cooling rack is one of the kitchen tools that can easily find another purpose aside from waning the cookies’ temperature coming straight out of the furnace. One of the more innovative cooling racks is to convert it into a roasting rack where you can grill meat or veggies in your oven. But to safely turn your cooling rack into an oven grill, you need to figure out if it’s suitable to function as one. Let’s get into how to know if cooling rack is oven-safe and other matters concerning cooling racks.
More About Cooling Racks
A cooling rack is a kitchen device where one puts hot baked products right after baking. It is designed to facilitate air circulation under the goodies easy not to condensate and become soggy. The use of cooling racks is one of the reasons for the crispiness in your cookies and bread.
This tool can be made from different materials. Some cooling racks are made from wood, which is what bread bakers often use. While some others are made from hard metals so that they do not bend easily but instead provide adequate support. What’s becoming more popular in the cooling racks department are those coated with chrome and other substances. The coating prevents the products from sticking onto it, which makes it the bakers’ favorite.
Cooling racks also come in various shapes and sizes. It can be in the form of a square, circular, or rectangular. Usually, they are a grid of metal wires with stands on its corners to raise the rack from the surface.
Are Cooling Racks Oven-Safe?
No. Not all cooling racks are meant for the oven; some are just intended for cooling purposes. So how to know if cooling rack is oven-safe?
Read the product label. Every kitchenware should come with an insert or a tag, which says it’s safe for oven use. One should not be guessing whether a utensil or a tool is right for the oven.
However, should there be no oven-safety sticker, there are telling signs on whether you can use the cooling rack in your gas range.
Is the cooling rack coated with polytetrafluoroethylene? If so, then forget using your frame to oven-grill anything. Polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE is a substance responsible for the non-stick properties in a lot of our kitchenware. The more popular brand of PTFE-based products is Teflon. Anything coated with Teflon should not get into your oven, including the cooling rack.
What happens when you use Teflon inside your oven? The substance melts and warps due to intense heat. And when PTFE leaks into your food? Its effects are quite unhealthy. With that, it pays to research how to know if cooling rack is oven-safe.
But there will be cooling racks that are perfect for oven grilling. With its crisscross openings that facilitate air circulation, they truly make a great oven grill. You can always find a sheet pan that goes well with your rack to catch the juices and residues while roasting.
Foods You Can Prepare with Cooling Racks as Grill
After settling the question “how to know if cooling rack is oven-safe,” we’re now ready to prepare and relish some grilled dishes using a cooling rack.
The following are what you can do with those cooling racks converted into grills:
Smoke Your Favorite Meat
Be it beef or salmon. You can smoke any of it using your cooling racks as desired. Its many crisscross openings allow for better air circulation, which is perfect for smoking. Enjoy your smoked meat without having to purchase another device!
Oven-Dry Fruits and Vegetables
If you like your tomatoes or any food dried, take advantage of those cooling racks and toss your most loved veggies into the oven. Drying has a significant effect on the food’s taste, as it concentrates all the flavors into a thin, chewy food your mouth will surely enjoy. Who needs packed dried whatever coming off the market shelf when you can make one that’s fresh at the comfort of your home.
Grilled Meat
Who doesn’t want some? No one can ever contest the heavenly taste of grilled meats. Grilling brings the best flavors out of the core as the process breaks down its proteins and combines with other natural compounds to produce such a unique, unparalleled taste. Know more about cooling racks.
Conclusion
You may think you need purpose-specific devices for everything you do in the kitchen, but a little ingenuity can go a long way, such as using a cooling rack as an oven grill. You only need to figure how to know if cooling rack is oven-safe so you can start using those racks as grills for your next food recipe. What’s more, we’ve proven that grilling isn’t the only thing you can do with those racks. They make great smoking and drying racks as well. Truly, creativity helps you do more with less, and you get to save your money as well.