I've been looking for a flat rack that will fit in my small jelly-roll
pan, so I can cook certain recipes that elevate the food off the bottom
of the pan. (Not a roasting rack for poultry, but a smaller baking rack
with a fine mesh that will hold chicken parts, etc.) I have a very
small oven so I can't use a standard half sheet pan, so I use a smaller
pan that's 10x15. I've had a hard time finding a rack of the proper
size - they're either too big to fit in my pan or so small they won't
hold much food.

I ordered a "cake cooling rack" hat was labeled as 14 x 9, which would
have been the perfect size. It just arrived in the mail and it's not 14
x 9, at least not in the way I'm measuring it. I measured straight
across from one edge to the other, and by that measurement it's 10 x 16.
It won't fit in my pan.

Is this the normal way to measure cooling racks? Is there some other
way to measure them? I don't want to order a replacement and find that
it's also too big. The rack wasn't expensive but shipping costs add up.

This is the pan I ordered:

http://tinyurl.com/bqd9f

Karen

"Karen Wheless" > wrote in message
et...
> I've been looking for a flat rack that will fit in my small jelly-roll
> pan, so I can cook certain recipes that elevate the food off the bottom
> of the pan. (Not a roasting rack for poultry, but a smaller baking rack
> with a fine mesh that will hold chicken parts, etc.) I have a very
> small oven so I can't use a standard half sheet pan, so I use a smaller
> pan that's 10x15. I've had a hard time finding a rack of the proper
> size - they're either too big to fit in my pan or so small they won't
> hold much food.
>
> I ordered a "cake cooling rack" hat was labeled as 14 x 9, which would
> have been the perfect size. It just arrived in the mail and it's not 14
> x 9, at least not in the way I'm measuring it. I measured straight
> across from one edge to the other, and by that measurement it's 10 x 16.
> It won't fit in my pan.
>
> Is this the normal way to measure cooling racks? Is there some other
> way to measure them? I don't want to order a replacement and find that
> it's also too big. The rack wasn't expensive but shipping costs add up.
>
> This is the pan I ordered:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/bqd9f

Why not just put the rack on top of your small jelly-roll pan and let the
extra hang over the top? It will function just the same as if it were
inside the pan. After all, a jellyroll pan is only 1/2 inch deep. I often
just use veggies like celery, onion, and carrots as a rack. You can eat the
roasted veggies or feed them to the dog. They help flavor the drippings and
improve the flavor of your pan sauce or gravy.

> Why not just put the rack on top of your small jelly-roll pan and let the
> extra hang over the top? It will function just the same as if it were
> inside the pan.

I've tried that, but it's not very stable. I wanted one where the four
legs of the rack all fit inside the pan, so it wouldn't slide around.
When you have a rack balanced precariously on top of a jelly-roll pan,
and on top of that six slippery stuffed Cornish game hens, and you're
trying to get that into a very tiny oven that will barely hold the pan,
it's a disaster waiting to happen. The last time I tried it, trying to
hold onto the rack and keep it from sliding off the pan as I leaned down
to knee-level to slide the pan into the oven, two of the hens ended up
on the floor.

I love using "edible" roasting racks for bigger pieces of meat, but it's
also hard to balance a lot of little pieces on top of celery or onions
or carrots - for example, stuffed chicken breasts, or Cornish game hens,
or rolled chicken thighs.

Karen