Quick Tip: How to Build a Make-Shift Cooling Rack

Remember how we were gathering essential cookware for a month away from our kitchen? Well, we completely forgot about potentially needing a cooling rack and a thorough search of the cupboards in our temporary housing turned up nothing. But look at our make-shift solution!

First, we found an extra oven rack in one of the cupboards, but it was too flat to really lift baked goods off the counter. Looking around for something to set it on, our eye fell on our cast-iron skillet. Perfect.

We feel very proud of our resourcefulness and glad that we didn't just rush out to buy a replacement rack!

Do you have any MacGyver-esque problem-solving moments of your own to share?

(Image: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)

Comments (5)

I've always just cooled stuff on a cut up paper bag, at least for cookies and things. For cakes, one goes on the cake plate to cool and the other gets inverted onto the tin the first one was in.

posted by Tiamat_the_Red on June 11th 2009 at 2:28pm
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hah, ive been doing this for ages... it even looks like we have the same extra metal rack laying around our kitchens.
Anyway it has become my makeshift cooling rack, i just grab 4 cans and put one in each corner, instant cooling rack.

posted by adamwa on June 11th 2009 at 5:07pm
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i've learned that a clean wine bottle makes a decent rolling pin in a pinch...

posted by bixology on June 11th 2009 at 7:46pm
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I've done this! I've put the toaster oven grate on top of a couple of small drinking glasses, and it's just barely big enough to hold a small cake.

I've used cans of soda as rolling pins, pretty successfully.

posted by kenboy on June 12th 2009 at 6:51am
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I often use the rack from my toater oven if it's something small.

posted by Knerq on June 18th 2009 at 11:29am
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