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