While it’s great to be able to spread out all over the kitchen when you’re cooking or baking, not all of us are lucky enough to have huge kitchens with enough counter space for every piece of equipment we have to use. Cooling racks, for instance, are usually flat and take up quite a bit of counter space that could be used for more bowls of cookie dough.
The best space saving solution (well, cheaper than moving or doing an extensive remodel) is a Three Tier Cooling Rack from Wilton. This multi-level cooling rack is actually made up of three stackable individual racks that can hold dozens of cooling cookies while taking up only a small piece of countertop real estate. The rack is made of metal with a nonstick coating and is very sturdy – in fact, if you have more than one set, you can make your cooling stack at least three levels higher without any problems. This last feature makes the rack especially handy if you do a lot of baking, or have a multi-tiered oven rack that allows you to have multiple courses cooking at a time. Each piece measures about 16×10-inches and leaves a 3-inch gap between each level. As an additional space saving bonus, it also folds up flat for storage.
The best thing about this cooling rack is that, while it can support an entire cookie sheet or cake pan on each level, you can also take your cookies from the baking sheet and let them cool directly on the rack. Some other tiered cooling racks only provide support for the baking sheets and do not have flat wire-covered surfaces to rest the cookies themselves on. This is handy because some cookie recipes call for cookies to be cooled on a wire rack themselves and not on the pans. Ultra delicate cookies and chewy cookies usually fall into this category, as they need to be away from heat.
Jess
December 30, 2008I actually have this rack set and i LOVE it. I honestly don’t know how I made multiple batches of cookies without it.
Laurel
December 30, 2008Do you find the spaces too wide to hold the cookies without mishaping them?
Elizabeth
December 30, 2008I was so hesitant to buy a cooling rack because of the space it would take up and I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this rack because it’s so compact. It saves me an untold amount of space in a small kitchen.
I do have to agree with Laurel though and say that the spaces between the wires are a little wide. I don’t have any problem with the cookies becoming misshapen, but I do have problems with cookies falling through if they’re smaller. Or if I am sliding them onto the rack wrong they just fall right through onto the counter. But this doesn’t happen too often, at least not often enough for me to think about getting another pan.
Sara
December 30, 2008I’ve had these for years and LOVE them. I’ve done part time catering on the side, and there’s no way i can bake in quantity for these events without being able to go up with my cooling racks.
Maggi
December 30, 2008I wish they made these racks with a square mesh grid as opposed to just grid lines in one direction. Makes it difficult yo work with small cookies or using the racks to enrobe small candies with chocolate. I have two cooling racks that are square mesh, but not stackable.
Elle
December 30, 2008These racks are absolutely wonderful. I’ve never tried to make candy on them, though. I’d imagine that it would be difficult.
Lauren
December 30, 2008I absolutely love my stacking cookie racks! I live in an apartment without much counter space and it consistently saves me!!
Eagle
December 30, 2008I bought this earlier this year and I guess I got a bad set or something since so many folks on here are saying it’s great. Mine started chipping away on the edges and the joint areas almost as soon as I got it. After a few months of use it was so rusted and cracked I had to toss it away. Very disappointing. And yes, I only hand washed it, and dried it immediately as I do with all my racks. So I haven’t any idea why it went so wrong 🙁
Nate
December 30, 2008This is a great resource! We could have used it when we were madly baking before Christmas. Do you think I could find it in my local baking shop, or is it available only online?
mrsblocko
December 30, 2008i got something like this a few years back for xmas. they arent wilton brand and are a silvery chrome finish, not the black in the picture. they are wonderful. I agree that they cant be used for the really tiny cookies. someone should make them in square grid, then they’d be perfect.
Hilary
December 30, 2008I LOVE my3 tier cooling racks!! Before we moved this summer I was in a tiny kitchen and these things saved me a lot of stress! Now I’m in a much bigger kitchen, but I still set these up on the counter right by the oven which is a small area and they fit perfectly and still work great after 4 years of using them heavily! I’m thinking about getting a 2nd set if I get the double oven I’m really hoping I get soon!
Hilary
Hallie
December 30, 2008WOW I need that! I always have to lay out two cooling racks next to each other and it leaves me with NO counter to work. Such a good idea.
Alyssa
December 30, 2008I got this a couple years ago before Christmas, I love it. If you’re worried about cookies getting misshaped because of the space between the slats – just make sure you let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet a few minutes after baking so they can firm up a bit (I learned that the hard way..more than a few times).
Sally
December 31, 2008Pampered Chef (pamperedchef.com) which sells primarily through home parties (similar to Tupperware) has these as well, however, their racks have the grid rather than rails which helps keep cookies from falling through. In addition, I think they are much stronger and more durable. They are probably more expensive but I think it is worth the extra cost. They don’t come in a set so you can buy as little as one or as many as you like (although the recommend you don’t stack them higher than 3).