Helpful Hints for Oven Racks
Oven racks are essential to the structure of an oven. According to Bill Handziuk of Union Gas, removing oven racks and cooking on the floor of the oven may damage the floor or the heating element beneath it, as neither of these were designed to support the weight of pots, pans, trays and food. That being said, there are ways that cooks may take advantage of their oven racks by moving them around or cleaning them.
Positions
Ovens typically have grooves inside of them that allow users to position their oven racks in three positions: top, middle, and bottom. In general, oven racks should remain at the middle position, as this is the position where food cooks most evenly. The top position is useful for placing food as close as possible to the broiler, and the bottom position is ideal when users wish to expose food to more intense oven heat. Pizza, for example, crisps better near the bottom of the oven.
Cleaning
Crumbs and other chunks of food left on oven racks accumulate and burn into smoking, black ash unless you clean your oven racks regularly. One simple way to clean dirty oven racks is to place them in a bathtub full of very hot water mixed with either dishwasher or laundry detergent. After the racks have rested in this hot detergent mixture overnight, they should be free of any baked-on filthiness.
Cooling
A cooling rack is a grid or series of wires that allows baked goods to rest above any flat surface while they cool down. In addition to speeding the cooling process, the added air circulation that cooling racks provide prevents steam from moistening the bottom of the baked items and giving them a soggy texture. When removed from the oven prior to preheating, a cold, inverted oven rack functions well as a cooling rack, provided that the baked items aren't small enough to fall between the bars.
