Nostalgic Cooling Racks

We at Jacob Bromwell invite you to relax in your favorite easy chair, put up your feet, and ‘become one’ with our story. From time to time, you just may notice yourself traveling back in time, much like on a time machine, imagining watching the mastermind, himself, making such racks! Should you gently drift off into sleep following our story, you may realize you are dreaming about the wonders our racks provide...

Our cooling rack is made for use as both for keeping cooked food off the counter or table while cooling. Another use of our cooling racks is for roasting where you can place them inside a roaster or casserole to keep your food cooked above the liquids, or off the surface of the pan.

Our baking rack can also be used as a toast rack for holding slices of toast which can be passed around the kitchen table or your favorite campfire. What you may find interesting is the term, ‘cookie rack’, is also used in other ways, mainly in talking about railways and architectural design which have a physical similarity to that of a baking rack.

The earliest known examples of our cooling racks date back to the 1770s. Jacob Bromwell improved their strength, usefulness, and cleanliness. He knew that by having adequate air gaps between the slices of toast, for example, the cooling racks allow steam to escape from hot toast instead of affecting other slices making them soggy. However, this increased air flow that Bromwell, the mastermind himself, knew is this increased air flow can also mean the toast becomes cold more quickly thereby letting it be known. As a chef, we, as did he, suggest you allow whatever you’re cooking to cool just enough to safely serve.

Wire cooling, or cooling racks as made by Bromwell are important additions to the baker’s necessary cooking equipment. For those of you out there who studied French, this particular equipment is translated as ‘batterie de cuisine’. Without these, you will sadly experience soggier, moister baked items if these are allowed to cool in their pans or on solid surfaces that don’t allow for air circulation. The purpose of a baking rack is to allow air to circulate freely around the baked or toasted item, letting it cool down evenly and quickly. Steak, fish, or even meatloaf should rest for at least 20 minutes, depending on size, before cutting or carving and finally serving. Also, before either decorating your cake, pie, or cupcakes, it would be a safe bet to let whatever you’re making cool down on our cookie rack as a safety feature.

In summary, as most cooling racks, our cooling racks are made of metal bars that run across the rack, allowing air to circulate around the top and underneath whatever you may be cooking.