Ultra Cuisine 100% Stainless Steel Cooling and Baking Rack Set of 2, 11.5x16.5 Review (2026)

Who these racks are for

Meal preppers who roast a full tray of chicken, vegetables or bacon each week benefit from placing food on a raised wire rack rather than directly on a sheet pan, since air circulates underneath and helps fat drip away instead of pooling around the food. Getting two racks in one purchase means one can stay in rotation for roasting while the other cools a batch of cookies or bread, without needing to wash and swap a single rack mid session. Bakers who need a cooling surface for large batches, like a full recipe of cookies or muffins, also get more usable surface area with two racks than with just one. Cooks who only occasionally bake or roast may not need a dedicated pair.

Size and sheet pan fit

Each rack measures about 11.5 by 16.5 inches, a size built to sit inside a standard 13 by 18 inch half sheet pan, which is the same pan size most home ovens are designed around. That fit matters for roasting, since the rack needs to rest inside the rim of the pan so dripping fat and juices land in the pan below rather than on the oven floor. The 1 inch rack height gives enough clearance for air to move underneath food, which helps skin crisp on chicken or bacon cook more evenly on both sides. Because the racks match standard half sheet dimensions, they should also fit inside most other half sheet pans already in a kitchen, not only a specific matching pan.

Stainless steel build

The racks are made from food safe 304 stainless steel, often referred to as 18/8 grade, which is a common choice for kitchenware because it resists rust and corrosion better than plated or coated wire racks. The wire grid is described as heavy duty with small, closely spaced openings and smooth edges designed not to snag food or hands when placing items on or removing them from the rack. That tighter grid spacing is different from some cooling racks that use widely spaced bars, and it means less risk of delicate items like small cookies falling through gaps, though it also means more surface area for grease to collect during roasting.

Cleanup considerations

The tradeoff of a tight wire grid is cleanup: after roasting something fatty like bacon or chicken thighs, grease can settle into the small gaps between wires and take more scrubbing than a rack with wider spacing or a flat pan surface would. Soaking the rack in hot soapy water before scrubbing, or running it through a dishwasher cycle, generally loosens baked on grease more easily than trying to hand scrub it immediately after cooking. Because the racks are stainless steel rather than a nonstick coated wire, they can handle abrasive scrubbing pads without the coating flaking off, which is a genuine advantage over cheaper coated racks even if it takes a bit more elbow grease to get fully clean.

Value for a meal prep kitchen

For a household doing weekly batch roasting, having two racks on hand removes a common bottleneck where a single rack has to be washed and dried between a roasting task and a cooling task on the same prep day. The 304 stainless steel construction should hold up to years of oven use and dishwasher cycles without the rust spots that lower grade wire racks can develop over time. Cooks should remember these racks work best paired with a sheet pan underneath to catch drips, since using them without a pan below on an oven rack directly would let fat fall onto the oven floor. As a two pack sized to standard sheet pans, they are a practical, low cost addition to a meal prep setup.

Frequently asked questions