Hello, all. My wife is a professional baker and has had a hard time finding advice online regarding a problem with baking racks! The friction from sliding metal trays in and out has caused some metal flakes/residue to accumulate. She's worried about any of it getting onto the food, and was wondering how to properly clean/lubricate the rack so as to stop this from happening. Any advice?
I've never had a pan rack actually shed metal just from normal use - my hunch is to say something's wrong; a lubricant would not fix the problem. Metal flakes in the food is serious enough that I'd stop using that rack around food - which I realize doesn't answer the question you asked.
I guess it's not actual flakes? But if you run a paper towel along the inside of the rack where the trays slide in/out, the paper towel comes away with metallic residue. She uses a standard baker's rack and trays.
I suspect it's the chrome plating on the racks. I don't think it's toxic but still, not good to get into the food. There's a fairly lengthy discussion here.
thanks for the link - though it was primarily regarding using chromium-plated grilling racks or baking trays, rather than a baker's rack that isn't subjected to heat, but rather, the friction of inserting and removing trays. Chromium plating is something to look into though, so thanks for this lead!
My wife resolved the issue: applying strips of sticky felt to the baking rack prevents metal on metal friction during insertion/removal of baking trays!