A quarter sheet rack is designed to hold quarter-sized baking sheets, which typically measure 9 by 13 inches. These racks are invaluable in a variety of cooking tasks, from baking cookies to roasting vegetables. Their design allows for optimal air circulation, ensuring even cooking and browning. This is particularly important for bakers who wish to achieve the perfect cookie crispness or for those roasting meats and vegetables to maximize flavor and texture.
For foods that require a hot sear, like a steak, or that take a long time to cook through, like a bone-in chicken breast, you'll want to build a two-zone fire. Arrange all the lit coals on one half of the grill's lower grate. That creates a searing surface over the side with coals, and an indirect cooking area on the side without. With either method, add coals continuously every 30 to 60 minutes to roughly maintain the quantity that you started with.
When to close the lid. There's no hard and fast rule about when to use the lid, so you'll need to take clues from what you're cooking. Generally, most foods that cook quickly, over a single-zone fire, can be cooked without the lid in place. You'll want the lid for foods that take longer to cook because it helps trap hot air, producing indirect convection heat, which cooks foods through without scorching the surface from direct contact with flames.