Chicago Metallic Professional 6-Shell Baked Taco Rack. Pefect for baking, filling and serving, 15-Inch-by-7-Inch, Grey

The description is adequate. You get a well-enough-made, non-stick, taco rack that makes four tacos at a time. It is pictured upright. The price is not bad for a specialty item but would be far cheaper if everybody wanted one. I expect it to last many years but it's not heirloom quality. I've just ordered my second rack and may order a third to make enough for parties. I had to play with my method as I wanted no oil. The biggest trick is getting your tortillas flimsy enough to rest on the rack without cracking. This works best for me: * I'm using regular sized corn tortillas (35 calories no fat each). * Individually steam the tortillas for just under a minute (I use a bamboo steamer). Microwaving did not work for me. * Use tongs to transfer and place on the rack. * Bake at 350 for about twenty-five minutes (rotate rack half-way through for even cooking). I live at sea level in very low humidity. Other instructions suggest shorter cook times at higher temps -- my burn frequency increases when I cook faster. * Tacos get shaped by the rack but don't stick to the rack. * I bake tortilla chips while I'm at it. Cut the tortillas into wedges, sprinkle with whatever (lemon pepper is my current favorite) and spray with white vinegar to make the pepper stick. I suppose you could spice up your tacos the same way. The result is a very crunchy, healthy, no fat taco. They are also slow to absorb moisture.

Purchased three racks so I can do 12 taco shells at a time. Extremely well made racks that, with a little care, should last a lifetime. They do take up a lot storage space but have room to spare. Prior to purchasing the baking racks I have baked corn tortillas flat for about 10 yrs so have a lot of experience. They can come out really dry and tasteless. Over the years from experimenting here's what I do for cooking. Spray uncooked tortillas with a tiny amount of vegetable oil spray and sprinkle with a shake of salt (optional to add flavor mainly). Wrap the sprayed tortillas in paper towels and microwave for about 1 min. This is to steam the raw tortillas and make them soft and pliable. Take the microwaved tortillas and place across the room temperature baked taco rack. Make sure the tortillas are balanced or they may slide off the racks during baking. Bake in convection oven set to 325 deg. (actual) for about 20-25 minutes (each oven is different so experiment). Remove from oven when golden brown and immediately take off the racks to cool. Found in my tortilla baking experiences you want the cooked tortillas to be browned for flavor at the same time all moisture is removed. Too hot a temperature with shorter baking times may turn out chewy tortilla shells (browned but still have moisture). Too cool an oven with longer baking times will produce dehydrated tortillas but with no browned flavor. So experiment with cooking times and temperatures.

This perfect for anyone baking homemade tortilla taco shells if your oven racks won't do the job. you just have to hack it a little. Its really slippery so the tortillas slide right off before they can mold into shape and stay in the saddle. I don't know why they made it non-stick but they did. Oh well. That's the reason its 4 and not 5. Solution? Lay something oven proof but light across the top of them for the first five minutes of baking till they wilt and harden up a bit. I use some small stoneware saucers. Man, the guys who returned or threw theirs away cuz they couldn't cope really lack imagination! Hope yer more adaptable when the zombies come.

I'm a great believer in doing something if it saves money, so when I found a recipe that appealed to me that called for the use of taco shells I went to Amazon for something that would allow me to bake my own Tacos. We can bake them when we need them and we don't have to pay a higher price for pre-formed Taco shells. We get fresh, unbaked Tacos in a local Hispanic market for a very reasonable price and store the unused portion in our refrigerator eliminating having to store the remaining pre-formed shells in the pantry (a potential source of insect infestation). Going to Amazon allowed me to review all the taco baking devices available and finding the most practical one for us. It allows us to bake four at a time, just the amount we need; and coming from Chicago Metallic, we know it is a quality item. It also allow us to bake them to perfection to where they are just flexible enough to eat from and not have them break and crumble in our hands, making a mess at the table. With all these benefits, we will never buy store-bought, pre-formed Tacos, ever. Become believers, buy one of these and be happy!

So I can make taco shells and this is an easy to clean and durable item. 3 Stars. The reason I can not give it 5 stars is because it is quite difficult to get the tortillas to stay in place. They also non-stick and can slip right off the rack. This is further made difficult because I am trying to deal with this problem in a hot oven that is only losing heat as I try to get them to stay. This rack has no other purpose so it should have bumps or ridges that solve this problem. I'm certain there are tricks and hacks to make it work better, but it should do the one thing it is designed for without additional aid.

Great product. After you bake your shells, flip the rack over and it becomes a 4 taco holder. No more fumbling, trying to make tacos that just half empty out when you lay them down on your plate. It also keeps them a little warmer after you make them as the rack is still warm. Easiest to use on a cookie sheet, for baking AND serving. I'm going to order more of them and give them for gifts. It also works great for heating hard shells too! Old El Paso Jumbo shells fit the best. Pre-Heat the rack for a minute and bake 8 min @ 325, the shells are crisp and don't crumble as much when eaten.

We followed directions exactly (preheated corn tortillas in microwave with damp paper towels), but all the tortillas remained almost flat and unfoldable and when we tried to put them on the racks they just slided off!! We tried bending tortillas, but they only broke. We tried spraying tortillas with butter spray, but that made it worse. I was going to buy a steamer, but seemed expensive just for tortillas. Then I googled how to steam tortillas. Easiest method THAT WORKS is to put slightly damp paper towel on plate, add stack tortillas then put another damp towel on top. THEN put ANOTHER same size plate upside down over all. Microwave 45 sec to 1 min and NICE SOFT TORTILLAS that DO LAY OVER the racks. I haven't tried cooking them yet, but at least there is now a chance this may work.

I saw conflicting reviews on these and now I can tell you why. When I first got them, I would have given them a one-star rating because I had the same problem lots of people had. The problem was that the tortillas don't fully fold over the bends and as they heat up in the oven they fall off and slip between the cracks. This thing seemed useless. But then I experimented and figured out what you have to do to make them work. The instructions I read for "steaming" tortillas was not enough. You have to get your tortillas soaking wet and heat them way up in the microwave. At this point they'll be slimy. You're basically reconstituting a wet tortilla from a dry one. Don't even bother brushing any oil on them or anything. Then you just slap them on this thing. It will be immediately obvious that they're sticking to the thing and they're going nowhere. They won't budge as they heat up in the oven, either. Since the tortillas are so wet, you'll have to bake them longer. Don't be afraid to leave them in the oven a little too long. If you take them out too soon they'll be chewy. One time I left them in so long they turned brown... and they were DELICIOUS.