A cooling rack is an essential piece to have in the kitchen. Whether the food is still in a hot pan or already removed from it, a cooling rack will cool it evenly and quickly.
It is not intended to simply protect your countertop or table from a hot object. It is designed to allow air to circulate completely around the hot food or pan. This makes the food or the pan cool down more quickly than it normally would.
A cooling rack also prevents baked items from being overbaked with the residual heat of the pan. The same goes for those that have been left to cool down individually on the rack such as cookies.
Aside from cooling, a cooling rack also prevents the steam from the hot cookies from soaking their bottoms or the cookies placed on the upper tier. It prevents baked products from getting soggy or soft.