Holding hot food before serving it

[jsmeeker]

Yesterday, I braised some lamb shanks. I wanted to serve them with polenta. I started to cook the polenta about 30 minutes prior I thought the lamb shanks would be ready. When the polenta was done, I spooned some into a bowl, put the lamb shank ontop, added some braising liquid/sauce, and are it. It was tasty. Lamb was cooked nicely. So was the polenta.

But the timing of this can be pretty tricky to pull off. So, I wanted to talk about how to hold foods prior to serving them. Not just polenta, but anything. There are a few topics about holding specific foods (BBQ, pasta), but no "master" topic. So, here it is. A master topic on how to hold items in the home kitchen. I realize that there are probably a lot of neat restaurant tricks for doing this. Hopefully, some of them can be easily adapted to a common home kitchen. I'll get us started with a few types of foods.

Polenta/Grits -- How do I hold this without them setting up into a solid mass?

Risotto -- Somewhat like risotto. Hold without it getting gluey.

Mashed potatoes -- I just keep them in the pot and stick the pot in the oven with a wood spoon in it to keep the lid ajar. Works OK for a short hold.

Braised meats -- I suppose this should be easy. Just kill the heat so it's not at a simmer? Or take meat out of braising liquid ?

[JBailey]

Jeff

In one of the Modernist threads, I asked a parallel question. If you have a sous vide dish that was finished to 135 degrees F, that is the serving temperature the best I can tell. Yes, you might bring it up a couple degrees when finishing it off with a sear, but I guess sous vide will never have that 'hot' mouth feel. Is sous vide destined to lukewarm serving status?

[bmdaniel]

Do you consider a medium-rare conventionally cooked steak to be lukewarm? Any meat cooked at 135 SV should approximate that in terms of serving temp.

[emannths]

For risotto and other things where the grain can be overcooked, I just cut stop cooking about one notch before it's the desired doneness. When I'm ready to serve, the rice has absorbed a bit more water, making it done, and I just add another ladle or two of broth to get the sauce consistency correct and then add the butter/cheese.

For polenta and other things where you can't really overcook them, I just add hot water to loosen them up to the desired consistency. Maybe it's not perfect, but without a sous chef, what's one to do?

[BadRabbit]

I use enameled cast iron for grits and polenta and find it will hold for quite a while before it starts to solidify.

Risotto is a little more difficult because the danger of overcooking is there. I usually par cook it to within 5 minutes of being done and then finish it off once everything else is headed to the table.

Edited February 28, 2011 by BadRabbit (log)

[jsmeeker]

I use enameled cast iron for grits and polenta and find it will hold for quite a while before it starts to solidify.

Where do you park it? On a low burner? In a low oven? Or are you not using any heat at all and just relying on the mass of the pot plus the contents to hold heat?

[BadRabbit]

I use enameled cast iron for grits and polenta and find it will hold for quite a while before it starts to solidify.

Where do you park it? On a low burner? In a low oven? Or are you not using any heat at all and just relying on the mass of the pot plus the contents to hold heat?

Usually the latter. I've found it gives me 15- 20 minutes of leeway (if it's close to full). I'll give it the tiniest bit of flame if it's going to be longer or it's only half full. You can also put a parchment paper lid on the surface of the grits to keep them from forming a skin (you still want to use the actual lid as well to hold in heat).

[Karri]

For risotto there are a few stages where you can hold it. First stage: Fry the onions, add the rice, fry together, hold ~10 minutes to cook, can be held at this stage for quite some time. Second stage: Add stock, and keep adding until risotto is just about done, hold ~ 2 minutes to finish, can only be held for a little while as said before the grains will soak up, but a good way is to hold before the last ladlefull, likely you wont need that last ladlefull. Third stage: only for if you know you are going to have to wait for a few minutes, but finish the risotto and leave it, when you need it put it back on the fire, take off the fire, add butter and parmesan. Never put risotto back on the fire after you have added the parmesan, most of the times it turns the parmesan in to bubblegum. And sometimes it's even possible to bring risotto that's been finished and left standing for a while by adding just a little bit of hot stock and stirring gently. This last part works sometimes, might be benevolence of the gods.

[Shalmanese]

It's impossible to overcook polenta so just keep it cooking until service.

Braised meat can either continue simmering or be allowed to cool down to room temp and then gently be brought back to the simmer.

What are some good ways of holding vegetable sides? Those are what I find I have the most trouble with.

[Darienne]

This is probably way too simple a solution to anything to be included in this topic, but we tend to use crockpots to keep certain things warm while finishing others, especially when making a plethora of Chinese dishes. If the cook is going to eat with the guests at all while putting on a Chinese feast, then this is the only answer in our home.

[Karri]

What are some good ways of holding vegetable sides? Those are what I find I have the most trouble with.

It depends on what vegetable sides you are referring to, easiest are your broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, mange tout, etc. In the kitchen we blanche them (put in boiling water for a few minutes, depending on veg), and then put into icewater to rapidly cool down. When the time comes, you just heat it up again in some hot water. Greens stay green when you refresh them in the icebath. Take them out of the water pinch of salt, dash of olive oil or melted butter and that's it!

Ratatouille or Pisto or something like that, you just cook it in advance refridgerate it, and based on need you just throw some in a pot with some olive oil or butter, adjust seasoning, and the quality of the product is not diminished by this, atleast I can't tell the difference between fresh or day old. Ratatouille actually tastes better to me when it has had some time to sit and "marinate" in the fridge. Again this is what we do in the kitchen.

[jsmeeker]

It's impossible to overcook polenta so just keep it cooking until service.

Just keep it in the pot on the stove with a really low flame? I assume this means you would need to tend to it now and then and add water to it as needed to keep the desired consistency?

[Karri]

jsmeeker: Alright just tested out the polenta tonight, and indeed it works. You keep it on the flame/off the flame it makes no difference, but when you want to use it again just add some water (we used stock) and put it back on the heat and whisk it until it gets liquid again, and obviously the desired consistency is the amount of liquid you add!

[the old cook]

I do know that with doing sauces, I use thermoses, preheated with hot water, thanwater tossed, hot sauce put into thermos, and it keeps hot until needed. Mashed potatoes, I put in bowl over a pan of very low simmering water, covering potatoes with foil. At last minute, get them steaming hot, add more butter, seems to work.

Biggest problem is asparagus for me..keeping it makes it limp.

[andiesenji]

Risotto and polenta can both be kept over simmering water in a colander lined with parchment

I have one of the heat lamp units that I bought a few years ago at Smart & Final to keep meats warm for a while on a platter or the serving plates.

I have three electric roasters and several slow cookers. When I was catering, I held hot foods in "hotel pans" over simmering water in the roasters for large batches, in the slow cookers for small batches.

There are Pyrex baking dishes of almost any shape to fit these. Rectangular ones that fit into the roasters, round and oval ones that fit the slow cookers.

The latter are good for foods that don't need to be crisp - those need the heat lamps or a warm oven but the heat lamps keep foods crisper. That's why they use them in restaurants.

This is the one I have.

I paid about $150.00 for it.

[ElsieD]

Andie, how long will risotto hold this way?

[andiesenji]

Andie, how long will risotto hold this way?

I've held it for an hour, sometimes more - when folks seemed to be reluctant to leave the cocktails...

[nickrey]

Mashed potatoes can be successfully cooled and reheated over gentle heat without any discernible (to me) change in eating quality. It surprised me when I first saw someone do this but I tried it and it worked.

I also use a warming tray to hold wet foods such as casseroles, stews, and soups. It keeps them over the danger zone but not sufficiently hot enough to continue cooking.

Edited April 3, 2011 by nickrey (log)

[dcarch]

If you are handy with electrical stuff:

1. Get a 1,000 watt 220vac halogen lamp and run it at 110vac (with an plug adapter), you will have a very good warming lamp.

2. Get a 1,000 watt 110vac halogen lamp, wire it up with a rectifier diode to run it at 110vac halfwave, you will have a good heating lamp.

dcarch

[andiesenji]

If you are handy with electrical stuff:

1. Get a 1,000 watt 220vac halogen lamp and run it at 110vac (with an plug adapter), you will have a very good warming lamp.

2. Get a 1,000 watt 110vac halogen lamp, wire it up with a rectifier diode to run it at 110vac halfwave, you will have a good heating lamp.

dcarch

Uhhh. Isn't this like reinventing the wheel? Today's heat lamps use less energy than they did twenty years ago and you don't have to monkey around with them.

Actually you can just buy the infrared bulb and put it into a clamp-on portable lamp, which is very inexpensive. And safe to use.

Or you can get one of the more expensive (but not much) ceramic bulbs that they use in large reptile enclosures.

[dcarch]

“----Uhhh. Isn't this like reinventing the wheel? Today's heat lamps use less energy than they did twenty years ago and you don't have to monkey around with them.---“

The work involve in what I was talking about is very minimal. A set of 1,000 watt halogen work light costs about $50.00 on eBay, bulbs included. Operating incandescent (halogen) bulbs at half voltage or half current will make the bulbs last practically forever.

The infrared bulb you mentioned will work fine as a heat source; however, at 500 watts the bulb should only be put into a ceramic socket, not the clamp-on one you mentioned.

The reptile ceramic bulb probably will not work well because it is only 100 watts.

When it comes to use electricity to generate heat (infrared) by means of electrical resistance (light bulbs), there is no more, or no less efficient way. It is always the same one watt = 3.413 BTU.

dcarch

[andiesenji]

That clamp-on lamp is rated for and sold with 500 watt flood lights and with photography lamps up to 1000 watts.

Edited April 4, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[maggiethecat]

If you're too young to remember the Flying Burrito Brothers, you're too young to remember the Salton Hot Trays. They held everything at a perfect temp before serving, and doubled as plate warmers. I don't think Salton makes them any more, but a little Googling will find you something similar.I'm in mourning still for mine.

[Pierogi]

Mashed potatoes can be successfully cooled and reheated over gentle heat without any discernible (to me) change in eating quality. It surprised me when I first saw someone do this but I tried it and it worked.

...

Somewhere I read, and it was in an expert's works, like Julia's or Ina Garten's (or maybe both) that mashed potatoes can be held in a double boiler over hot (not boiling) water for quite a long time with no loss of quality. Or in a large glass or ceramic bowl over a pan of hot water (to simulate a true double boiler). Just stir them back up before you serve.

If you bake your rice in the oven, rather than cook it stove-top, it will hold for quite some time in the turned off oven, covered. Once recipe I have from Paul Prudhomme says up to an hour this way.

[nickrey]

If you're too young to remember the Flying Burrito Brothers, you're too young to remember the Salton Hot Trays. They held everything at a perfect temp before serving, and doubled as plate warmers. I don't think Salton makes them any more, but a little Googling will find you something similar.I'm in mourning still for mine.

I inherited my grandmother's Salton tray. Still works like a dream.