Warming Plates: How do you do this?

[chefmd]

I warm up plates in microwave all the time, even when it is only for two people.  Not using towels.  So far have not lost a single plate.  About 45 seconds per plate on high, sometimes need to add extra time.  I use a lot of Villeroy and Boch plates and also Fortessa brand plates.

[dcarch]

BTW, make sure your plates do not have fancy metallic gold/silver designs. A few seconds in the MW and you will be crying afterwards.

 

dcarch 

[chefmd]

No silver or gold.  Plain white.  It is all about food, not plates.

[Shel_B]

I warm up plates in microwave all the time, even when it is only for two people.  Not using towels.  So far have not lost a single plate.  About 45 seconds per plate on high, sometimes need to add extra time.  I use a lot of Villeroy and Boch plates and also Fortessa brand plates.

 

Likewise, but always for one or two people.  Takes but a minute or two, depending on plates, etc.

[dcarch]

Likewise, but always for one or two people.  Takes but a minute or two, depending on plates, etc.

 

Do read your microwave manual.

 

Some microwave ovens can be damaged if operated without food or water.

 

dcarch

[Simon Lewinson]

Funny enough, my oven is usually more free than my circulator, so it's typically used for warming the plates!  If both are occupied though, I'll give the plates a quick rinse (just to get them wet) then stick them in the microwave for 30 seconds... you can stick the whole stack in and it works fine.

Totally logical but I absolutely love the idea!

Simon

[paulraphael]

Funny enough, my oven is usually more free than my circulator, so it's typically used for warming the plates!  If both are occupied though, I'll give the plates a quick rinse (just to get them wet) then stick them in the microwave for 30 seconds... you can stick the whole stack in and it works fine.

 

I've done that! works great for a couple of plates but not burly enough if you have more than a few guests.

 

Once when I had a convection/toaster oven with a defective thermostat, I hung onto it after the replacement showed up, just so I could use it as a plate warmer at a big dinner. It's all it was good for it.

[Shalmanese]

Funny enough, my oven is usually more free than my circulator, so it's typically used for warming the plates!  If both are occupied though, I'll give the plates a quick rinse (just to get them wet) then stick them in the microwave for 30 seconds... you can stick the whole stack in and it works fine.

 

You can use a circulator to cook and warm plates at the same time. It seems like it would be relatively rare for a circulator to be so occupied that you can't fit a set of plates in. Plates are flat and don't take up much room.

Edited May 8, 2014 by Shalmanese (log)

[Edward J]

Ummm.... Why not use the dishwasher?

[scubadoo97]

Ummm.... Why not use the dishwasher?

If you have one, that would be an easy choice. Ours come out quite hot. You could just put it on the heat dry cycle to warm them up

[rotuts]

some one is doing some thinking here.

 

excellent.

 

I use the microwave.  there is a thread or something somewhere here on that.

 

make sure you have microwave-able 'china'  thick white stuff from Crate and Barrel works great here.

 

put a little water in each plate and stack.  micro away.

 

if your plates are sturdy enough, and you either use the two time method:  one warms the water and tempers the plates a bit

 

the second boils what little water is left and :   your plates come out dry and hot.

 

dont blame me if you didnt temper that beloved set of Wedding Plates and they did not like the experience in the Micro.

 

but if you do this right  :  right plate(s)  right amount of water  ( you need less than you think )

 

you get a very warm plate that's dry

 

the dry part is for Advanced Students of the Microwave.

 

settle for a lite wipe initially.  and dont use Grannies Gold foiled Wedding Plates.

 

just saying.

 

or plates from France  you know those plates from Brittany.

 

i

Edited May 9, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Fortunately I do not have a microwave.

[oldwhiteguy]

To warm plates, I have been placing smallish sheets of wet-or-dry sandpaper between plates and microwaving them.  The wet-or-dry sandpaper must have silicon carbide grit; that's the black stuff, not the grey or beige stuff, which is aluminum oxide. Some hardware stores carry only aluminum oxide. I use a couple of small pieces - about 6" dia, so as not to overheat the plate rims. For two plates, use two pieces together for about a minute.  For four plates, use a piece between #1 and #2, and one between #3 and #4, for about 1 1/2 minutes. I have heavy plates. Experiment.  A standard sheet of sandpaper is 9" x 11", so you can get three or four heating pads per sheet. Grit size seems to make little difference. I am using 360 grit.  The only downside is that the sandpaper tends to curl after it is heated.  Don't microwave the sandpaper by itself - it could catch fire.

For geeks, silicon carbide (SiC) is a microwave absorber, or what is known as a susceptor.  Susceptors (not SiC) are found in the paper on the bottom of microwave popcorn bags, and in the cardboard trays under frozen pizza, where they cause the crust to brown.  A piece of this cardboard tray might also work as a plate warmer.  I have never bought a frozen pizza, so I wouldn't know.  I don't even like microwaves much, but mine was free.

[Jaymes]

If you have one, that would be an easy choice. Ours come out quite hot. You could just put it on the heat dry cycle to warm them up

 

I tried that a few times back in the day, when I was doing a lot of entertaining, but found it was more inconvenient than it was worth.  I've got lots of ways to warm plates, but only one place to stick dirty dishes when dinner guests are arriving. 

 

A warm oven is the most obvious thing and, in cool seasons, did that.  I found that if the oven was busy cooking something, I could just wrap the plates in a dishtowel and put them into that large drawer on the bottom of the oven.  Or, I set them on top of the toaster oven.

 

Or, my favorite thing, this plate warmer:  http://www.amazon.com/Waterbridge-Electric-Plate-Warmer-Heritage/dp/B009NJ2D0Y

 

I seriously don't know who has their dishwasher empty and available to heat a bunch of clean plates after messing up the kitchen, pots, pans, bowls, dishes, etc., preparing dinner.  I sure didn't.

[quiet1]

I don't often warm plates, but I will warm the serving bowls and platters as necessary. A large room temperature bowl in the winter can suck a lot of heat out of something like vegetables or pasta in no time at all. Yuck.

If I have the oven on and space, I put them on one of the back burners of the stove while I finish cooking, as that area gets pretty warm. Otherwise I just fill with hot water and leave to sit, then empty and dry right before use.

[Martin Fisher]

I pull the racks out of my dehydrator, pack it full of plates, bowls, serving platters, etc.  and crank it up on high....it works like a charm!

[Crouton]

I have used my warning drawer for everything - it's the best slow cooker you can buy. Anywhere from 100F to 250F perfectly stable temperature. Braises, beans, prime rib, oven roasts, chicken stocks - anything that requires low and slow. Oh and it warms plates too all while not heating the house up.  It seemed like a waste of space at first but I have found so many uses I wish I had a second one. 

Edited October 24, 2014 by Crouton (log)

[basquecook]

I too have a plate warmer. It's at the bottom of my double oven. So convenient

[gfweb]

microwave