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Warming Plates: How do you do this?

jsmeeker

By jsmeeker
in Food Traditions & Culture

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Crouton

Crouton

Posted
Posted

The oven if it's not being used or the warming drawer if I remember to turn it on in time as it takes forever to come to temp. I have an unfounded fear if heating empty plates in the microwave.

andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted (edited)

I just use a king-size heating pad. I've tried all the other methods listed above but I keep going back to the heating pad.

Mine is like this - I got it at Walgreen's for half price. (17.95) when my old one died after 20 years...

It turns off automatically.

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

dcarch

dcarch

Posted
Posted

Dry plates, 8-10 mins at 1000W microwave, works like a charm. Need oven gloves to take them out

You are probably doing stoneware plates. Some of them can get hot in a microwave.

I just use a king-size heating pad. I've tried all the other methods listed above but I keep going back to the heating pad.

Mine is like this - I got it at Walgreen's for half price. (17.95) when my old one died after 20 years...

It turns off automatically.

The wet towel method, I can stack 12 plates 5 minutes in the microwave.

dcarch

andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted

My good china can't go in a microwave because it has gold trim and it doesn't go in the dishwasher for the same reason.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

HowardLi

HowardLi

Posted
Posted

My cooler. Why? It can have an immersion heater controlled by my sous vide system. While I'm keeping beef warm at 132-135 F, the plates too can be readied.

forever_young_ca

forever_young_ca

Posted
Posted

I just use a king-size heating pad. I've tried all the other methods listed above but I keep going back to the heating pad.

Mine is like this - I got it at Walgreen's for half price. (17.95) when my old one died after 20 years...

It turns off automatically.

What a great idea. Do you simply wrap all the plates in the heating pad and keep them nice and cosy? If you have 12 plates or so do you need to layer the heating pad every few plates to make sure they all get warm?

How long does it take?

Life is short, eat dessert first

andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted

I just use a king-size heating pad. I've tried all the other methods listed above but I keep going back to the heating pad.

Mine is like this - I got it at Walgreen's for half price. (17.95) when my old one died after 20 years...

It turns off automatically.

What a great idea. Do you simply wrap all the plates in the heating pad and keep them nice and cosy? If you have 12 plates or so do you need to layer the heating pad every few plates to make sure they all get warm?

How long does it take?

I just wrap the entire stack - I set the stack half way on the end opposite the cord, bring the pad up over the top and tuck the end with the cord under - everything sets on a sheet of the non-slip shelf lining material but you could use a towel. I turn it on medium till the plates are warm and then turn it to low which keeps them just right. I actually have two pads because if I'm serving soup I also wrap the soup bowls.

I generally set this up hours ahead of time so all I have to do is flip the switch when the time is right. I do set a timer to remind me to turn it on.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

forever_young_ca

forever_young_ca

Posted
Posted

I just use a king-size heating pad. I've tried all the other methods listed above but I keep going back to the heating pad.

Mine is like this - I got it at Walgreen's for half price. (17.95) when my old one died after 20 years...

It turns off automatically.

What a great idea. Do you simply wrap all the plates in the heating pad and keep them nice and cosy? If you have 12 plates or so do you need to layer the heating pad every few plates to make sure they all get warm?

How long does it take?

I just wrap the entire stack - I set the stack half way on the end opposite the cord, bring the pad up over the top and tuck the end with the cord under - everything sets on a sheet of the non-slip shelf lining material but you could use a towel. I turn it on medium till the plates are warm and then turn it to low which keeps them just right. I actually have two pads because if I'm serving soup I also wrap the soup bowls.

I generally set this up hours ahead of time so all I have to do is flip the switch when the time is right. I do set a timer to remind me to turn it on.

I can see a second blanket being useful for platters and serving dishes. My good dishes have a gold rim, so can't go in the microwave. I will be trying this for Christmas dinner. I like the idea that you can set it up ahead of time and virtually forget about it. Thanks for the tip.

Life is short, eat dessert first

OliverB

OliverB

Posted
Posted

Mostly I warm them with the food I put on them ;-)

Other than that I use the oven, but I rarely remember. I like the wet towel in the microwave idea. Not sure about the dry plates in microwave though, as far as I know you're not supposed to run those empty and an empty plate would still seem "empty" to me? Also microwave safe dishes should not get warm at all in there. Check your manual, warm plates are not worth shortening the life of the machine.

"And don't forget music - music in the kitchen is an essential ingredient!"

- Thomas Keller

Diablo Kitchen, my food blog

andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted

You can also get a "heating pad" specifically for plate warming (more expensive - Amazon sells them too)

Like these.

If you need to warm a lot of plates and don't want to use the dishwasher (like me).

You can also use a warming tray. I have several that I used a lot when I was catering and they are often found at reasonable cost on eBay.

I saw one at a thrift shop last month, NEW in original box - $10.00.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

  • 1 year later...
paulraphael

paulraphael

Posted
Posted

Has anyone done this? My oven is often busy and too hot when I need to warm plates. But if there's a tub full of water  between 120 and 185F, either left over or still cooking something, why not drop the plates in? pluck them out with tongs / silicone hot pad, wipe dry, and presto.

Notes from the underbelly

Chris Hennes

Chris Hennes

Posted
Posted

I've done it when I was using the circulator to cook at a relatively hot temperature (e.g. vegetables), but I haven't tried it when cooking meats or seafood. Do you think it would still be worthwhile then?

Chris Hennes
Director of Operations
chennes@egullet.org

KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted

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.

  • Like 2
dcarch

dcarch

Posted
Posted

My plate warming method:

 

One damp hand towel between two plates, stack the plates inside the microwave.

 

Depending on your MW oven power and thickness of the plates, the plates will be boiling hot in no time.

 

dcarch

  • Like 1
gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

I find a single layer of paper towel give just the right amount of water to heat two plates.

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