Keeping dishes warm before serving

I usually cook by preparing components separately over some span
of time, so I can focus on preparing each ingredient in the best way. However
there is often some time between finishing one ingredient and the last one,
which brings up the problem of keeping things warm.

Up to now I used mainly a warming plate, which works fine in principle,
even though it blocks space on the dinner table, and its quite risky if kept on
accidentally overnight while standing on a wooden table.


However I found that it lacks the punch/power I need. Even when putting dishes into
stainless steel containers (as found in restaurants), the heat transfer is not perfect.
So sometimes food is at best lukewarm after 15 mins. I feel the issue is the heat is only
coming from the bottom and is not transported into the containers properly and not retained
there.

So I am looking for the best combination of techniques to make sure,
that every ingredients is served warm-hot every single time.

1. Heating plates beforehand? Which technique is recommended?
2. Instead keeping ingredients warm in the oven? What is the recommended temperature, 60 Celsius
roughly? I don't want to continue cooking ingredients in the oven of course, but just keep them warm.
The problem is this technique cannot be used, if the oven was used for something else, like finishing
meat, at 180C, because the oven has no time to cool down. Maybe I can first use the plate, and
then once the oven reached the target temperature, I can shift stuff from the warming plate to
the oven?
3. Use the WMF warming plate, but in a different way, maybe covering with aluminium foil? But this seems quite wasteful, because I often cook with many small containers.

What are your best techniques?

I've used various methods to warm dinner plates for serving. Most of my ovens have a "warming drawer" under the oven which is what I have generally used.
One can also use their micro-wave. Place damp sheets (of absorbent kitchen paper) between the sheets. Timing is various depending on how many plates you are warming and the strength of your micro-wave.
The draw back to this method is that each plate must be dried of moisture before use.
Keep a tub of very hot (clean) water in the sink (or near) and submerge your dinner plates in there.
Same draw back with this method as with the micro-wave.
Pop the dinner plates into the oven which has been turned to warm, takes about 5 minutes, again depending on how many and/or how deep you have stacked them.
If the oven is being used, after the food has been removed and is resting/settling place the plates in as above.

For the food dishes themselves it really depends on just what I am making as it varies. Before even starting the meal, I calculate how long each cooks, when it will be ready to serve, etc. Something I'm pretty sure we all do anyhow. But at the time I also figure out how best to keep warm. If food is being brought to the table already plated, then keeping them in their cooking vessel works best. If serving at the table then use serving dishes (preferably heavy) with lids work best. - I consider this part of mis en place.
I'm sure others have excellent methods that work for them also.

I bought new Stainless Steel Containers (GN 1/9) now, which are pretty small, and
stainless steel lids, I'll experiment with closing the lids, and then placing a bit of aluminum
foil on top of each ingredient, while maxing out the heating plate.

Thank you for the technique with warming plates in the microwave.

Maybe something like this could be neat: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Navaris-...ab9-bfae-30f954772190&pd_rd_i=B08Y5SQJ26&th=1

I read heating in the microwave might be tricky; and the oven could not be available in
all circumstances.

With the exception of Cast Iron, I find most metals cool very fast. I prefer heavy clay dishes (eg. stoneware) to serve in. I preheat them with hot water, wipe dry, and then add the hot food.
If you are worried about the food on the bottom layer perhaps you can put a rack under the food inside the dish. Won't work with liquids of course but those just need to be stirred every once in a whiile.
What sort of time frame are you looking at before serving?

Yes, those warmers should work very well! Forgot those things were around.
If your warmer for your serving dishes is in the kitchen, you could also cover the filled dishes (once the lids are on!) with a good layer of some tea towels. I don't think the heating plate gets hot enough to be a fire danger. But it would be easy enough to make sure the towels is not touching it anyhow.

Most of the times, it's not a big dinner party time frame, I might
actually just cooking for myself on a weekday night.
I just don't like cooking necessarily in a huge session, rushing me that
all ingredients are ready at the same time.

For instance, I might prepare the meat, let it rest on the warming plate for 30 mins. Then take care
of something else in the household, then 30 mins later I will prepare the
sauce and maybe eat with some left-over potatoes from yesterday.

The problem is with cold plates, and the warming plate, meat might end up
slightly cold, spoiling the experience, same as for vegetables. I am really a bit
puzzled, the bottom of the stainless steel containers is quite hot on the warming plate, but
the heat is sometimes not retained in the food.

Up to now the stainless steel containers had no lid, so I got new ones. Maybe
a bit of aluminum foil + lid will do the trick in addition. Theoretically with a warming plate, there
is always new heat coming from the bottom, so I don't understand how this is still not enough.

It's really a pity, because most of the recipes recently worked out really nicely, just
I don't like that stuff is always slightly cold.

With out a lid the heat just keeps on rising and out the top of the container - while at the same time cold air comes down to replace the hot air going up.
and there you have cold food on top and hot food on bottom.
even your own suggestion of some foil as a lid would work. You can crimp it around the edges to make it tighter.
You will have to make a very small hole, maybe two, to allow excess steam get out.
With your lids, if they did not come with holes, you can set the lids just slightly akimbo to allow the excess steam to escape.

Actually I thought a little bit, and what I would I need really is like a small aluminum plate
of metal, that I can place on the food that roughly matches the container size.

Then I can use a normal GN container but trap the heat directly
between the food and the bottom. Or well aluminum foil, but it generates lots of rubbish. I would
prefer something which I can wash in the dishwasher.

Maybe I don't even need a lid, it makes less sense, then just aluminium foil directly on the
food, cause sometimes I store small quantities like some grilled tomatoes in one container,
and even with lid it might get cold.

Agree totally, lid is the way to go.

To me it's also a bit of mystery my WMF warming plate is technically supplying constant heat of 90 to 110 degrees C from below (via a glass plate) to already warm
food, and it was still cooling out in 20 minutes or say. I think I just need to trap with aluminum foil instead of using a lid even.

This plus the plate warmer should be the way to go. I'll report my experiences.

If you're planning a meal with multiple dishes, you should be planning your preparation so they're all ready at the same time. Stopping to take care of other household matters in the middle of meal prep is sometimes unavoidable but planning your time is a great help.

Yes I am also doing mise en place and
other stuff but once I am cooking I would
not like to stress myself.

So thats basically the setup, let's see

I think this makes more or less the difference; as a previous poster said, the issue was
the contact with air on the food, letting the heat escape towards above.
The plates are actually very warm with this technique
also I can I believe they could be stacked as well up to 4 in this setup.

So that allows me to heat meat/fish in one container, plus up to 3 vegetables/rice
on the side, keeping all more or less warm over time, while I am already cleaning up
the kitchen and use no equipment there.

klagd999 said:

Yes I am also doing mise en place and
other stuff but once I am cooking I would
not like to stress myself.

Click to expand...

You're stressed with the current situation. Meal planning can be difficult but you get better at it after a while. Then your meal components will all be ready at the same time and you can sit down to a delicious warm meal.

Actually, I am doing fine, and happy with the current setup. I cannot say I am stressed, but maybe if
I run a restaurant these things would become more critically important.

klagd999, like you I try to prepare meals in stages. Physically it is taxing on me to stand, fetch and carry an entire meal any more. It hurts.
so I not only have mis en place but I've also prepped everything else earlier in the day.
vegetables are prepped (in bowls of water to keep if necessary) - spices and herbs are measured out and lined up in order of use - (exception being garlic which I peel ahead but crush at time of need). Pots and pans are set out. All this is done at various times during the day.
Come time to cook - I can walk up to everything, turn on burners when needed, drain what's necessary, etc. there's no thinking involved, just doing.
That's on a good day. Trying to make those days happen more often but am only moderately successful.

When using a warming plate I rotate and tuck the bottom plates in between the cooler ones above occasionally.

In a home setting you can run the dishes on the rinse cycle of a dishwasher and the element for drying also keeps plates warm.

Heat lamps are useful also.