Catering Tips and Tricks -Keeping Food Hot

Keeping food hot can be a fairly easy undertaking if you have the right equipment.
For service, there are many commercial chafing dishes available at any restaurant supply.
A Chafing dish is a stainless steel or silver plated container. This container is heated by sterno or other gelled fuels. You can also buy disposable chafing dishes at stores like Smart & Final for about $15.00.

Another more classy way to keep food hot is to do it in the kitchen and send it to the table on platters. Of course this is more work for you but it really pays off. It is a much cleaner look and unlike chafing dishes, you can garnish platters.

Keeping food hot in the kitchen is another story entirely. Depending on the size of your event and the amount of people you have will affect how to proceed. For small parties, it is best to heat the food as needed. For larger events you are going to need some equipment. There are really 2 ways to go. For around $160-$180 you can purchase a thermal container from either Cambro or Carlisle. These “hot boxes” are nice because the hold either hotel pans or half sheet pans. They use the heat of the food to keep it hot. You can also add ceramic heating blocks to insure even heating. The other option is to rent a “transit box” from you party rental company. These are tall cabinets that hold many full sheet pans. Simply put several Sterno cans in the bottom to generate the needed heat.

Some important points to remember are:

• Keeping food hot sacrafices freshness. Make it to order whenever possible.
• Heating serving platters in the oven will keep hot food hotter for a longer period of time.
• Thermal hot boxes tend to "steam" the food and it will continue to cook. Don't cook the food all the way and allow for this "residual cooking"