In general, I like hot food to be served on hot plates. I realise I’m a little old-fashioned in this: however, it’s something my grandparents believed in as an absolute, and something my parents and in-laws always followed too.
We’re not so rigid as our elders: in the summer in Cyprus we really don’t want anything too hot, so we do serve food onto unheated plates when the temperatures are high. But in the winter it can be surprisingly chilly, so I like my food to stay hot as long as possible.
PRIOR PLATE-WARMING PREPARATION
We already have a kind of mini folding electric blanket gadget which allows us to heat between three and twelve plates quite successfully, so long as we remember to switch it on at least fifteen or twenty minutes before a meal.
But when there are only two of us at home, this isn’t so useful. We can’t warm just two plates, or the device would overheat. And while we could warm a third and just let it cool down again, it feels like a bit of a waste of electricity... besides which, I rarely remember until I’m about to dish up. So, more often than not, I used to resort to balancing a couple of plates rather precariously over simmering saucepans to heat them, then having to dry them before using.
PERFECT PIPING PLATES
Until about a year ago, that is, when we were visiting our son and daughter-in-law. They were busy in the kitchen, then just before we were about to sit down to eat, my son said, ‘Oh! Plates need warning!’
He went back to the kitchen, and about a minute later we heard their microwave beep. He returned with four warmed plates, interleaved with some black circular disks, which were also warmed. On querying these devices, we were informed that they were Lakeland microwaveable plate warmers.
Naturally, we had to have some.
PROCURING PACKAGES OF PLATE-WARMERS
They arrived in December, in cardboard packaging telling us that they are actually made by a company called ‘Waveware’. According to the Lakeland site, they are made of a silicone rubber which instantly attracts microwave heat. That heat is then transferred to the plates by contact. Each one is 15cm in diameter, making them a good size to warm the main, central part of each plate without making the edges too hot - useful when carrying the plates to the table, or passing them out.
PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE PLATE-WARMERS
There was a short instruction sheet inside each package, letting us know the different approximate times for which plates should be heated, depending on the number and the power of the microwave oven. This varies from 30 seconds to about two minutes, and there were warnings not to heat for too long, and not to use plates with even hairline cracks, since the microwave heat could cause them to break.
One plate-warming disk has to be placed on each plate, and then they’re all stacked together and placed into the microwave. This results in plates that are actually pleasantly warm rather than extremely hot, but then my aim is to take the chill off plates rather than to be able to continue cooking the food after it’s served.
Since the disks themselves retain their heat for a while, they can be placed under the dinner plates (on a regular serving mat) to keep them hot for a little longer.
POSSIBLE PERKS OF THE PLATE-WARMERS
According to the package in which the plate-warmers were sent, it’s possible to stack three of them together, to use as a tabletop hot-plate. However, as it does not tell us how long they should be heated for, and since our food is usually in hot dishes anyway, this is not something we have tried.
A further use for these disks is as a non-slip grip for a child’s plate on a high-chair. We don’t have small children any more, but I can see that this could indeed be very useful... if one has a child who wants to use a plate, and who doesn’t like it sliding around.
These plate-warmers come with a three-year guarantee, and it’s claimed that they are dishwasher safe. However, a quick wipe suffices if anything happens to be spilled on them. Moreover, we have not worked out how we could put them safely in the dishwasher, so this is something else which we have not tried.
PREPARING OUR PLATES
That evening, we tried our new plate-warmers for the first time. Two plates, according to the instructions, should take 30-40 seconds on full power. While we can set our microwave timer to anything we like, there’s a simple 30-second button which we use the majority of the time, so we tried that.
The plates were, indeed, pleasantly warm after this time, as were the silicone disks. Since they don’t take up the whole plate area, we could carry the plates through to our dining room without using oven gloves, and very much liked the fact that our food stayed hot while we were eating.
PLATE-WARMING PATTERN
While my husband is not so fussy about warmed plates as I am, he very much likes this system, as it’s so quick and easy. He will often put a couple of plates in the microwave with the plate-warmers just as we’re starting to dish up our evening meal, since it’s so quick and convenient. We’re still using them in April, but will probably use them less as the weather gets warmer.
In the meantime I very much like having my food stay hot rather longer than it would otherwise do.
Highly recommended.
http://wave-ware.com is the site for these and similar products
http://lakeland.co.uk is the site where we bought them
2022 UPDATE
These plate-warmers have proved an excellent buy, and we continue to use them during the cooler months every year. Given that they have no moving parts, and we just wipe them clean if necessary, I assume they will continue working forever. Perhaps the silicon will eventually deteriorate, but nearly ten years after buying them they are just as good as they were when new.
They are still available from both the above sites, or from Amazon. Definitely recommended if you like warmed plates and have a microwave.
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