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Original poster

Anyone else obsessed with hot plates or is it just my mum?

200 replies

ditalini · 07/01/2022 17:04

My mum is absolutely obsessed with keeping food hot and is convinced that hot food being put onto cold (or even warm) plates will make the food "freezing" in the time it takes for it to be brought to the table.

This caused much angst at Christmas when there was a constant juggle of needing space in the oven/microwave for cooking, and for endless piles of serving dishes and plates to heat up. (I am kind of with her on serving dishes although I wouldn't consider a meal ruined if they weren't red hot)

Both my brother and I have on separate occasions reassured her that no-one in our respective households is bothered by hot plates so if she needs the space she could just heat her and my dad's plates and we would be fine, but to no avail.

Obviously when she eats at my house I make sure her and my dad's plates are hot as this is her preference.

So, what is it with hot plates people? As I stood at a sink of very hot water on Christmas Day dunking plates I really was wondering.

(She also has a thing about pasta going cold and shrieks from the kitchen to eat up before it freezes as I'm carrying plates through)

OP posts:
Kite22 · 07/01/2022 17:27

I wouldn't say I am obsessed, but it is always better to serve hot food on plates that have been warmed. It is very basic physics to know that will keep your food warmer, for longer than if you put hot food onto a cold plate.
As you say - it won't be "stone cold" by the time you take your first mouthful, as you say your Mum has said, but it will be considerably cooler than it need to be by the time you take your last, and, for me that effects the overall quality of the meal.

So yes, I always warm plates (I now have specific plate warmers which makes it easier).

OnTheBenchOfDoom · 07/01/2022 17:27

We heat plates or pasta bowls for food. Just put them in the microwave. I hate the thought of lukewarm food half way through a meal and I am not a slow eater. We also use napkins but that could well be because I somehow manage to slop food down myself at every opportunity.

BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation · 07/01/2022 17:28

My pils never warmed the plates and the food would quickly go cold, especially because they'd have to say prayers and talk about the food for a while before eating.

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MilduraS · 07/01/2022 17:28

I had a boyfriend when I was in my 20s who was obsessed. It used to drive me up the wall when he turned the oven on just to warm two plates up. Equally it drove him made if I served hot food on cold plates 🙄

Thecomfortador · 07/01/2022 17:28

My mum stresses about plates not being hot before serving. I couldn't care less - if food isn't piping hot I can shove it in faster. I wonder if it does stem from when houses were generally colder and it was more important to serve hot food that wasn't already cold.

Bebeschitt · 07/01/2022 17:30

Can I just say that a radiator makes for an excellent plate warmer when the heating is on.
(My mum loves a hot plate too!)

PumpkinCrumble · 07/01/2022 17:30

Me! I drive DH crackers with it. I warm my plate even for stuff like oven pizza…

And yes I get it from my parents who would have the plates warming, while the other nipped to the Chippy on a Friday night.

Longdistance · 07/01/2022 17:31

My fil.
He comes for Sunday dinner and will take his plate to the microwave to heat it up. I leave him to it. I invite him it’s the least he can do. He never cooks us dinner.

PumpkinCrumble · 07/01/2022 17:31

I do eat my food slower than everyone else in the household…so maybe my food has time to go cold!

HaroldMeeker · 07/01/2022 17:33

I'm with your Mum. I hate hot food dumped onto a cold plate. Only time it's acceptable in my house is if its something like chicken with salads. No hot salads! There are only 2 of us though, so it's not a big deal.

flowersforbrains · 07/01/2022 17:33

My Mum is the same.

It wouldn't be so bad but if we go out to dinner somewhere and the plate is cold she will moan on and on about it. It then spoils the experience for me. Sad.

I do stick the plates in the oven when I remember but I'm not going to obsess over it. That is just pure bloody dull.

Gladioli23 · 07/01/2022 17:34

I am not generally bothered about hot plates but some vegetables (e.g. green beans) seem to get extra cold extra fast so I do sometimes put them in a sink of hot water if I remember.

newyear1 · 07/01/2022 17:39

It wouldn't be so bad but if we go out to dinner somewhere and the plate is cold she will moan on and on about it. It then spoils the experience for me.

Ah yes. Along with hot milk for coffee. But her biggest bugbear is portion sizes. If they're deemed ever so slightly on the over generous side, she will boycott the restaurant for good. I'm all for reducing food waste but, now they're a bit older, my parents' appetites are quite meagre.

WellTidy · 07/01/2022 17:39

I never warm plates when I am cooking, but my mum always does. She always, always touches the plate that I give her. She must register that it is cold but thankfully doesn’t say anything.

I have to say - if anyone is cooking for me, I’m just really happy, I don’t mind whether a plate is hot, warm to cold.

maddiemookins16mum · 07/01/2022 17:40

I am your Mum (to a lesser extent). My plates will go into the oven to warm as I mash the spuds.
One of my memories of DD at about 6 and playing house, was hearing her say ‘plates are hot, be careful’ as she served lunch to her dolls etc 😊😊

Kite22 · 07/01/2022 17:41

It wouldn't be so bad but if we go out to dinner somewhere and the plate is cold she will moan on and on about it. It then spoils the experience for me

Odd to make it about you, when it is the fact the service is poor is making her experience of eating out, less than it should be.

ChrissyPlummer · 07/01/2022 17:42

I used to work with someone who always complained his tea wasn’t hot enough, as if it cooled to freezing in the ten foot walk from the kitchen to the office 😁

torquewench · 07/01/2022 17:43

My Mum loves a heated plate. So I bought her a Lakeland plate warmer, it's like an electric blanket for plates. Fits about 10 plates in its folds. So no more bloody faffing aboutneed for oven space.

Plasmodesmata · 07/01/2022 17:43

My mum is the same. Once, the gravy boiled when it hit the plate.
Her marker for a good eating out experience is not how tasty the food is, but how hot the plates are.

PinkWaferBiscuit · 07/01/2022 17:43

No plate warming here and no 9ne has ever eaten stone cold food except the toddler when he dawdles during dinner.

I agree with you OP and the melodramatic descriptions of food freezing upon touching a room temperature plate would really ruin a meal for me.

DisforDarkChocolate · 07/01/2022 17:43

I think its highly likely a plate warmer will be next year's panic Christmas buy. One that warms 12 plates though.

reluctantbrit · 07/01/2022 17:44

@MountainAshley

I don't like eating a hot meal from a cold plate. I like my food to stay hot while I eat. I'm surprised by the replies so far!
Same here. We bought plate warmers high are heated in the microwave and they are a game changer for me. Suddenly I can take my time eating pasta or other food which cools down quickly.

Nothing worse when food gets cold mid-eating.

HardbackWriter · 07/01/2022 17:44

@newyear1

It wouldn't be so bad but if we go out to dinner somewhere and the plate is cold she will moan on and on about it. It then spoils the experience for me.

Ah yes. Along with hot milk for coffee. But her biggest bugbear is portion sizes. If they're deemed ever so slightly on the over generous side, she will boycott the restaurant for good. I'm all for reducing food waste but, now they're a bit older, my parents' appetites are quite meagre.

Oh god, the people who complain if the portion is too big.

Just. Fucking. Leave. What. You. Don't. Want.

MouseyMoose · 07/01/2022 17:45

Yep my mum too, she will put the oven on whilst she goes to the chippy just to warm her plate for when she's back Hmm. Luckily though she has accepted that the rest of us aren't remotely arsed and only insists on doing her own.

cortex10 · 07/01/2022 17:46

We used one of the plug in plate warmers for the first time on Christmas Day - heated 10 plates perfectly.

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