To ask why this food warmer does not work with our dinner

[birdsareachirping]

This is my DP's food warmer (perhaps not exact same model). But tealights under a grill to keep food hot.

Last night he cooked a haddock lasagne, served it on the food warmer, and commented that the food wasn't hot by the end of the meal (quick eaters, probably about 15 minutes in).

I am not really too fussed myself, but am interested in solving the problem from a technical point of view.

Improving the food warmers performance or adding something that works.

The plates were warmed and too hot to comfortably hold before dinner.

The room was cold but not freezing.

The lasagne was definitely very very hot when it hit the table.

My thoughts are (1) more tealights? (2) insulated/covered dishes?

Maybe the dish was to thick? When I've seen those being used in Indian restaurants the food is in bowls made of thin metal so the heat conducts really well

And they work best with dishes with sauces, the liquid heats up and keeps the solids warmer.

Ah, cheers, those points do make sense: I've only seen warmers used with (generally Asian) liquidy food in those metal bowls in restaurants.

Seems odd that the warmer doesn't come with a note advising this though!

Do you use it a lot? If so it would probably be worth buying a chafing dish with gel fuel instead.

They are quite cheap in the long run, expensive to start with - just check you get the fuel with it, not just the pack to put the fuel in!

Wow, I didn't even think of those There's some very pretty ones out there. DP is fairly aesthetically orientated (and cooks majority of time) so will give him this tip!