To serve hot food on cold plates?

[PerspicaciousGreen]

I've been chuckling my way through this thread and the desire for hot plates thing keeps cropping up: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/1651633-Omg-such-anality-from-pil-Come-and-share-your-anal-behaviour-stories-lighthearted

My parents got a new kitchen and had a special plate warming drawer installed in their oven. For the two of them. They put it on every night to preheat the plates before they carry them two steps to the kitchen table. Before that, they used to turn the whole oven on to heat the plates! My mother thinks hot food on cold plates is "disgusting", which is one of the reasons they are no longer invited round for meals if we can help it. (Believe me, there were many other complaints, it wasn't just that.)

But the reason they need to warm the plates is because they piss about so much between dishing up and eating! They've got to clean half the kitchen, load the dishwasher, wipe the counters, lay the table, wash their hands... Whereas in our house it's out of the pan, onto the plate, sit down, start eating.

They also distribute microscopic portions of food across enormous plates. They could practically just eat off side plates but have the most enormous dinner plates John Lewis could sell them. We have smaller plates and bigger portions so the food keeps itself hot.

I cannot be the only person who thinks it's actually more disgusting to use good energy to heat up plates every single night when it's your own fault the food gets cold.

We heat plates for some dishes, we got microwave thingies which double as pot warmer afterwards. Takes one minute for the three plates we have. Only the center of the plate is heated, so no worries about touching the side of a plate to carry it.

Despite all new walls and floors our kitchen can be icecold in winter and plates and bowels are cold in the cupboards. Not nice.

I absolutely hate cold-ish food, I only put tiny portions on my plate for example with pasta, because I gag when hot food is not hot anymore.

I started eating really fast and felt ill and bloated after dinner. Now we relax, eat, talk and I don't worry about food. Also, all serving bowls are on heater to keep especially veggies hot.

If I have a side salad it goes on a side plate.

Plate-warmer here. They're icy straight out of the cupboard, and in the three minutes it takes to serve everyone, the food often goes quite cold! Generally stick the plates in the grill over the oven where it's warm.

When I first moved in with ex he always used to warm the plates. First time he asked me to set the table he was horrified I just took the plates out of the cupboard and put them on the table.

It’s was one of my many failings as a housewife.

I always see this as a generational, I’ve never heated a plate on my life, the hob does have a plate warming function but I’ve never used it. I always associate it with grandparents and restaurants.

I always warm plates but I'm probably very old fashioned. I don't warm them if salad is part of the meal though.

I warm the plates of we are having a takeaway in case the food has started to cool. I do it by pouring boiling water from the kettle on them.
That’s the only time though and it’s a special occasion in our house.

I get the warm plate thing. I definitely prefer my food to be piping hot than warm. Used to pour boiling water from the kettle to warm up baby bowls to keep the small portions warmer for longer. We do have a warming draw which we use to keep food warm rather than plates as I can't be bothered to turn on just for plates.

I put them in the microwave to heat up.

Salad goes on a side plate.

For the five of us I don't heat plates but for large family meals at Easter or christmas where I am serving 12-16 then yes I preheat the plates. I load them in the dishwasher on a 14 minute cycle 20 minutes before I want to serve. That way they are dry and hot while I'm dishing. And if there is a delay when my husband can't find the right slotted spoon out of five identical ones then it doesn't matter so much. I also keep my gravy HOT and a ladle over the food is the last thing to do. That's for a roast dinner. For anything like curry/chill I've got a 3 dish Baine Marie and a rice cooker.

I trained in a commercial kitchen in a 100 seat restaurant and even though it wasn't exactly posh, we were taught that plate warming is good practice and reduces the likelihood of complaints about cold food. Makes sense. It's much further from the kitchen to the table.

I hate hot food on cold plates. Veg, in particular, gets cold so quickly. I just shove mine in the oven for a minute or two after I've turned it off, though. I have Denby so they can tolerate that but some might shatter if subjected to such high heat.

My plate cupboard is on an outside wall & in winter the plates are really cold. I pop them in the oven whilst I cool the toddlers food.

I hate freezing cold plates with hot food.

I prefer a warm plate, but I eat quite slowly (I'm invariably the last to finish regardless of who is at the table), a warm plate stops the food being cold by the time I get to the end of my meal, we mostly just put food on the table and people help themselves and the serving dishes are always piping hot. DS gets a cold plate to help his cool down.

Another one here where I have never warmed a plate.

This is my point! How long does it take to put food on plates and walk to the table? I can dish up for a family of four in about a minute and a half.

I don't put food on plates for people. Everyone serves themselves, there's six of us it can be a while before we start eating.

Never do it, it's a pointless waste of time imo and quite dangerous when older relatives insisted on doing it for small children.

I never warm plates but now I really want a plate warming drawer.

My ex ILs heat their plates in the Aga darling and are quite shocked that I don't.

No plate warming here, despite the odd grumble of dissent from DP. He knows not to push it though, as I cook all the meals for all the fussy bastards in our house. Warming their fecking plates as well would be a bridge too far ...

I will concede it's different at e.g. Christmas when it's a lot more food for a lot more people and at least some is in serving dishes. But I'm talking two people in a centrally heated house eating their everyday dinner.

If we have a takeaway and are worried it's a bit cold, we put the food in the oven (and will chuck the plates in while we're at it).

Yes, it's slightly old fashioned. For a combination of reasons.
Houses used to be colder. I've noticed my food cooling recently eating in gardens chillier than normal. Because no indoor mixing here outside of your bubble.
Meals were more formal, probably with more people, so serving took longer.
The type of food being served dictates how necessary a warm plate is. With a roast or meat and two veg meal, a hot plate stops cold, gravy. The warm salad I've just served up a cold plate works best.
It's a formality/ hospitality/doing things properly thing.
I will do it in certain circumstances. Dishing up lots of different dishes for a roast things can start to get cold.

This is my point! How long does it take to put food on plates and walk to the table? I can dish up for a family of four in about a minute and a half.

Yes but how long does it take the eat the meal? If we're eating as a family, talking, waiting for people to start after being called for tea etc, the last morsel of food might have been on your (cold) plate for fifteen minutes until it goes in your mouth. Veg in particular goes cold really quickly if you serve onto a cold plate. It's just nicer!

I'm early 30's but still heat plates (not to unsafe temperatures though), unless it's soup or I'm in a hurry and want something to cool quickly so I can eat in a rush. I've got DH doing it as well now, he used to be really anti-plate heating but now I see him sticking plates in the microwave for 1 minute to "take the chill off" any time he's cooking tea.

I warm plates because I want to keep the food hot. It's a bit daft to suggest that a house with a temperature of say 23 or even 30+ degrees is equivalent to the temperature of hot food.

We warm plates here. Not to the extent of my mum who bakes them so long a cracked plate is a real risk. But warm enough that the food stays warm to the last bite. If food is meant to be hot I can't bear it cool, whether it's meat or veg. Even chips. Daughter likes hers cold though and that's ok too.

Warming plates makes sense if people are serving themselves at a leisurely meal (or being served at a restaurant) where there will be a delay before everyone is ready to start.
They are not needed at a family meal where everything is slopped out quickly in the kitchen so it's already plated and ready to eat.

I grew up with my parents being a obsessive plate warmers. They had a hostess serving thing that got used at Christmas to put food in to keep warm and there was a plate warming bit at the bottom.

I do not heat plates now, and I think they get a peeved when they come to visit. But I'm a stubborn bugger; my house my rules

Only when we have guests.