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 always warm the plates up, not with a special plate warmer or anything though just in the oven or with a bit of hot water to take the chill off.

Whoever is up first in the morning at the coffee station warms the coffee cups up, too. Otherwise hot coffee in a cold cup...ugh.

We've never actually spoken about it come to think of it... it's just something we do

I cannot eat hot food, so the cold plate helps

I’m not sure it is wholly generational.

For me it’s all to do with what I’m eating.

Eg a bowl of piping hot Dahl no way on earth would I heat anything up as frankly a room temp bowl might cool it enough to start eating.

Things which I want to stay warm but go cold quickly I will do something - eg crepes or warm pitta for dips (I’ll warm a bowl and even wrap in clean tea towel to keep soft and warm).
I also sometimes heat my coffee cup (just swirl of boiling water) before filtering into it if it’s a large cup or milk is very cold etc.
I put flutes in the freezer. Also sometimes bowls if I’ve done a sorbet or similar and it’s a hot day.

Think that’s the only heating/cooling I do. Everything else room temp is fine. I don’t have long distance between playing and eating and I eat quite quickly.

I don't see the point in making a lovely hot meal for it to be cold by the time it hits the table

I don’t either, but my good doesn’t get cold quickly?

The above baffles me to be honest, the only time food gets cold is if it’s sitting there for a while, and if you haven’t come to the table when I’ve dished up that’s your own lookout!

@OnlyHerefortheBiscuits

You raise an interesting point about coffee/tea mugs. My DH is obsessed with hot plates at mealtimes but I have never seen him warm up a mug before bringing up the coffee in the morning.

my partner always, always ,always, heats plates and yes will put the top oven on especially. I have to say though they do come out of our cupboard very cold especially in winter

Yesterday I had quiche with salad and had to remind him I didnt want a warmed plate

I’m another one who grew up with an aga so always had warm plates. Cold plates to me always feel a bit “not quite ready”, because when I was a kid the only time we’d have hot food with cold plates was if someone forgot to put the plates in.

I am too lazy to preheat plates but woe betide me if I don't do it when I am catering for my mother

She also likes hot milk in coffee and will send it back in a cafe if it's cold.

If it's a generational thing then I am proud to be of that generation (am early 50s). It's always hot plates with hot food here - some standards from previous generations are worth maintaining and I'm very grateful to have been brought up correctly (See also milk jug instead of milk bottle, water jug and cloth napkins)

I really want my hot food to be hot while I eat, so I always warm plates.

It’s just horses for courses tho really isn’t it. No one is unreasonable to prefer warm plates & food hot to the end and no one is unreasonable to prefer plates straight out of the cupboard.

I don’t think its old fashioned or new fashioned, it’s just preference.

And by all standards rather a harmless preference either way unless you’re horrid in imposing your preference on others.

Warm plates for hot food ! Cold plates for hot food is not ok ... thems the rules

@Pinkycheeks

Warm plates for hot food ! Cold plates for hot food is not ok ... thems the rules

Not in my house....

We have an Aga so sometimes warm plates because it is of course on anyway. I would definitely warm if they were being taken to the dining room rather than the kitchen table, as the rest of the house is a lot colder than the kitchen.

I couldn't get worked up about a cold plate though. There are other things to get worked up about, like that time my cat gave my 6 month old baby a dead shrew and she sucked it.

Perspective.

You can heat empty plates in the microwave for a minute. Instant hot plates, minimal energy wastage. I can’t imagine turning the oven on, or having space for a special drawer.

As my weather app tells me it is minus 2 c here this am I have taken a mug from my v cold cupboard and done an extravagant and thorough (some might say ritualistic) warming swish of boiling water - lovely cuppa !! Hot hot hot.

Nothing more annoying than being told the plate is hot so you constantly have to catch yourself to make sure you won't burn yourself

Yes, I'm Febo24 and I'm a plate warmer.

Welcome Febo24. Take your time and share what you want. You are (partly) amongst friends. This is (kind of) a safe space. You’ve taken a brave first step.

@LAgeDeRaisin

We have an Aga so sometimes warm plates because it is of course on anyway. I would definitely warm if they were being taken to the dining room rather than the kitchen table, as the rest of the house is a lot colder than the kitchen.

I couldn't get worked up about a cold plate though. There are other things to get worked up about, like that time my cat gave my 6 month old baby a dead shrew and she sucked it.

Perspective.

Ooh that's given me a right old belly laugh. That belongs in the 'cats are dicks' thread from a couple of weeks ago.

But was that shrew still hot (or at least warm), I ask you ?

I feel old before my time! I'm only 42! But I love a warm plate.

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...

This is absolutely my mother...she then complains that everyone else "eats too fast" when she comes to sit down and realises we're all over halfway through our meals.

That said she only heats plates if we have fish and chips from the chippy these days . I think it's as act of rebellion as the first gift my XH ever bought her was a tartan microwave plate warmer

If I'm cooking something special I might give the plates a swish under the hot tap if they're particularly cold but otherwise no...I can't be arsed with the faff of having to handle hot plates, it's a pain.

I can't see the point in warming plates using extra energy. I do put the plates on the oven top in winter though as it's nicer when they are warm.

Depends how hungry I am!
I prefer warm plates, but I'm usually cooking for myself.
Depends also on how I'm cooking

• warm in the oven if I've used it
• use the plate as a saucepan lid for a couple of minutes
• plate in the microwave
• plate balanced on the dualit toaster (I wouldn't try that on a pop up toaster)
• leave plate to sit with a splash of hot/boiling water while I'm cooking