To not heat my dinner plate?

[Jaggy1]

Just a silly one really..

My MIL has been coming to us once a week for a little while now. Every single time we have dinner whether we serve up or she does, even if we get a takeaway she always asks if I want my plate heated? Either with boiling water or in the oven if it’s being used. I just think it’s strange as I’d never do that on a random Tuesday night dinner or anything but she does it all the time 🤣
Also weird that DH never asks or cares for his plate heated any other time but he’ll always have it when she’s here.

Is this a thing? Am I the strange one 🤣
YABU- you religiously heat your plate
YANBU- never heat your plate

My parents always have heated plates. I only do if I’m already using the oven. Unless I’m having peas as they always go cold really quickly

My in-laws do it, my parents don’t, we don’t. I find it odd and unnecessary tbh.

It's nice of her to ask and volunteer to do it. It does help keep food warm.

I sometimes do it in the microwave or on the empty top bit of the oven.

I like salad etc on the plate with hot food so often I wouldn't do it for my own meals as hot lettuce is horrible!

I actively don’t like my plate to be hot, but my mum won’t eat any hot food without heating plates! I have to ask specially for a cold plate at her house 😂

Oh don’t, if I walked too slow with the boiling water for tea it was “cold”
I suggested she just poured the kettle in her mouth once while my dad tried to cover up a snort laugh

I stick mine in the microwave for 20 seconds before plating up. Means the food doesn’t cool down from the cold plate.

I do this 🤣🤣🤣

I like my toast cool so the butter doesn’t melt and make it all floppy…

Never do it. I always have to wait for food to cool down enough to eat, hate food being too hot.

Plates heated to 60°C for everything cooked (includes bacon sandwiches). My Mum used to heat plates in the oven before serving dinner - sometimes they were too hot to touch! We heat ours in a warming drawer and will hold food in there too.

Owned several restaurants over the years - separate warming cupboards for plates and bowls (also cool cupboards for cold dishes and desserts) plus the hot lamps give the food the best chance of reaching the table at the right temperature.

(Yes, we have hot lamps in our home kitchen too! We are a bit obsessive but blame being in hospitality for that!)

I do in the winter if the plates feel cold straight from the cupboard.

My mum used to warm the plates a lot but I assume that is because they didn't have central heating back in the day, so the kitchen could get cold.

I sometimes do in the oven or in the microwave

My DM and DMIL both have asbestos hands and nuke plates before eating every hot meal. Defo generational, apparently because of small ovens and having to cook the meat and let it completely cool while the potatoes etc were roasting. I bought a middle aisle electric plate warmer which comes out if either of them are over for dinner, otherwise I don’t bother

I always do. Dd and I had pizza tonight and I popped the plates in the microwave for a minute before I served up.

My mum (83) always heat dinner plates and every serving dish. Definitely an older generation thing. They lived in a very draughty old house, only one room with a fire, no central heating, single glazed, gran’s face cream would freeze overnight in winter. I imagine it would make sense to warm all the plates while the stove was on back then.

Exactly this. I actually don't like my plate heated but my parents are horrified by the idea of not having a heated plate, so when they visit we heat theirs. I absolutely hate it when we visit them and they give me a heated plate and then serve salad and cold food! **

I literally didn't even know it was possible to heat plates.

If you have a double oven, you can warm them in the smaller top oven. I’d love a warming drawer just for this. I don’t have either double oven or warming drawer so my plates are always at room temperature.

If it’s something with a gravy or a sauce I heat the plate. A cold plate will absorb the heat from gravy or hollandaise or whatever very quickly. Our plate cupboard is on an external wall shelf if quite cold in winter.

I never heat plates!

However, once my MIL was having dinner at ours and said "Fancy not heating the plates!"

Still, it hasn't changed my practise.

My mother is obsessed with warmed plates. "But if you dont, the food will go cold quicker!".

But she is in her mid 70's and it wasnt until she was in her late 30's that she lived in a house with central heating. So on the basis that you are eating in a very cold room, yes it makes sense to keep the heat in the food as long as possible. But these days my parents house is hotter than the surface of the sun....but the plates MUST be warmed.

I do not warm plates which she really really hates.

It’s clearly the older generation thing. Never did it.

Racism?

My DM always wanted hot plates for meals.
And was most upset when I said the kids need their food to cool before eating it, so cold plates please.
I’m not fussed either way, but I don’t heat plates routinely. If I do, I need a board to put my dinner plate on as it burns my lap.

I should add, despite my in-law's shock at me not heating plates before serving, my parents never did. I therefore didn't even think it was a thing.

I think it depends on how your cold your house is. So it’s an older generational thing as if you don’t have central heating your plates will be likely cold enough that it will make a big difference to the temperature of the food.