How To Keep Your Food Hot At The Dinner Table

I can hear you heckling: “Shut up and eat!” Right? And I agree.

But what if your prayers have gotten longer and longer since Junior brought home the news about his approaching young fatherhood?

Grandpa’s hearing is nothing to write home about, anymore. So you repeat your menu announcement over and over until he finally gets it that “rabbit with noodles” has nothing to do with a rabid poodle…

Don’t get me started on “Thanksgiving dinner”!

I saw something today that has me dream of entire requiems for our pre-chow blessings: A dinner plate that actually stays hot for 45 minutes, but only in the center where the food is. The rim is cool enough to handle! (Remember when you tried to pull your enchilada plate a little closer, at the Mexican place, last week? Turned out to be a “blistering move”, baby…)

Honestly, I haven’t bought and tried them, yet. Just saw this today and thought I let you know about it, right away. This seems to be the perfect solution for an old pet peeve of mine: I hate it when food gets cold over etiquette or mindless chatter. Let’s have a look…

Product Description for InstaHot Plates from Amazon.com

* Patented Stefan-Boltzmann Technology, REALLY stores heat
* Really keeps food hot, tested by inventor for over 3 years
* It is still hot even after 30 mins. Rim stays cool for handling
* Requires only one minute preheating in full size microwave
* Delay action releases heat slowly, does not overcook or overheats food

“Heat Retentive Plates will eventually replace regular cold plates; they are a patented technology. This is a real break-trough; the first functional change to a ceramic plate in centuries the whole industry will be impacted even if they do not know it, yet. The restaurant industry will use them; today people expect to be served on a preheated plate, in the near future restaurant customers will expect that their food stays hot while they enjoy. HotSmart plates may even help people to lose weight by simply eating slowly while their food stays hot, you’ll get satisfied with less food (research “eating slowly”). Designed to bring the luxury of eating on a real hot plate at home on a daily basis, but the plates are elegant and appropriate for formal dinners. This “Heat Retentive Plate” was mentioned in El Paso Times, Popular Science and Inventor’s Digest magazines. EXPECTATIONS CHANGE At restaurants people’s present expectations are to be served on a preheated plate but they know it will cool down in 5 minutes; in the near future their expectation will be that the food remains hot while they enjoy and without the danger of burning their hands with the hot rim of the plate; HotSmart plates have a cool rim and do not overcook or over heat your food they use the Stefan-Boltzmann law to release heat slowly (at a controlled rate). You need to see it to believe it, that is the reason they are initially offered as individual units, but customers will be back for more.”

One happy customer wrote this: The plate is wonderful, it does the job just as advertised. The plate comes with instructions on recommended microwave time for the wattage of the microwave. My microwave is 1100 watts so I heated the plate for 1 minute, it was able to keep the food warm for over 45 minutes. A family member is a very slow eater (due to medical problems each meal takes a little over an hour not including dessert) and this plate was able to keep the food warm the entire time. Initially, I was looking for a metal platter/wood tray combo that restaurants use to serve fajitas or steaks to help keep food warm. I saw this and thought I would try it out; I am very glad I did. I think it is much better than the “sizzler” plates since:
1) it keeps food warm for a longer period of time.
2) it can be washed in dishwasher (some metal plates have to be hand-washed).
3) takes up less room in cabinet, do not have the hassle of metal plate and protective outer wood/plastic plate.
4) safer than metal plate since rim of this plate is safe to touch if you follow the instructions.
Plus, it is very pretty and neutral in design so fits with any decor. The only potential down side is that the plate is a little heavy, however, it is still lighter than the metal platter/protective tray combo. I am very impressed with this product and recommend it to everyone who likes their food hot. As I said, buy it and you won’t be disappointed.
A big THANK YOU to the inventor for coming up with this product