i recently learned you’re not supposed to run a microwave with nothing in it/it can fry itself broken.
but i want to heat up a plate to help keep the pancakes i put on it warm like they do in diners. putting just a plate in my microwave causes it to start freaking out 'cause i guess there’s not enough stuff in there to absorb the energy(? this is what google tells me).
are the diners just putting the plates on a burner on low? that feels wrong.
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Restaurants either are giving you plates straight out if the dishwasher or they have a plate warmer. Professional plate warmers will warm a few dozen plates at a time and cost $1k USD. You can get crappy versions for the home for like $50.
If you have a grill directly above the oven, put them in there whilst the oven is on. They’ll warm up nicely.
They use a salamander. (A broiler.) A sort of oven with the heating elements on the top of the chamber.
No, they use plate warmers.
My kitchen does not have enough room to accommodate something of that magnitude. Phooey.
Do you have an oven?
I do, and I’m learning from this thread that that may be my solution.
Now to learn about what makes a plate oven-safe, though I’m sure it’s fine at the lowest temperature.
Assuming the plates are ceramic, there should be zero issue. Same with glass.
I wouldn’t put plastic, melamine, or paper in the oven simply due to the possible disastrous fallout were the temperature somehow set too high by accident.
I appreciate your clarifying what shouldn’t be put in the oven given the context of the community we’re in.
Plus I may have, at some point in my life, put a plastic (electric) kettle on a burner when my parents asked me to put the kettle on.
…I should probably be dead by now.
As a danger to yourself and others, you should put up a sign that says “Beware of Doug.”
Maybe a heat lamp?
I need that for my
weedvitamin d deficiency, and my cats hogs it.
Put them in the oven on low setting?
but that’s so much woooork though! for slightly-warmed plates! i gotta wait for it to heat up just to put a plate in there? my time is too valuable for such lengths!
…bah, this is probably the right answer.
I just put them in, set it to 150 (lowest it will go), and set the timer for like 3 minutes. At that low of a temp, it really doesn’t take long to warm the plates. If you’re really in a hurry, you could move the top rack as high as it will go, put the plate there, and set it to broil for 1-2 minutes.
That’s a dangerous suggestion lol. Broil settings get really hot really fast
Hey, I can wait 3-4 minutes at 150. And they’re not my plates lol.
You’ll just break the plate
Microwaves work by using, well, microwaves to rotate polar molecules very fast, causing them to heat up. Like spinning a magnet around your food thousands of times a second. Normally it rotates and heats water in most foods. Soak a towel or paper towel in water, put it on the plate and heat it up.
Bonus: metal can’t hold on to their electrons, so instead of the molecules spinning, the electrons rotate through the entire metal, which is why there can be electrical arcs if you put some metals in the microwave.
If you’re to the level of warming plates in your pancake game, those must be some kickass flapjacks.
Flappy flabby fatbastard fluffy flapjacks, ferda.
Our preferred way of doing this is have a pot of near boiling water with the plate on top next to the pan I’m baking the pancakes on. Pile the pancakes directly on the plate.
This keeps the plate hot and maintains the temperature of the bottom pancakes while you’re making a larger batch. remove the plate carefully after baking, wipe the bottom of the plate dry and put it on the table. Hot pancakes for the entire meal!
This is for dutch pancakes BTW, no clue how it would go for American or other more fluffy pancakes.
I put my oven on low when making pancakes to keep them warm until I finish a batch. I guess there’s nothing stopping me from adding empty plates in there before serving.
I put the plates upside down in the sink at let the hot water run over them for a little bit.
Put it in the oven on lowest setting
In restaurants they keep plates warm under heat lamps. Microwaves don’t actually transfer heat the way heat lamps do. They heat things up by “vibrating” the molecules (it’s more complicated than that, but that’s the idea). Things with less rigid molecular bonds (like liquids) tend to heat faster because the molecules can vibrate more readily. Using the microwave dry can potentially damage things because there isn’t anything to absorb the microwave energy.
There are actual devices that house dozens of plates at a time and keep them warm. They are called…plate warmers.
If you want to use the microwave for this, pop in a plate with some water, then heat it up for 1-2 minutes, take it out with something that doesn’t absorb water (or the hot water will wick through the material to your hand and burn you) dump the water in the sink and quickly wipe with a dish towel to dry before using.
Other methods include warming it in an oven set very low, or heating it in hot water from a sink.
In a restaurant, they may just grab a plate that has just come out of the dishwasher since industrial dishwashers are really fucking hot.
In a restaurant, they may just grab a plate that has just come out of the dishwasher since industrial dishwashers are really fucking hot.
I guess part of me knew this was the real reason the plates were hot and not because the diner warmed them up for me.
Diners put food on a special counter called a “pass” that has heat lamps above it. This keeps the food warm, and the plates warm. Keeps the counter warm, too. A lot of them store plates above the pass, an area that’s also pretty warm all the time.
Some have heated shelves or dispenser thingies too
Usually what I do is put the plate in the oven towards the end of whenever I need to take food out so it heats up a couple of mins or so then take everything out. Use oven mitts in case you left the plate in there a bit too long.
You’re right the cold plate sucks out a lot of heat! I sit them in hot water and dry them off before putting the food on
Options:
- Very Wet paper towel on the plate, microwave the plate for 30-60s
- Heat it up over a flame, a ways away (ie. Butane torch under it, but like 12" away)
- If you have a small countertop over or air fryer/toaster. Heat it up in there briefly
- If you’re making toast, place it on top of the toaster (not too long, it can still break).
You can also use an oven, but that’s a lot of air to heat up for just a plate. If you’re already using it though, that’s a win.
I heat my plates up alllll the time.
