Submitted 3 weeks ago by doug@lemmy.today to [deleted]
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.
are the diners just putting the plates on a burner on low? that feels wrong.
Put it in the oven on lowest setting
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.
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.
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.
Microwave, 2 plates.
Half a teaspoon of water between them, or even a little less.
15 seconds, and already that little amount of water is turned into steam and your plates are hot.
When you take them out, wipe them dry immediately, otherwise they could cool down quickly.
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.
The oven? I never used anything else. Just put on warm and throw them in while making food and also move the food off to as I finish some.
Dig a pit, build a fire there, then once it gets going you cover it with dirt and place your plates in the dirt. Wait about 4 hours and then use a rake to find them. Nice and toasty.
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.
Do you happen to know if most microwaves throw a fit when they’re run while empty/with nothing to heat, or if it just some of them? I feel like i should’ve known that little factoid about them freaking out when running while empty by now.
I’ve never had that happen, but I suppose it’s possible.
Ovens typically have a “warm” setting that can be used to keep plates and food warm, but not too hot to handle.
Put some water on the plate before putting them into the microwave.
Microwave heats water, water heats plate.
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
They use a salamander. (A broiler.)
No, they use plate warmers.
My kitchen does not have enough room to accommodate something of that magnitude. Phooey.
Lol you guys are so innocent.
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.
I put the plates upside down in the sink at let the hot water run over them for a little bit.
Can you use hot water? Or water on the plate in microwave
The microwave works fine, been doing so for years
Options:
I heat my plates up alllll the time.
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.
If you have a grill directly above the oven, put them in there whilst the oven is on. They’ll warm up nicely.
BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
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 or kettle.
In a restaurant, they may just grab a plate that has just come out of the dishwasher since industrial dishwashers are really fucking hot.
doug@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
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.
Nemo@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
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.
potoo22@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
You can also just use a soaked towel or paper towel instead of a puddle of water. Easier cleanup and heats faster.