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Re-Heating food what do you think of this idea???

15 years ago

I am co-chair for the food committee for my daughterÂs high school band program. Last year, I was not in charge, but I helped out quite a bit. In my opinion, the biggest problem we faced was reheating the food on site at the various venues. All we had were chafing dishes Â the cheap wire kind (not sure if more expensive units would make a difference???) The food never got hot enough.

My husband has a 5000w generator and there already exists a home made cabinet for a generator that dampens the noise. What do you guys & gals think about me bringing a microwave or 2 to these events to heat the food and then putting the food into the chafing dishes to stay warm??? Time is usually on our side as we travel and set up long before the kids arrive.

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Comments (7)

colleenoz
15 years ago
I take it there's no electricity on-site. If the food you're planning to serve is microwaveable then I'd think your idea is a good one. The only caveat I'd place is to make sure you have enough microwaves to heat sufficient amounts of food so that you don't have to hold it in the chafing dishes for too long. Maybe do it in stages and replenish the serving dishes many times throughout the meal service time?
User
15 years ago
As long as you can manage the noise should be fine. Depending on what you are serving crock pots could be useful too.
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lindac
15 years ago
sounds like a lot of trouble to me....
I have very good luck with packing hot food into a heavy container and then into a styrofoam cooler. I can keep hot soup steaming for a lot of hours in one of them.
I think a better idea is to take the food hot and keep it that way....or use a propane grill to heat the food.
Linda C
jeri
Original Author
15 years ago
Linda C (and anyone else :-)

I have also read that a good way to transport hot food was to preheat pizza stones (or use unglazed terra cotta tiles which are cheaper), wrap those in pre-heated towels (throw the towels into the dryer just before using) and place in the bottom of a cooler. Then place the pre-heated food on top of that Â also wrapped in heated towels. I just was not sure how long this would keep the food hot enough to not worry about bacteria growing???

Thoughts???
wizardnm
15 years ago
I've used an insulated food carrier when catering. Foods stay at a safe temp 6-8 hrs when put in right out of the oven. No electric needed!

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Insulated Food Carrier
lindac
15 years ago
I have kept soup "burn your mouth hot" for easily 4 hours...in a le Cruset dutch oven, in a styrofoam cooler ( the kind that frozen steaks came in)...newspaper on the bottom of the container so the hot pot wouldn't melt through, then a dish towel over the newspaper, because it somehow seemed un appetizing next to the food, then the pot and a folded towel on top.
There was really no space in my coolers for the Dutch oven, paper insulating and towels for hot bricks.
Try it out and see....get some water boiling in your heavy pot, then pack it as I have described, wait a couple of hours or more and open and see how hot it is. If it's too cool....try it again with added hot bricks or whatever.
jeri
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks everyone! You have been a HUGE help! :-)

Jeri

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