Warming drawer

17 years ago

This is my first TG with a warming drawer. Any WD veterans have ideas on how far in advance side dishes can be prepared and left in the drawer? Mashed potatoes - can you do them 2 hours in advance and cover and leave them in the WD?

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Comments (15)

triciae
17 years ago
The manual for my warming drawer says it will hold dishes like mashed potatoes for as long as eight hours & casseroles for six. On "High", it will hold meat, like a roasted chicken, for two hours. I use the warming drawer frequently. I will often cook dinner mid-day & put it in the warming drawer until evening. Also, on the weekends, we're usually away from the house so I'll fix dinner early & put it in the warming drawer...it's ready & waiting when we get home. For things like pies...it's terrific...always fresh warm from the oven. For holiday cooking it's invaluable for holding dishes while I'm cooking something else rangetop or in the oven.

/tricia
kellyeng
17 years ago
Maybe my WD is just cheap but I find that it dries everything out if left longer than 30 minutes. However, I've found my way around this by placing a damp towel on the bottom which creates just enough steam to keep food moist for a couple of hours. I do have to re-dampen the towel occasionally.
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Doesn't it use microwaves to keep the food warm? If so, does that mean you couldn't put a pot in for warming? Just food in dishes? That might be all you need. I have three ovens. The other night, my ovens were full and the tsimmis (root veg and fruit dish) was in my 9-qt. cast iron bean pot on the stove. Various distractions got it started late, and there was no way it was going to be finished on time, so I kept a casserole out and put the tsimmis in the oven until the casserole absolutely had to go in, then finished it in the warming drawer on med-high. You might not have such a big pot full of food to keep warm, but would you ever have occasion to put pots in your warming drawer? Or even foil takeout containers? Do check to make sure they can be used in the MW drawer.
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kitdreamr
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks, up until now, we've only used ours to keep pizza hot!
mustangs81
17 years ago
I have a "dry" and "moist" option on mine. This allows me to keep food warm for a reasonable length of time. Although I've never really had the need to go past 3 hours.

As a suggestion--I went to the restaurant supply store and found 4 warming trays that fit in my WD perfectly. I use it for scrambled eggs, sausage & bacon, breads, and @#*^$. For our annual Family Christmas brunch guest serve themselves.

To give you perspective, I took this picture standing on a step ladder and looking down into the warming drawer.
shakleemom
17 years ago
Tricia, thanks for sharing how you use your WD! What great tips!

Which one do you have?
gbsim1
17 years ago
Shame, shame on all of you!!

I've never felt the slightest need for a warming drawer and now I'm seeing how handy it could be to have one!

I was hoping to do some remodeling on my kitchen next year and really didn't want to redo any of the base cabinets... now I'm thinking it might be worth it!

Grace
shakleemom
17 years ago
I'm ordering my WD tomorrow!!! Yeah!!!

I'd love to hear from more Warming Drawer owners! How do you use your WD? Do you love it? Why?

I love to bake bread. I'm thinking that my forthcoming warming drawer will be perfect for proofing the dough.
mustangs81
17 years ago
ADDITIONAL USES: When not warming something, my WD is my bread/chips keeper. I found a Rubbermaid type storage container, discarded the lid and it fits perfectly as a liner. When I need to use it as a WD, I pull out the container with the breads, chips, and other snacks that are kept in this very handy location.
mrsjack_gw
17 years ago
Mustangs--I would be very interested in knowing the size of your warming drawer. I have one (never used, but I'm hoping that will change)in a new LG stove. I think your idea of warming trays is a great idea and need to know how to measure for the trays. Also, could you tell me what restaurant supply store you use? Thanks so much!!

Gloria
mustangs81
17 years ago
Gloria, Mine is a Thermador Triple Oven. The dimensions are on this link. The restaurant supply store is Louis Wohl & Sons in Tampa.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oven With WD
compumom
17 years ago
I have one too, but of course not as snazzy as Cathy's! ;)

Mine's a Dacor, it's integrated which limited my choices. I like it, but have to remember to use it. I'm not crazy about the timer/or set switch sometimes I forget to turn it off!

I use it when I'm having a party and need to hold something for awhile, definitely when making a bunch of hotcakes or latkes. The other use is to warm a stack of dinner plates. I hate eating hot food off of a cold plate. If I was more organized, I might use mine more like Tricia does, but since I'm not, this is the best it gets!

BTW mine doesn't have a moist setting, but placing a damp rag or a small dish of water inside does the same thing.
mustangs81
17 years ago
Ellen are you kidding?? I would die for a Dacor. First, mine isn't the stainless model; second, I got it half price because the store was moving.
compumom
17 years ago
LOL, yours isn't stainless? This is the only Dacor piece that I have, I think it's a 24", that's the only stack where I had room to locate it. I wasn't impressed with the Dacor ovens, so my ovens are Thermadors- 27" and I love them!
mustangs81
17 years ago
Nope! It's black like the other appliances.
kframe19
17 years ago
The neatest warming drawer arrangement I've ever seen was one built into a steam or hot water radiator made in Victorian times.