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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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.
Put them in the oven on low setting?
You can use any temp, really. There’s a pretty good window of a minute or two for being able to touch them. Just don’t leave them in too long and always use a potholder to pull them out just in case.
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.
You’ll just break the plate
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.
Just put them in before you start making the pancake batter, and you don’t need to wait for it to preheat, actually better not to.
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.
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.
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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 by now.
I’ve never had that happen, but I suppose it’s possible.
Put it in the oven on lowest setting
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.
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
Lol you guys are so innocent.
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.
They use a salamander. (A broiler.) Convection heating with the elements on the top of the chamber.
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My kitchen does not have enough room to accommodate something of that magnitude. Phooey.
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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.
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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.
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I need to delete this thread in the event my spouse sees it and gets any ideas.
Maybe a heat lamp?
I need that for my
weedvitamin d deficiency, and my cats hogs it.
I put the plates upside down in the sink at let the hot water run over them for a little bit.
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If you have a grill directly above the oven, put them in there whilst the oven is on. They’ll warm up nicely.
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