How to keep appetizers hot at a dinner party?!
How to keep appetizers hot at a dinner party?
I'm serving both cold and hot appetizers at a party for my husband. Are there any tricks to keeping the hot appetizers from getting too cold - so even late party guests can enjoy them?
Answers:
Keep 1/2 in the kitchen in the oven and keep the oven at 100 degress so that once all the guests arrive pull out the fresh hot appetizers for all to enjoy
buy a sterno can and put food in a pan over the can. A small sterno will heat the dish from underneath to keep the food warm but not hot so they dont burn
You need a warmer tray utilizing a sterno heater and an aluminum tray. They are available at rental stores at low cost and are reusable.
put them on a electric hot plate
you can get them at Kmart for about 20 bucks
Keep the appetizers on a detachable metal tray that you can keep in the oven at a low heat. Put the metal tray on a larger serving dish when serving. It will make them look more impressive and make it easier to restock and serve. When putting the tray down at a table, take the metal plate and put it on a foodwarmer - either an electric plate or a simpler candle burning solution.
one of those little trays with the fire things warming them underneath
You want a chafing dish (also known as a sterno), which will keep your hot appetizers hot for as long as the sterno fuel is burning (about 1 hour per can). They can be found in many stores.
I found mine at Bed Bath & Beyond and it's very nice for an affordable price. The pan is divided so you can have two different appetizers in the same dish. Their Web site doesn't feature my particular dish unfortunately (but it does show some REALLY expensive ones).
If you have a BBB store in your area, I'd still check it out as my purchase may be an in-store only product.