what are those buffet warmer things people use at parties?!

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They are chafing dishes and you use fuel to heat the food. It is called Sterno. Sterno is available at most major supermarkets. You can rent chafing dishes from party supply stores or from a caterer. Depending on where you live, you can buy them from restaurant suppliers, department stores, Costco, or Sam's Club. Chafing dishes are available in smaller, elegant, home buffet sizes used with Sterno all the way up to multiple compartment, multi-quart size electric styles. Google "chafing dishes" and you will find all you need to know, including where to rent or buy either in your city or on line. If you plan to use it often, it's worth the investment of buying over renting. There are scads of them on Yahoo and eBay.

They're called chafing dishes. You can buy them at Smart & Final or many different stores or rent them from party supply stores.

it's a chafing dish, I sort of collect the fancier varieties as every time I throw a party I'm finding I 'need' another one!
Specialist home wares stores often have them, I'm partial to the ceramic ones myself.

If you want foil then they are not called chafing dishes they are foil pans. The flame underneath is called "Sterno". You can find all of these at Sam's Club or Costco.

They sell them on the Sears website for cheap. Here is the link.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/search_10153_…