How to Keep Food Warm at a Party

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When you’re hosting a party, keeping your eye on the food is a challenging but important task. Food left to cool not only tastes unpleasant but becomes unsafe to eat due to bacterial growth. Fortunately, keeping food warm is easy thanks to a variety of tools, from conventional slow cookers to heating elements like chafing dishes.

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Choose what you need to make your party a success and, when in doubt, put the food back in the oven for a quick fix.

1 Use a slow cooker if you need to keep a soup, stew, or liquid warm. Plug the slow cooker into a nearby electrical outlet and let it run. Keep the slow cooker at a low heat setting to avoid overcooking the food. It’s a hands-free way to keep food warm while guests help themselves. Slow cookers are the best choice for simmering soups and stews, but they work well for most food.^[1]
- Most slow cookers have a low heat or “warm” setting. Choose the lowest setting possible on your model. Slow cookers will continue to cook your food if you set them at the wrong temperature.
- The downside of using a slow cooker is that you need to have an electrical outlet handy. Make sure you have an open outlet in an out of the way spot.
- A rice cooker is another option for heating rice-based dishes and other sides.
2 Try a portable oven if you need to keep solid food warm. Portable ovens and roaster ovens are an efficient way to heat up foods from meats to pizzas. You need an electrical outlet available. Plug the oven in, then set it to a low temperature, around 200 °F (93 °C), to keep food warm.^[2]
- Small ovens are similar to slow cookers in that they keep food warm at a low temperature. Setting the oven at a higher temperature by mistake will overcook the food.
- Toaster ovens are a good option even if you have a regular oven available. Use them to efficiently reheat or maintain food instead of dealing with a bigger, hotter oven.
3 Use indirect heat from a grill if you need to preserve larger dishes. Using a grill is a great way to keep meat like hamburgers and hot dogs warm, although it works for side dishes like potatoes or casseroles too. Heat up 1 side of the grill to a low temperature. Seal the food in foil to help it retain heat and moisture, then set it on the colder side of the grill so it stays warm without overcooking.^[3]
- Use a thermometer to monitor the grill’s temperature. Heating up the grill too much is an easy mistake to make.
- When setting food on the grill, make sure you use heat-resistant pans and containers.
4 Store foods in chafing dishes to preserve them buffet-style. Chafing dishes come in a variety of sizes, so there are models suited for meat like sliced ham, mixed dishes like paprikash, and even soups. You pour hot water into the bottom part of the dish. Then, you activate the gas canister or electrical…