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7QT Chafing Dishes for Buffet
Backyard & Outdoor Living

7QT Chafing Dishes for Buffet

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$69.99
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Seven quarts instead of the usual five is about thirty percent more food in the same footprint, and what it actually gains is fewer trips to the kitchen. A 5 qt pan of anything popular needs topping up halfway through a buffet; a 7 qt pan generally does not. The rest of the design follows from being used two or three times a year: tool-free stands that lock in seconds, pans that nest flat inside each other, and a water pan that takes ice as readily as hot water.

Capacity
7 qt each, 2 pack
Build
Stainless steel, glass window lid
Heat
About 8 hours
Setup
Tool-free, under 30 seconds

How it lives in the room

Hot water in the pan first

A chafing dish is a steam cabinet, not an oven. The water pan goes in hot, the fuel canister keeps it there, and food that arrives already at serving temperature stays that way for hours. Cold food set over a cold pan never catches up, and the fuel burns out trying. Boil a kettle while the stands are being assembled and the whole thing starts correctly.

Count the fuel canisters, not the pans

Fuel is not included, and each pan burns its own. A four-hour canister per dish for a lunch, two each for an evening, and one spare because a canister that will not light is discovered at the worst possible moment. Work the total out before the day rather than on it: the eight-hour heat figure assumes a flame is still going underneath.

Then put ice in the water pan

The same pan that holds hot water holds ice, which turns a chafing dish into a chilled server for salad, shrimp or dessert. There is no fuel involved and no adjustment to make. One pair of pans therefore covers both ends of a buffet, which is worth knowing before anyone goes looking for a separate cold platter.

Before you order

The lid is steel with a glass window set into it rather than all glass, so checking the food costs nothing in heat. It also means the lid is heavier than it looks and wants two hands when the pan underneath is full.