Warm serving plates keep a hot dish from losing heat as soon as it touches cold porcelain. Food served on a preheated plate arrives hot and cools more slowly while people eat. At home, the easiest methods are a low oven setting, hot tap water, or the dishwasher’s final rinse. The plate should be warm, not hot; a plate that is uncomfortable to hold can dry out the sauce and burn the person serving it.
Porcelain and ceramic absorb heat slowly but take in a lot of it. When hot food is placed on a room-temperature plate, it gives some of its heat to the plate during the first few minutes; the underside touching the plate quickly cools, and the top starts to cool before the food reaches the table. The loss is more noticeable with foods that spread out, such as thinly sliced meat, sauce, and purée, because they have a large surface area in contact with the plate. A warmed plate prevents this initial heat loss, so the food arrives at the table hot; while people eat, the plate also continues to give heat back to the food.
The oven gives the most consistent result. The 70–90°C / 160–195°F setting used to keep food warm is also enough for plates. While the food waits in the oven, place the plates on the lower rack and leave them there until serving. If the plates are stacked in one tall pile, the ones in the middle warm more slowly, so make several short stacks. Whether a particular plate is oven-safe is a separate consideration; do not use plates that are not labeled oven-safe or have cracked glaze, and do not set a hot plate on a wet counter.
If the oven is full or unavailable, hot water works just as well. Arrange the plates in the sink or a large container and pour the hottest water from the tap over them. Once the plates are warm, drain the water, dry them, and use them right away. Drying is essential: water left on a wet plate collects under the food and thins the sauce. This method is even more convenient for bowls and soup bowls: fill them directly with hot water, empty them just before serving, and wipe them with a cloth.
In a home with a dishwasher, plates stay warm after the final rinse if you leave them inside without opening the door. While preparing the meal, put clean plates in the dishwasher and run a short cycle; when it ends, keep the door closed until serving. This works well for large gatherings because many plates warm evenly at the same time. Check whether a plate from the dishwasher is dry; if the cycle does not include a drying stage, wipe the plates with a cloth.
You can tell how warm a plate should be by touch: it should be comfortably warm and easy to hold in your hands. A plate too hot to hold keeps cooking the food; sauce dries around the edges, delicate foods such as eggs and fish become firm, and the server can burn a hand. For cold dishes, do the opposite: do not warm plates for salads, meze, or cold desserts; chill them in the refrigerator if needed. Warming a plate does not replace keeping food hot; it is the final step.