Maximizing Your Meal Planning With Warming Drawers

Posted on: 22 September 2015

With the holiday season approaching, it's time to start thinking about optimizing your kitchen for the large family gatherings. If you want to be able to host the holiday meals this year but don't have the capacity to cook and reheat everything easily, you might want to think about having warming drawers installed in your kitchen. Oven warming drawers are a convenient addition to any kitchen, but especially one where you spend a lot of time entertaining and cooking meals for large groups. Here's a look at what you should know about warming drawers and your kitchen.

What Can You Use Warming Drawers For?

Warming drawers can serve many different purposes, not the least of which is a great space-saver during large holiday meals. If you need to make those casseroles and other dishes first thing in the morning before the turkey is ready, you can keep them warm until dinner time by storing them in the warming drawer.

Another great feature of warming drawers is the ability to keep dinner warm and ready to eat when you have a family member who's working late. This is especially convenient for families with young kids who need an early dinner time. You can have dinner ready for the kids when they need to eat, then keep a plate warm for that family member who comes in late. These drawers will typically keep foods warm for several hours, making it easy for everyone to have a hot meal.

Why Should I Get a Warming Drawer if I Can Reheat Things in the Microwave?

Microwaves are certainly convenient, especially when you're rushing against the clock and just need to heat one thing up right away. Unfortunately, they've also got a reputation for altering the consistency of foods and making them taste rubbery. And let's not forget the uneven heating that's notorious of these ovens. When you have a warming drawer, you can use it to keep foods warm for hours after cooking, which means that you can get everything done in advance and keep it warm until dinner's ready. There's no rubbery textures and no uneven reheating to worry about. The best part is that most warming drawers even have humidity control. Install more than one so you can keep foods of all kinds warm without making your crisp foods soggy or your moist foods dry.

What Features Can You Get With a Warming Drawer?

There are many different features to choose from when you're selecting a warming drawer. You can opt for a model with removable pans, divided warming areas for multiple dishes or even lids to close off each compartment. You can also invest in sets of multiple drawers with racks or holders for dinnerware and serving platters. Since they keep things warm for an extended period of time, you should consider investing in drawers with an automatic power control that shuts the power off after a predetermined time.

Most warming drawers are a couple of feet wide and mount much like typical drawers with ball bearing slides. They can be installed along with your existing cabinetry, but you'll want to make sure you have a full heat barrier in place. Your Thermador appliance retailer can supply you with heat barrier materials during installation.

Since they install directly into your cabinetry, you'll want to look at the many colors and styles to find one that blends well with your existing kitchen. You might even want to choose warming drawers that will accommodate the placement of cabinetry covers that resemble your existing cabinets and hardware.

You can even opt for a unit with the temperature and time controls just inside the drawer. These digital controls stay out of sight, making it easier for your new drawers to blend well with your existing fixtures without obvious buttons, knobs or controls standing out in the kitchen.

Warming drawers can save your event plan by making it easier to bake ahead. Whether you host a lot of dinner parties or you just want to be able to host holiday events, warming drawers may be a great investment for your kitchen.

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