Chafing Dish

Unless you’re looking for an electric chafing dish, you’ll need some chafing dish fuel to power the dish that you’ve bought.  This naturally heats the food from underneath, keeping it hot and appetizing for the many people that you intend to serve.  Whether it’s for a hotel, a wedding, a corporate event, or anything else, chafing dish fuel will be essential to the well being of any food served within a chafing dish.

Depending on the unit that you buy, there may be some chafing dish fuel included in the cost of purchase with a stainless steel chafing dish or other device.  More often than not, you’ll have to buy this separately.  Even when it does come included, your fuel supply will typically run out after a few uses and you’ll need to buy refills.

Where should you get chafing dish fuel, what should you look for specifically, and how much should you expect to pay for it?  Let’s answer those questions one at a time from here.

First of all, you’ll have two options as far as getting chafing dish fuel go.  You can buy locally from a hardware store or other supplier, which many people prefer to do because of the convenience factors involved.  You don’t have to wait for shipping, and you don’t have to pay for shipping either.

On the other hand, running a search online for chafing dish fuel will yield many competitors vying to compete for the best prices, and you’ll generally find that you can get the best deals online.  If you have the foresight to place an order before you need some the very next day, you’ll benefit from planning ahead of time and ordering up some chafing dish fuel online.

Chafing dish fuel is measured in two different ways.  Some sellers will tell you how many ounces you’re getting, and some will present it in more practical terms by telling you how long the chafing dish fuel should last.  This is the preferred means of looking for it, though you should generally see some imprint on the product label, or information in the product description, that tells you how many hours the fuel will last for.

If you don’t see this, you might be better off moving on to another fuel set, as it’s crucial that you know exactly how much fuel you’ll need in advance.  Lacking this knowledge can make things really difficult, and the last thing you want is a bunch of cold food served to your guests.

In general, each can will last anywhere from around 2 hours to 6 hours.  The more chafing dish fuel you buy at once, the better price per hour you’ll get.  Shoot for a rate of 50 cents per hour or less when all is said and done, which you should have no problem finding online – especially if you buy in bulk.

You’ll also want to buy chafing dish fuel that offers adjustable heat.  This is important being that certain foods might require varying degrees of heat.  Make sure that you can adjust the wick of the flame, or else you’ll be left with some rigid gel fuel that simply doesn’t get the job done.