Winware 8 Qt Stainless Steel Chafer Full Size Chafer

Winware 8 Qt Stainless Steel Chafer Full Size Chafer
I debated ordering this on Amazon or going to a restaurant supply store...it's very hard to tell quality of something like this online...but, as you can see by my Amazon purchase stamp, I decided to risk it. 

For those who haven't used a chafer before, this is like like the serving chafing dishes you'd see at a buffet...it keeps your food warm for as long as you wish and frees up your having to time a meal just perfectly at a dinner party...it'll stay hot regardless of whether you are waiting for the side dishes to be done, or if you have the side dishes in here and are waiting for the main dish. Better yet, it keeps your foot hot while you eat and chat so anyone wishing to go back for seconds still gets a hot plate. During the holidays when you might need your oven at two temps, you can also cook one dish, put it in here, and keep it hot while you bake a second dish or bake a dish at a different temperature. 

There is a water bath beneath the server tray. like the pro chafing dishes, to ensure even heating and food that isn't dried out. This is below the top tray that the food sits in and it has two burners underneath for your fuel cans. Your food doesn't get watery...the steam just counteracts the heat so it stays as moist as when you put it in. 

For this price, I felt I got far more than I expected. I thought something light and kinda cheap would be fine as I'll just use it during entertaining but it was heavy stainless and, in all honesty, of better quality than the one 3 times the price that I got when I was married. Also, the fact that it has two burners kept the food hot all over. 

Quite nice that it comes with two handles for the top, the black plastic one shown and a polished stainless one if you prefer it. The two handles on the side are built-in 

Negatives: I slid this back into the box for storage and cut myself twice. They don't polish down the metal as much as they should. There are no instructions and I think there should be as not everyone would know about putting the water in for a water bath or how much to put in. 

Conclusion: It's large, keeps food hot for hours, keeps the moisture in, cleaned up very easily... It exceeded my expectations. Even if you take the the dish out of the oven during holidays or entertaining and serve it immediately, this has worked wonderfully for me for hot appetizers for guests to nibble on while I cook the main dish, Better yet, last weekend we had a brunch on the deck and I was able to do pancakes and put them on one side of the server, and some veggie sausage on the other for guests, and they both stayed hot OUTSIDE...which is a use I hadn't considered. Plus the cover kept any interested bugs at bay.