Warming Drawers

• Warming drawers keep food hot between courses, allowing you to prepare your dishes ahead of time and serve several courses without sacrificing time spent with guests. A warming drawer is beneficial for keeping your food at its best, not just by preserving its temperature, but by controlling the humidity around your dishes, so foods don’t dry out while they’re in holding and they don’t lose the quality of their texture or appearance. You can also use your drawer for warming plates.
  
  

Features

• Warming drawer features vary among manufacturers, but may include racks staged to house several plates at once. The drawers usually offer the width needed to hold large serving platters and pans and the depth required to accommodate deep bowls and pots. The drawers may extend partially or open fully to provide better access to the contents. Controls may include basic temperature settings or allow you to set the temperature range and humidity, with “keep warm” and bread proofing functions.
  
  

Other Drawer Options

• In many low-cost ranges, the space beneath the oven is occupied by a storage drawer sized to hold cookware when the pans are not in use. In dual oven models, the warming drawer is upgraded to a second oven, supplying some of the functions of a warming drawer while expanding the amount of available cooking space in the unit. These models are good for large families, for holiday entertaining and for those who produce large batches of baked goods.
  
  

Considerations

• You may want an induction range without a warming drawer if you prefer not to pay for features you may not use. Warming drawers are typically not made for storage, so opting for a warming drawer in place of a storage drawer cuts down on kitchen storage space. In addition to induction ranges, induction cooktops are available without an oven, storage or warming drawer, and single- and multi-burner portable induction units allow you to take your cooktop with you for outdoor food preparation, travel or to add extra cooking capacity where you need it.