Need to create a water bath for a Chafing dish...

[mattl]

Have a problem that has me stumped, thought I'd toss it out to the great minds here.

 

I have 2 Sheffield silver chafing dishes with alcohol burners, they have heavy round pyrex dishes that fit nicely into them, came with.  Problem, no water bath.  Last few years I used them at the holiday and stuff burned on the bottom.  I am stumped a how to create a water bath.

 

the glass dishes are about 8 1/2" inside diameter and about 2 1/2" deep.  Pie plate wont fit, other things I've tried don't work either.  Not sure why they are made this way - by a reputable company.

 

[58limited]

Can you make a heat deflector? Something to disperse heat while still letting it keep the food warm?

 

[perc-o-prince]

Do you have another Pyrex that will fit inside these and use the original as the water bath?

Chuck

 

[tomturbomatic]

We would really need to see what you are dealing with as to where things are supposed to go. What fits together? I mean you could get by using a Flametamer under the glass dish, but you need to have structure somewhere to hold the Flametamer. I have seen different types of chafing dishes and some have no glass dish at all.

 

[eronie]

Pix???

 

[mattl]

pictures

Here are some picts.  I sort of solved it this year with an oddball foil pan I found in the cupboard, but need a better solution going forward.

 

[tomturbomatic]

How much clearance is there between the glass bowl and the surrounding frame? Can you see fitting both the glass bowl and a water bath in the frame under the lid? Does the construction of this pan allow that?

This looks like more of a heated server which operates with lower heat than a chaffing dish. Is turning down the flame an option? What fuel do you use in the burner? If you want a cooler flame, you could burn 71% isopropyl alcohol. I think the barrier of heavy duty foil pan material under the bowl is a good idea for buffering the intense heat of the burner.

 

[eronie]

Find a can lid to cover the opening in the bottom
So the fire doesn't have direct contact with the glass dish.

 

[mattl]

I do use alcohol in the burner and set it low.  Even then food will stick and burn over the flame.  I had a foil pan in my stash that fit one the dishes and did use that Christmas Eve and it did work OK, no burned food.  But it is an oddball pan, about 1 1/2" deep not sure where it came from. 

 

Might try the large tin lid idea next time.