Elite Gourmet EWM-9933 Triple 3 x 2.5 Quart Trays Buffet Server 7.5 Qt Oven Safe Pan Food Warmer, Temperature Control, Clear Slotted Lids, Perfect for Parties, Entertaining & Holidays, Stainless Steel

This buffet server is fantastic. This is the one you want to buy. If you are going to do any type of get-together/party and want to serve real, hot food. I was lucky to get it on sale. But as good as this is I would have paid full price for it. I actually bought two of them. I wanted for the first time in my life to host a Thanksgiving dinner. When I talked to anyone about it, they all said getting all the different foods to be hot at the same time was a real difficult feat to pull off. Especially if you were making some of the foods in advance. So I started reading lots of reviews and researched everything I could about serving Buffets. Each serving buffet I read about, said it was crucial to have the food hot first. THEN put it in the serving tray so it would stay hot. The Buffett is not designed to heat up the food. It is designed to maintain the food at the level of heat you start with. Well this model has steel serving trays that are sturdy just like a cooking pot it does not bend. I put the pre-prepared food in the serving tray covered it with Tin foil and then put it directly in the oven to heat it up. Once it was hot THEN I placed the serving tray in the Buffett warming tray. I served turkey, baked potatoes, candied yams, stuffing, roasted green beans with melted cheese, and gravy. Each and every dish was nice and hot even when people came back for seconds and thirds. This warming tray maintained the perfect temperature for 6 hours. Nothing was dried out, or over cooked or soggy. It was perfect. I could not have asked for more. 1. Serving trays are made of steel very sturdy they do not bend and they are dishwasher safe easy to clean 2. There are 3 steel serving trays, each tray has a see thru dome lid with a handle and a slot to put a serving spoon thru 3. This unit has a light that tells you it is on or off so you are sure when it is working. 4. It has 3 levels of settings for temperature control, low medium and high 5. This buffet has a very short electric cord this is in fact a safety feature. 6. This particular model can be used in 3 different ways A use serving trays with dome tops for Buffett as I did B you can cook a pasta dish in the large tray with handles and then serve directly from that tray C if you have hors d’oeuvres use the bottom tray that is the warming tray to keep them warm and serve them warm D. Read the manual it will take all of 3 minutes it is short and to the point explains everything clearly. At first glance it Is not obvious you have 3 different ways to use this Buffet. Once you understand how versatile it is you may decide like me, that one is not enough.

I love the design of this stainless steel buffet, with three 2 1/2 quart trays/bins that fit inside a larger oven safe tray/pan. Put a little water in the oven pan and all three buffet bins have even and consistent heating, keeping your food hot for later comers or second helpings. Load the trays in the kitchen and use the pan to easily carry all three bins to the serving area in one trip. Or use the oven pan alone for lasagna or a whole roast and fixings. When it comes to cleanup, the three bins stack so they can soak in the sink for the second dishwasher load. I also love the cove slots for spoon handles. It would take some space to store so if you plan on only occasional use, I would recommend keeping the box and storing on a closet or panty shelf. I plan to use it for weekly extended family dinners, so mine will stay out on the kitchen island most of the time. The larger size contributes to how well this buffet works as the long shallow bins have more heated surface area than designs with deeper bins that are only slightly smaller overall. I've only used it twice so far and the cord length is my only disappointment. I understand the shorter cords are considered a safety features to prevent cord "hooks" from pulling the tray; however, in my case the cord isn't long enough to reach the closest island outlet and an extension cord is required. If you were using it on a counter with a wall outlet, that wouldn't be a problem. UPDATED on Dec 17, 2012: After using at least weekly for over a year, I finally managed to break the plastic covers and called the manufacture to order some more. They were a little expensive and took a couple of weeks to get here, but customer service was good. While I was waiting on new covers, I used some aluminum foil as a reasonable substitute. I learned not to leave the covers over the bins when they are empty (they get too hot) and protect them from drops. The second set is lasting longer.

I had just returned the Elite Gourmet crockpot because it was damaged and did not heat up well. So I had very low expectations that this piece would be usable. It arrived in a beat-up box that had obviously been returned, was jammed in and poorly taped up. But, as it was 9:30 Thanksgiving Eve, I was out of options. To my surprise, the server itself was in great shape, and kept all 3 dishes very hot for 5 hours. Not warm, but hot like things were fresh out of the oven. It’s not all that sturdy, but it’s an attractive piece and did a great job.

We are so happy that we bought these warming trays. We initially bought one, but liked it so much, we got another. We hadd 15 people over for Thanksgiving and these two trays held all the sides and kept them warm all afternoon. They made it much easier for guests to get their food, and a their desire. The trays look very nice and worked superbly. We received nothing but compliments about them. In fact, some of our guests intend to buy them. Rest assured that we'll be using them for the approaching holidays as well. Oh; great price too!

It's a great size for three warm dishes, and allows you to get your dinner timing just right. It also consolidates your buffet line into a clean presentation and in a smaller space. We tested it out with a thick dish (mashed potatoes) and it kept it evenly heated and not dried out. We also tested it with sliced steak, and it was not so hot that it changed the heating from medium rare to medium or well done, but it remained warm and tender. We also served broiled carrots, and they did not continue to cook and caramelize. Once you figure out how to repack it in it's box, it stores neatly and doesn't take up too much room. We really do like this addition to our party plan! An excellent value.

I did run this through temperature tests, using temp probes connected to a computer logging data over time. I did this because of some of the reviews where people were complaining it would not keep food at the advertised temperature. I wanted to find out if this was the case right away while still within my window of time to return it if needed. I cleaned all the parts with soapy water as directed, and dried. I filled the main tray with HOT water, about 1/3 full. I put all three stainless trays in, and filled them each 2/3 full with COLD water. I put a temperature probe in the main water tray bath, and one in the middle food stainless tray, with covers on, careful that the probes were suspended in water and not touching the bottom or sides. My initial water bath, hot water from my sink tap, read at 103F. I set the temp on the unit to "low", which according to the instructions, will maintain 130F. After about 2 hours, the 103F water had risen up to 131F; right on target. since the food trays are sitting in that bath of water, its' water temp followed very closely, +/- 1 degree. I set it to "high", which the manual says should be 150F, and after about 2 hours, the bath water and food tray water were both at 152F. I left the unit running 3 more hours, and the water maintained a steady temperature. I went through all of this to make sure it would work as advertised; I didn't want to get a surprise the first time we use it at a party, and find out it didn't work! It works just fine. I suspect, just a hunch, that the people reporting that 'it never got over 90 degrees...' probably filled the water bath tray with COLD water. This is not a stove-top, it's a warmer. If you give it a large volume of cold water, its going to take several hours to get that up to temp. Just fill it with HOT tap water, about an hour or two before you fill the food trays, and I bet that solves 99% of the 'cold food' problems people are complaining about. Hope this helps!

I’ve only used this twice since I bought it, but now that I tried to use it again, it broke immediately—it doesn’t heat up anymore. This is so expensive, and it broke so quickly, not even a year yet. I want a refund and my money back. What a waste of money.

This is just as versatile and awesome as I thought it would be. I bought the option with the 3 small pans and one large one, as I wanted the maximum options. Helpful for the work potlucks, family dinners, and Christmas parties. Not only can this keep food warm, the large pan can be used in the oven up to 350, beforehand. I recently used it to make food in the oven, and heated the bottom part while it was baking. The base stayed hot keeping everything warm while transporting across town to the party!