If you ever hosted a dinner buffet or had a caterer come in to your home to serve a hot meal, you're probably familiar with chafing dishes. If you're not, chafing dishes are large serving dishes in which food is kept warm.

Chafing dishes are either placed on top of racks or platforms or sit on legs high enough for a can of fuel to be placed underneath. The can has a cover that lifts off to expose a substance that looks like wax. In reality, this substance is sterno fuel. The fuel is lit and placed underneath the chafing dish in order to keep the food warm.

Chafing dishes come in a variety of sizes and materials. The types seen most often at home buffets or casual catered affairs are long and rectangular. These chafing dishes are usually made of stainless steel and contain a long, deep well for holding food. This long bowl is placed inside a tray that has an inch or two of water covering the bottom to keep food from burning. The chafing dishes are placed on wire racks that stand over the sterno cans.

A more elegant affair might call for round, ornately decorated chafing dishes. These are generally made of silver, and instead of wire racks, the chafing dishes sit on a platform with tapered legs. These are more esthetically pleasing than the chafing dishes provided by the casual caterer.

Chafing dishes are convenient because the food is kept warm and the party's host or hostess can mingle with the guests without having to worry about food on the stove or in the oven. Every now and then someone will have to give the food inside the chafing dishes a quick stir to equally distribute the heat, but burning is rarely an issue.

Believe it or not, chafing dishes are steeped in history. Ancient chafing dishes have been found in the ruins of Pompeii. These early warmers relied on hot coals to keep food warm since the other alternative, a roaring flame, would have been too much. These early chafing dishes were generally made of brass or copper.

If you're interested in hosting a buffet and would like to keep food warm, chafing dishes are clearly the way to go. In many cases, the food can be cooked up earlier in the day and placed in the chafing dishes just before your guests arrive. By the time you're ready to eat, the food will be warm. Even if you're not a frequent entertainer, you can't go wrong by having a set of chafing dishes in your home.