Chafing fuel is used in cooking and heating appliances, with different fuels burning at different temperatures. Manufacturers offer a variety of fuels, including methanol, DEG, denatured alcohol, and plant-based ethanol. Safe handling practices should be followed, and non-spill containers are available. Chafing fuel has a long history of use, and environmentally friendly fuels have been developed in recent years.
Attrition fuel is the source of fuel for an apparatus that people use to cook or keep it hot, such as on a buffet line in a restaurant. This apparatus usually consists of a metal dish with a heating appliance underneath it, and manufacturers usually sell the irritating fuel in an appliance, such as a can with a wick. Wick fuels, including diethylene glycol (DEG), are thinner than gels such as methanol gels and may spill more easily. Different fuels burn at different degrees of heat, and manufacturers offer a variety of fuels for a variety of appliances.
These fuels include methanol, DEG, denatured alcohol and the newer plant-based ethanol. Manufacturers typically use sugar cane for most of their ethanol fuel. Gel fuels tend to burn hotter than wick fuels, but if they’re thick enough, the gels are nearly spill-proof, which is safer for restaurant patrons and patrons. Vendors offer the fuels in individual containers that sit under the chafing dish or beverage urn and in larger containers for filling heating appliances.
In the food service industry, restaurants often need more than one type of fuel. For example, beverage urns and vessels designed not to cook food but to keep it hot for service need a lower temperature fuel, and chafing dishes and some cooking appliances require hotter fuel. The average temperature range is 165-196° Fahrenheit (about 74-90° Celsius), and the goal is to find a fuel that will keep food in the safe temperature range near 141° Fahrenheit (about 60° Celsius ). Chafing fuels also have different burn times, depending on the manufacturer’s formula and the size of the wick or burn hole. Vendors offer fuels that burn for as little as 45 minutes or up to six hours.
Most manufacturers, for safety reasons, offer non-spill containers that stay cool to the touch, but users still need to be careful when using these products. Examples of safe handling practices include lighting the fuel after the user has placed it under the appliance and allowed the container to cool before moving it. A person should follow the manufacturer’s directions when extinguishing the flame, because each type of fuel appliance is different. In general, manufacturers of chafing fuels advise users not to wear loose clothing or loose hair that can catch fire from burning fuel.
Many appliances use chafing fuel. The food industry has many uses for chafing fuel appliances. Fondue pots, tureens, hibachi and beverage urns are examples of appliances that keep food warm. In the hospitality industry, people use them for room service carts and portable food boxes. Campers and hikers use chafing dish fuel for cooking or reheating convenience foods, because they are safe and lightweight.
Historically, in the medieval era, a portable brazier containing coals or charcoal was placed on a metal stand and heated the dish of food on top of it. The medical industry has used some of the earliest versions to prepare medicines. The advantage of chafing fuel was that food could be prepared away from the intense heat of the hearth fire. As other fuels became available, the popularity of using chafing dishes in restaurants increased. Attrition fuels evolved over time, and in the late 20th century, manufacturers developed environmentally friendly fuels that were made from renewable resources, were biodegradable and methanol-free, as well as odorless and smoke-free.
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