Hi there,

I recently bought a small hollow metal plate about 1/2" or 1" thick
with regular openings around its side and which claimed to be as good
as a double boiler. You would just place the plate on the stove flame,
and your cooking pot on the plate, and, the label claims, the plate
will distribute the heat evenly, just as a double boiler would.

Is this true, or is this distinctly inferior to double boiling using
heated water?

Thanks.

In article .com>,
says...
> Hi there,
>
> I recently bought a small hollow metal plate about 1/2" or 1" thick
> with regular openings around its side and which claimed to be as good
> as a double boiler. You would just place the plate on the stove flame,
> and your cooking pot on the plate, and, the label claims, the plate
> will distribute the heat evenly, just as a double boiler would.
>
> Is this true, or is this distinctly inferior to double boiling using
> heated water?
>
> Thanks.
>
>

It is totally different. The point of a double boiler is not just that
the heat is distributed, but also that the heat never goes above the
boiling point of water. Your device may distribute the heat but surely
it can get hotter than 100C.

--
Peter Aitken

Akilesh Ayyar > wrote:

> I recently bought a small hollow metal plate about 1/2" or 1" thick
> with regular openings around its side and which claimed to be as good
> as a double boiler. You would just place the plate on the stove flame,
> and your cooking pot on the plate, and, the label claims, the plate
> will distribute the heat evenly, just as a double boiler would.

Where did you but it? Is there a photo of it on the Internet?

Dick

"Dick Adams" > wrote:
> Akilesh Ayyar > wrote:
>
>> I recently bought a small hollow metal plate about 1/2" or 1" thick
>> with regular openings around its side and which claimed to be as good
>> as a double boiler. You would just place the plate on the stove flame,
>> and your cooking pot on the plate, and, the label claims, the plate
>> will distribute the heat evenly, just as a double boiler would.
>
> Where did you but it? Is there a photo of it on the Internet?

Here's a picture of one:

http://www.kitchenfantasy.com/images/b1101.jpg

I can vouch for the original poster that the "good as a double boiler" claim
is made.

It is can make it possible to distribute the heat more evenly and tone down
the intensity of the heat, as a double boiler would. But it cannot
absolutely limit the temperature of the pot to below the boiling point of
water.

I have used heat diffusers to substitute for a double boiler, but do it in
combination with keeping the flame low. Most often I do this when melting
chocolate.