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If you transport hot food oftentimes, most probably you already know that keeping it warm is pretty much challenging. Especially, when you don’t know how to store food in the right way, you may have to face a tough time. It may go cold or even worse if you don’t have any idea how to keep food warm when transporting it.
However, there are so many ways you can follow to keep it warm and fresh. In this article, I am going to show you some proven ways that you can follow to keep your food hot and safe while transporting. So, without further ado, let’s begin.
How to Keep Food Warm When Transporting
The truth is in so many ways you can keep your favorite food warm and safe when you transporting it into place. You can follow a method that is most suitable for your situation. You can even combine different methods to get the job done.
However, keep in mind that the outcome of a given method can be affected by some factors. For example, you should consider the type of food you are carrying, how long you are targeting to keep it hot, etc. That said; let’s have a look at 7 proven techniques to transport your food in a warm condition.
1. Wrap the Food in Aluminum Foil and Towels:
When you need to take your food to a short distance, you can follow this simple method. All you need to do is wrapping up the food in aluminum foil paper and Towels as well. The science behind this is aluminum foil will quickly trap the steam. Besides, it will prevent heat radiation from escaping the food.
Aluminum always reflects the heat radiation and that is why the food will remain warm. However, still heat can be lost through the conduction process. In that case, a towel will create an extra layer of insulation to keep your food safe and hot. Besides, if you wrap the food with a towel, it will be in close touch with the food and you’ll get better insulation.
This technique will help you while transporting food to a short distance. But, when it comes to taking food to a long distance, you may need to check other methods that I will discuss below.
2. Keeping Food in a Hard Cooler:
The next effective way to keep your food warm while traveling is using a cooler. There is no denying that coolers are a great instrument to keep your food cold. But, the fun part is they can also be used for keeping your favorite food warm.
The science used in a cooler to keep your food cold can be used to keep hot food warm as well. In that case, the hard cooler will keep the heat in and the food will remain hot inside of the cooler. If you use a high-quality cooler, your food will be warm for a long time.
Another important thing is you must consider the cooler’s size with utmost care. Because, if you are using a too large cooler, your food will not remain warm properly. However, to get the best result, you may need to wrap the food with aluminum foil and a towel along with using a cooler. It will also protect the plastic in the cooler.
3. Using a Soft Cooler:
A soft cooler can also be used as an alternative to a hard cooler. There are some added advantages of using a soft cooler. As they are quite light and small, you can easily carry them. But, you should always keep in mind while using a soft cooler is it should be always wrapped with a towel. Otherwise, the extreme heat from food may melt the plastic of the cooler.
4. Keeping Food in Insulated Thermos:
If you talk about the small number of foods, an insulated thermos can help you out. Without any doubt, it will keep your food warm for hours. However, you must find out a good quality product to get the maximum benefit from this method.
5. Using Thermal Cookers:
If you have ever cooked anything in a thermal cooker, you already have the idea that it uses heat to cook anything. But, did you know that you can use a thermal cooker for keeping food warm when transporting? The insulation method which is used in a thermos is also used in a thermal cooker.
However, the main benefit of this is you can keep more food as it comes with a large space inside. If you can buy a thermal cooker with a cast-iron bottom, your food will remain warm for a real long time.
6. Using Thermal Bags:
You can also use thermal bags to serve the purpose. The only drawback of this is you can keep only a small amount of food. Besides, a thermal bag can keep your food hot for a short period. Aluminum lining or even some plastic insulation techniques are used in a thermal bag so that the heat remains trapped.
If you are carrying lunch or small tiffin, it will be quite effective for you to keep your food warm and fresh. No wonder, these small, portable and pretty much affordable thermal bags are perfect for carrying a small number of foods for a short time.
7. Using Heat Packs:
Here is another simple method you can use to keep your food warm for a very short period. You can apply heat packs that can be used instantly without any hassle. Although they don’t come with the ability to warm up cold foods, you can still use them to keep your hot food warm. Because they will add an extra source of heat around your food.
One of the major benefits of heat packs is, you can easily replace one when a heat pack starts to run out of heat. There are heat packs that can be used for one time only and you can choose reusable heat packs as well.
Safety Tips:
Try to maintain the optimum temperature of your food to prevent bacteria growth. If you can’t do it, the chance is your favorite dish may go off. According to USDA, you should keep your food above 60°C or 140°F.
You should keep in mind that if the temperature of your food goes down from 140°F, bacteria may start to multiply and spoil your food. Even it may cause food poisoning. In that case, you should eat your food as soon as possible, at least in 2 hours.
So, when it comes to transporting food, you should keep it above 60°C or 140°F to ensure maximum safety.
Final Words
We all agree that we need to transport food sometimes. Maybe we are carrying lunch or small tiffin. Maybe we go out for a day trip. Even sometimes we need to deliver food to our relative’s house. Whatever the reason is, one thing for sure, the food should remain warm. Otherwise, it may go off or will lose its taste.
In this article, I have discussed how to keep food warm when transporting. All of the ways that I have shown above are proven. you can easily follow the best way to keep food warm when traveling.
