Why Chafing Fuel is not safe for Catering Heaters?
5 mins read

Why Chafing Fuel is not safe for Catering Heaters?

Chafing fuel is one of the most common heating sources used in the catering industry. Canisters of chafing fuel are placed under the chafing dishes for heating the food.

Using portable canisters of chafing fuel with buffet burners has been a common practice for ages. But with the invention of flameless food heaters, caterers are embracing more cost-effective and eco-friendly options.

Frankly, chafing fuel has a lot of disadvantages when compared to flameless heaters. Below you’ll find the top reasons for avoiding chafing fuel.

Flame and fume:

Buffet burners use fire as their heating source. We are all aware of the hazards fire can cause if not handled properly. Even the slightest negligence can cause serious accidents. Fire can be equally hazardous in open and closed environments.

In open environments, a sudden gust of air can cause the fire to spread and catch without any warnings. In close environments, if there is a breakout, the fire can spread very quickly and cause massive damage.

Besides, while using these catering heaters, the caterers have to be alert the whole time. They have to check whether the plate has enough water, whether the temperature is set to the desired degree, whether the canisters are running out of fuel or not, and so on.

Apart from fire, another reason to avoid chafing fuel is the harmful fume it produces. The fume has a foul smell that causes nausea among the caterers.

They are really harmful to our health. Inhaling this fume regularly can cause serious damage to our respiratory tracts.

Environmental damage:

Chafing fuels are packaged and sold in canisters which are directly used under buffet burners. Many times, the canisters are not disposed of properly, and they are just thrown away around open spaces.

Most of the time, some amount of fuel is still left inside the canister when it is discarded.

This fuel then leaks from the canisters and gets mixed into the soil, thus causing serious soil pollution. Not only soil, but chafing fuel can also end up in the water too.

Water contaminated with fuel, and not filtered properly can cause food poisoning in humans.

Besides, the fume coming from the chafing fuel is very bad for the environment. Nowadays, when more and more catering businesses are opting for green kitchens, affecting the environment with harmful fumes is strongly not recommended.

Catering Heaters

Not cost-effective:

Chafing fuel is costly, even if you don’t realize it. First, there’s the per-canister price tag. Then, you need to maintain a proper setup to use the chafing fuel properly.

You need to employ your servers into this job of setting up the system for at least an hour. Then there is the insurance cost which is required because of using fire in open areas.

The whole system takes a pretty long time to heat the dishes, usually at least 45 minutes. Now, all these costs add up to a huge amount without you even realizing.

So, that’s another reason for ditching your old catering heaters and replace them with the new-age, flameless ones.

Flameless Heaters: A Smart Alternative:

There are many advantages of using flameless catering heaters instead of chafing fuel. They are:

  1. Safety: The primary reason for using flameless heaters lies in its safety advantage. It doesn’t use any flame. That means no fire hazard and no accidents. They also don’t need the constant attention from the catering servers, who can concentrate on other jobs, save time, and provide better service. Another advantage of fire-free heating is that they produce no fumes. It’s good news for both your health and the environment.
  2. Ease of Installation: Unlike Catering heaters, flameless heaters don’t require any heavy installation process. They are use-and-throw products. You can get them delivered directly to the catering venue, and after the use, you can similarly dispose of them. You don’t have to carry heavy equipment with you and employ the service persons into this time-consuming task.
  3. Eco-friendly Option: Unlike buffet burners, no fuel is burned in flameless food heaters. They don’t produce toxic fumes. They use air-activated warmers and are made of bio-degradable resources which do not cause environmental pollution even if disposed of improperly. To sum it up, flameless heaters are more environmentally friendly options. Given the circumstances of our environment today, it is the need of the hour that we become more conscious and care for the environment.

For these reasons, chafing fuel is no longer considered a safe option in the catering business.

Most business owners are embracing the new-age sophisticated technology by abolishing chafing fuel and doing their part in saving the environment while saving money too. So, when are you making the switch?