The Simple Trick For Keeping Chilled Appetizers Cold

When planning a party, keeping everything at the right temperature isn't easy. Between getting dishes in and out of the oven, focusing on food presentation, and ensuring guests have plenty to eat, it's just another chore to make sure the cold food stays cold, and the hot food stays hot. If you're looking for a simple trick to keep those chilled appetizers from getting lukewarm, try this trick: Fill a bag with ice, then place it an appetizer bowl or tray, and cover it with dry lettuce leaves. Add the cold food on top, and you have a nicely chilled dish that maintains just the right temperature.

Make sure there are no holes in the bags when you fill them with ice; The melted water could lead to soggy food. The lettuce acts as an easy, inexpensive way of covering the ice to keep the presentation top tier, but the leaves are still thin enough that the cold will chill your appetizer dish.

Ice is a sneaky way to keep appetizers cold

Filling a zip top bag with ice is the most cost-effective way of doing this trick, plus it keeps the water contained as the ice starts to melt. But if you have large ice packs, those will work even better because they are perfectly even throughout, meaning all parts of the dish make contact with the same amount of cold air, and the dish can rest on an even surface. Plus, it eliminates the need to use additional plastic.

This trick comes in handy when serving guests, but it's still important to always keep food safety in mind. While the bottom of the dish will keep nice and cool, the temperature might still reach the danger zone for the top of the food that isn't making direct contact with that cold, lettuce-covered ice. The USDA recommends never leaving chilled food out of the fridge for more than two hours if the temperature is higher than 40 degrees Fahrenheit. (The window shrinks to one hour, if temps reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.) Keeping your chilled appetizers cold with this trick lets the party go as long as the snacks last.

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