Hot Food Display & Bain Marie Buying Guide
Bain marie or heated display — how to keep cooked food hot, safe and selling.
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Keeping cooked food hot and safe to serve is a food-safety job as much as a display one. Two tools do it differently: a bain marie holds food hot in pans of water or dry heat behind the line, and a heated display shows hot product through glass to sell it. This guide sorts which you need.
Every figure here is from our own range.
Bain marie or heated display?
- Bain marie — gastronorm pans sit in a heated well (wet or dry) to hold soups, sauces, curries, vegetables and mains at safe serving temperature on the line or servery. Our model takes 5 × 1/2 pans and includes a drain tap for easy water changes. This is the back-of-servery hot-hold.
- Heated display — a glass-fronted heated cabinet that shows hot product to customers — pies, pastries, roasts, hot deli — and keeps it hot and appetising for grab-and-go. Curved or straight glass countertop cabinets from 120L to 200L, plus an 815L floor showcase.
Simple: hold cooked food in pans behind the line → bain marie. Show hot product to sell it → heated display.
Heated displays — the range
Glass-fronted heated cabinets, curved or straight, plus a floor-standing showcase. Tap a model for live pricing, full specs and stock.
Countertop — curved glass
| Model | Capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CDC-120H | 120 L | Curved glass |
| CDC-160H | 160 L | Curved glass |
| CDC-127H | 195 L | Curved glass merchandiser |
| CDC-200H | 200 L | Curved glass |
Countertop — straight glass
| Model | Capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CDS-160H | 160 L | Straight glass |
| CDS-190H | 190 L | Straight glass |
| CDS-200H | 200 L | Straight glass |
Floor standing
| Model | Capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FDS-815H | 815 L | Floor showcase, straight glass |
Countertop cabinets suit a café or takeaway counter; the 815L floor showcase is a full merchandiser for high-volume hot grab-and-go.
Bain maries
For holding cooked dishes hot in gastronorm pans behind the servery.
| Model | Pans | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| BM-52 | 5 × 1/2 pans | Wet well, drain tap |
Count the dishes you hold at once to size the pan configuration. The wet well is gentle and even for sauces and moist dishes; the drain tap makes water changes quick.
What to look for
- Wet or dry heat (bain marie) — wet (water bath) is gentle and even for sauces; dry is simpler and better for some fried or crumbed items. Know which your food wants.
- A drain tap — makes changing bain marie water quick and safe; ours includes one.
- Accurate thermostat — holding above the food-safe threshold is the whole point; a good controller matters.
- Humidity — some heated displays add gentle humidity to stop pastry drying out.
- Glass and lighting — clean sight lines and light sell the product.