Types of Plates

• There are several types of dinner plates, including paper, plastic, stone and ceramic dinner plates. Each plate differs in the care needed to appropriately clean and store the plate.
  
  

Paper Plates

• Paper plates do not tend to hold heat well; while they can be briefly heated, the paper does not conduct the heat long enough to keep food warm.
  
  

Plastic Plates

• Plastic plates can hold heat if they are specially formulated to do so; otherwise, heating a plastic plate too much causes the plate to melt, and the plate does not retain the intensity of heat very long.
  
  

Stone Plates

• Stone plates hold heat well. However, they are difficult to heat thoroughly and uncommon in many households.
  
  

Ceramic Plates

• Perhaps the best plate to hold heat, the ceramic dinner plate retains the intensity of heat for some time. Some ceramic plates, such as the HotSmart dinner plate, holds heat for over 30 minutes.