Chafing dishes and braziers were made of a thin metal, often brass or copper, spun or pressed or hammered; the pots suspended over them were similarly constructed for lightweight and so as to permit sensitive heat transmission.  The “dish of coles,” closely related, was more often used as a drying implement.  A few coals, or embers, were held under the upper chamber, which was more enclosed, boxy, and suited to slow dehydration of dried fruits or candied flowers...“to candy flowers in theyr naturall culler,  “set them A drying in a sive, set in an oven,” or when candying violets, “then put in a box & keep them to dry in a stove.”  Their integral place in early American cookery is revealed by Amelia Simmons (1796) who used one to preserve strawberries.  As may be evident, these chafing dishes, braziers, and dishes of coals were always used in the kitchen, were considered to be pots, and were not appropriate at the dining table. Their high position was derived from the fact that the ingredients were costly (especially the sugar, perhaps imported wines), that they required exceptional skill that one might expect in an ordinary farm family or from a hired kitchen girl, and that they frequently prepared and preserved dishes that could not easily be found or eaten out of season.

However, the growth of cities changed this, and by the end of the nineteenth century, chafing dishes took on a new cast.  The cook stove had made it possible to work at waist height over gentle heat by simply sliding the pot to the far end of the stovetop, away from the firebox area underneath.  But now the glowing coals of earlier chafing dishes were replaced by small alcohol burners under the pan, sometimes wickless, but sometimes with wicks that could be adjusted to vary the temperature.  Some rigs offered the use of a pan of water underneath the cooking compartment, a la bain marie; these could not only cook very gently but also kept food warm on a sideboard or buffet.

Late nineteenth-century urban middle class women now had more time and interest in delicacies, and the price of sugar had dropped considerably.  With more leisure they entertained more, often with luncheons, teas, and suppers.  No longer an exotic adjunct of the hearth, the chafing dish reverted to the ancient role of charming one’s guests by displaying expertise and offering flattering, personalized efforts.        

A new genre of cookbooks devoted to the chafing dish was now published, some promotional in nature and distributed by the manufacturers of elaborate silver sets or their copies in copper, nickel, and brass. Others were written by trendy cookbook authors on the cutting edge of table fashion.  Together they guided newcomers to the urban middle class, instructing them on how to use the new equipment in the light and dainty cuisine just then finding favor in new social rituals.  And thus were developed such new recipes as cherries jubilee, deviled eggs, creamed salmon or chicken, or kidneys in mushrooms and wine.

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