Choosing the Right Commercial Bain Marie for Your Professional Kitchen

Great for buffets, a Bain Marie provides just the right amount of consistent heat or coolness to keep your food ready to serve.

Bain Marie, which translates from French into ‘Mary’s Bath’, traces its recorded history back as far as the ancient Greeks. Not only for its use in preparing and serving food but also in science and industry.

Sometimes called a “water bath” or “double boiler,” a commercial bain marie uses a pan or pot immersed in water to keep food at the perfect temperature to serve. Most popular with buffets or self-service areas, these water baths come in a wide variety of designs and sizes offering wet heat or dry heat options with either electric or gas.

There are also refrigerated water baths which are designed for chilled items such as salads, sandwiches and other items served cool.

With so many bain maries on the market to choose from, we’ve put together a brief guide of things to review before buying a bain marie for your professional kitchen.

Types of Bain Marie

Wet Heat Bain Marie

Wet Heat Bain Maries use a hot water chamber (often an easily fillable pan) to keep food warm and ready to serve. Food pans are then placed within the water to evenly-distribute heat across the bottom and sides of the pan to prevent hot or cold spots.

Steam rising from the water additionally helps prevent food from drying out, especially when the lid is on.

Wet Heat bain-maries are excellent for keeping food warm while maintaining moisture and the original taste. Some come with a drain pipe for easy removal of water prior to cleaning.

Dry Heat Bain Marie

Dry heat bains marie heat up their contents much faster than a wet bain marie by applying direct heat to the food pan rather than diffusing the heat via water.

This offers the advantage of being more energy efficient while providing additional safety for customers and staff as there is less risk of burns by steam or spillage.

Dry Heat baths are lighter without the additional water weight, making them a popular choice with mobile food catering.

Refrigerated Bain Marie

Refrigerated bains marie, sometimes called Cold Food Bars, are designed to keep food chilled at the correct serving temperature while maintaining freshness.

With variable settings via an adjustable digital thermostat, these appliances are great for displaying salads, sandwiches, and other fresh foods that require a cool touch.

Soup Kettle

As the name suggests, soup kettles are ideal for serving large portions of soup as well as chilli, gravy, curry and a variety of liquid-based dishes.

Most soup kettles, such as the Robalec SW1200, hold up to 10 litres and come with thermostats and simmer settings that prevent soup from over-boiling or not staying warm enough.

Since soup kettles are also a “dry heat” appliance with most of their capacity in height, they are easy to move around and position to maximise sales. They are also perfect for mobile catering.

Pro Tip

When choosing a dry heat bain marie, keep in mind that without the benefit of steam it can quickly dry out sauces and gravies. Also, be sure to check the element position to ensure that heat is evenly spread across the entire portion of food being served.

Which is the best Bain Marie for your kitchen?

We hope this guide to picking a Bain Marie will help you choose the right fit for your restaurant or business.

If you have questions about Bains Marie in general or specific models and features, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Caterlink’s commercial kitchen experts who are happy to assist you.