When washing up, its important to ensure that the water is suitably hot - hot enough to help shift stubborn stains and with it, bacteria.
Its not easy to tell if your water is the right temperature.
Using heat sensitive paints on your dinner service will help you check. When exposed to the water, the paint turns a different colour indicating immediately to the washer-upper that the temperature is appropriately warm. As the water cools, the paint colour fades to normal indicating that a hot top up is required.
[Those with dishwashers need not use these dinner plates, unless you wish to check if your food is piping hot before eating.]-- jonthegeologist, Jan 16 2004 How to do your washing up - according to the UK Government http://archive.food.../english/part7.html... not one mention of thermochromic plates mind you. Not yet, anyhoos [jonthegeologist, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] Tefal Thermospot http://www.tefal.co...LBP7B2XGNF0VPLW44E5[jonthegeologist]Colour changing kettle http://www.russell-...o.uk/brands/rh.html [jonthegeologist, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] Colour changing kettle http://www.russell-...o.uk/brands/rh.html [silverstormer, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004] Faucet Thermometer http://www.halfbake...aucet_20ThermometerFor [krop] - please try to keep up. [Worldgineer, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004] spiffy...-- babyhawk, Jan 16 2004 I am not sure if you should be eating off a plate thats painted like that.-- po, Jan 16 2004 this is similar to the thermospot tefal pans ... they are perfectly safe to eat from, so this should be ok.-- jonthegeologist, Jan 16 2004 It would be quite fun to have colour changing plates, especially while dining. I have a kettle which changes colour when boiled, so it shouldn't be too hard to use similar technology for plates.-- silverstormer, Jan 16 2004 whats the thermospot tefal thingy-- po, Jan 16 2004 I like the idea, but I'd shift the application upstream a notch. Make a thermochrmatic faucet nozzle instead.
(Idea generation sequence initiated...complete)-- Worldgineer, Jan 16 2004 [po] linky added.-- jonthegeologist, Jan 16 2004 so its baked then? :)-- po, Jan 16 2004 [po] just not on plates...-- babyhawk, Jan 16 2004 Why require treatment on every plate when you could just stick a thermometer in the water? That would be more economical and more accurate.
And can't you tell the temperature by sticking your hand in? Hand hot is about 50-55 C, so any more than that will be fine.-- kropotkin, Jan 16 2004 The 1st link says 50 is more than hand hot. Sounds like more accuracy is needed. Besides, is there a standard definition of "hand hot"? And if I'm supposed to be cleaning with water so hot I need gloves how do I test the water with my hand?-- Worldgineer, Jan 16 2004 Which is 70 to 80 degrees C. Explains why emptying the dishwasher just after it's finished requires asbestos fingers.
<aside> being a UK child of the 70s I was taught metric in school whilst at home my parent used the imperial they'd learnt at school. Now I use C for cold weather, F for warm weather, C for anything else, inches for short measurements, metres for intermediate and miles for road distances. Unitarily disturbed, me. </aside>-- hazel, Jan 17 2004 I think I would like watching the plate change color under the food on it. (+)-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 17 2004 [2fries] me too... make meals more fun.-- jonthegeologist, Jan 17 2004 In England a lot of people put plastic bowls in their sinks to do the washing up. Why not just put your thermal coating on the bowl? Then it will work for anything you wash up. I can't see people changing their whole dinner set for this, but a single tub... that changed colour... would be cool. (Or hot. Depending on the colour.) (I mention the 'in England' bit because I've been told by Americans that this practise is unknown on that side of the Atlantic)-- spacemoggy, May 31 2004 //In England a lot of people put plastic bowls in their sinks to do the washing up//
How curious that noone else seems to do this. Don't they crack their plates all the time? [sighs at the unusual habits of Johnny Foreigner]-- hazel, Feb 15 2005 random, halfbakery