A hot plate is a portable self-contained tabletop small appliance

Small appliance

Small appliance refers to a class of home appliances that are portable or semi-portable or which are used on tabletops, countertops, or other platforms in the United States of America...

 that features one, two or more gas burner

Gas burner

A gas burner is a device to generate a flame to heat up products using a gaseous fuel such as acetylene, natural gas or propane. Some burners have an air inlet to mix the fuel gas with air to make a complete combustion...

s or electric heating element

Heating element

A heating element converts electricity into heat through the process of Joule heating. Electric current through the element encounters resistance, resulting in heating of the element....

s. A hot plate can be used as a stand alone appliance, but is often used as a substitute for one of the burners from an oven

Oven

An oven is a thermally insulated chamber used for the heating, baking or drying of a substance. It is most commonly used for cooking. Kilns, and furnaces are special-purpose ovens...

 range or the cook top of a stove

Stove

A stove is an enclosed heated space. The term is commonly taken to mean an enclosed space in which fuel is burned to provide heating, either to heat the space in which the stove is situated or to heat the stove itself, and items placed on it...

. Hot plates are often used for food preparation, generally in locations where a full kitchen stove would not be convenient or practical, as hot plates are easily moved from one location to another.

Description

This type of cooking equipment is typically powered by electricity, however, gas fired hot plates were not uncommon in the 19th and 20th century and are still available in various markets around the world.

In scientific research

In laboratory

Laboratory

A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...

 settings, hot plates are generally used to heat glassware

Laboratory glassware

Laboratory glassware refers to a variety of equipment, traditionally made of glass, used for scientific experiments and other work in science, especially in chemistry and biology laboratories...

 or its contents. Some hot plates also contain a magnetic stirrer

Magnetic stirrer

A magnetic stirrer or magnetic mixer is a laboratory device that employs a rotating magnetic field to cause a stir bar immersed in a liquid to spin very quickly, thus stirring it. The rotating field may be created either by a rotating magnet or a set of stationary electromagnets, placed beneath...

, allowing the heated liquid to be stirred automatically.

Advantages

Hot plates can be environmentally responsible

Environmentally friendly

Environmentally friendly are terms used to refer to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies claimed to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment....

, if the heat generated from them comes from renewable resources . In addition, the low cost of hot plates (usually little more than €20/$20 for a 1,000W

Watt

The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...

 plate) allows them to be used in the developing world or by those who are frugal or have a limited budget

Personal budget

A personal budget is a finance plan that allocates future personal income towards expenses, savings and debt repayment. Past spending and personal debt are considered when creating a personal budget...

. As such, hot plates can be considered an appropriate technology

Appropriate technology

Appropriate technology is an ideological movement originally articulated as "intermediate technology" by the economist Dr...

.

Safety

Care must always be taken to ensure that there is sufficient clearance between the appliance location and combustible materials above them. In addition, a hot plate should not be located in a place where the heat control of the appliance would be accessible to children and others unfamiliar with its operation.

There is another type of ceramic "hot plate" also called "Heat Retentive Plates" that remain hot after half an hour of preheating them, for only one minute, in a 1200 Watt microwave oven; they can be handled safely by the rim with bare hands (The rim does not get hot).