Wanted: TV dinner segmented trays, preferably aluminum

This is what I'm looking for, but I'd settle for other materials since I don't believe they even sell aluminum ones anymore. I definitely don't want ceramic because I'm looking for ones that are lightweight and inexpensive since I plan to purchase a bunch. Has anyone seen these? I spent over an hour searching online and on Ebay and Amazon with no luck so far. Thanks for any suggestions.

with no knowledge whatsoever, I'd suggest doing a search for thali trays as something that might be similar enough to fit your bill.

seebee wrote:with no knowledge whatsoever, I'd suggest doing a search for thali trays as something that might be similar enough to fit your bill.

Just did - that does present a possibility and if I can't find the ones I'm looking for, I might check out Devon this weekend. Thanks seebee for the idea!

Hi,

I saw a few things on ebay that may interest you:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wilkinson-D51-L ... 2582f51eae

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-PK-Foil-TV-D ... 23198c5f46

Beyond e-bay:

http://www.kitchendance.com/tvdinner.html

Foam, though rather close: http://www.instawares.com/genpak-10-3-8 ... gp.0.7.htm

You can always make your own:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TV-Dinner-Tray- ... 3a638505d9

Regards,

Thanks Cathy - I'll skip the last idea. I had seen the first couple of aluminum trays and while close, they're just too deep compared to the real tv dinner trays - I'm guessing close to 2" vs. 1". The foam ones actually look perfect . . . just concerned about ordering 500 . . . the price is great but I wouldn't have a place to store them. If I end up going that route though, they might be a good thing to donate for the picnic for to-go packages if someone had room to keep them.

You might want to look in military surplus stores for mess trays. Amazon has them in stainless steel but they might be more expensive than you want to pay.

Coogles wrote:You might want to look in military surplus stores for mess trays. Amazon has them in stainless steel but they might be more expensive than you want to pay.

Or a visit to American Science & Surplus might turn up something. You never know.

American Science & Surplus
5316 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60630
(773) 763-0313

Try restaurant supply:

Krasny & Co Inc
Address: 2829 N Clybourn Ave, Chicago, IL 60618
Phone:(773) 477-5504

They have a lot of aluminum.

Just curious - willing to share any clues on how you plan to use them?

Thanks for the help. I guess I'll be on a mission this weekend.

Siun, I'm planning to use them exactly as you'd suspect . . . recreating a tv dinner . . . but hopefully with much better food. In fact, my current thought is a short rib stroganoff, but cooking the short ribs 72 hours sous vide to medium rare.

I'd be shocked if they have the exact aluminum TV dinner trays you're looking for, but a stop at Alliance might be worthwhile. Here's something I wrote a few years ago in another thread.

Rene G wrote:You might visit or call Alliance Paper and Food Service on W Randolph. They were very helpful when I was looking for something several years ago. Alliance will sell retail though often only in large quantity. Even if they don't have what you're looking for they could probably tell you if it's a standard item and if it isn't maybe recommend a substitute.



Alliance Paper and Food Service
913 W Randolph St
Chicago
312-666-6424
http://allpfs.com/

Thanks Peter - I agree that finding the trays I'm looking for is very unlikely, but they have the sectioned trays and with that I can improvise. Will definitely speak with them.

Hoping the 72 hour sous vide short rib stroganoff TV dinner becomes widely available ... oh my oh my!

These are available on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-PK-Foil-TV-D ... 23198c5f46

They are close, but not exactly what you want. If you search TV Dinner Trays on ebay, you will also turn up some plastic TV Dinner/Camping compartmentalized trays.

Bingo.

Here they are: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TV-Dinner-Style ... 5d4658e230

and

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TV-Dinner-Style ... 2eccc0b78e

They aren't cheap.

bw77 wrote:Bingo.

Here they are: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TV-Dinner-Style ... 5d4658e230

and

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TV-Dinner-Style ... 2eccc0b78e

They aren't cheap.

Actually, those are metal trays imprinted with the graphic of the TV dinner on it--in the description, they note that there are no "compartments" in the tray.

BR--really excited to see your pics from this meal--great idea!!!!

Thanks Jen . . . and thanks bw77 . . . one problem with the aluminum trays I've seen (including one in your link) is that they're just too deep . . . more like a to-go package than the retro tv dinner tray.

Since there have been some good suggestions, I feel I'm not hijacking the thread by asking why segmented trays exist anyway?

I certainly remember TV dinners, I thought of them as cool and a treat. I also remember the larger version, plastic by the time I encountered them, in the Army. There it's easy to guess that they serve as a form of portion control, and to give the server, in my experience a minimally-skilled kp, a target to hit with his serving spoon. Were they ever used in commercial cafeterias?

The TV dinner tray usually had 3 or 4 compartments, with diagonal divides, like a very shallow vee centered on a long side of a rectangle. Aside from neatness, very appealing to a kid and perhaps a soldier struggling with an unfamiliar cuisine--who might try this so long as not contaminated by that--do they have other advantages I haven't mentioned?

The "this... not contaminated by that" aspect is more critical for the frozen TV dinners, where you would be heating things together. While I don't care if my salisbury steak is infiltrated by the mashed potatoes and the green beans, not so fond of the peach cobbler getting it on with the gravy.

Even in a cafeteria or picnic environs, it's useful tho: who hasn't had the crispness of fried chicken ruined by drippy cole slaw?

It's been years since I've seen something like this, other than picnic plates... and of course the Bento Box specials at Japanese places.

I've got a friend in the food packaging biz... he's looking into it but doesn't think they're made anymore.