I've never owned one before. What kind of fuel is used in these?

There are a variety of fuels available--usually ranging from 2 to 6 hour burning time. Choice is one of the cheaper suppliers.http://www.webstaurantstore.com/2603/chafing-dish-fuel.htmlAlso, you can purchase electric chafing heaters, or perhaps adapt a hot plate instead of the "Sterno" burners--preferably a low-power one with adjustable power settings. The common 2-burner hot plates cost often around $25 or so, which have a maximum of 1000 or 1500 watts of heat available (much more than needed--so run it at a very low heat setting). If you opt for a corded heater, make sure the chafer is on a table next to a wall, so that nobody trips on the power cord.Myself, I use a Black & Decker two-burner portable buffet range ($21.82 at Amazon) for heating my chafer.http://www.blackanddeckerappliances.com/products/cookers-and-steamers/buffet-ranges/double-burner-portable-buffet-range-db1002b.aspxIf you do get a chafer, also buy some 1/2 and/or 1/3 size pans *from a restaurant vendor like katom or whatever in order to augment the full-size pan that comes with the standard chafer. In my case, I buy six-pound canned vegetables and cook all kinds of soup, stews, pasta, etc. and keep them safely warm in the 1/3 size pans, usually, until I consume it all.

Is there a divided food pan anyone can recommend for use with this? (good price/well made, like this one)

Myself, I own a Choice chafing dish for $38 with the shipping cost, which is similar to the Winco C-3080B Newburg chafer.http://www.webstaurantstore.com/8-qt-economy-chafer-stainless-steel-chafing-dish/100ECONCHAFE.htmlI purchased several standard steam-table pans and lids for mine. Most of mine are the heavy-duty 22-gauge, anti-jamming Winco 2 1/2 inch deep pans. The pans are very inexpensive--some cost less than $3 for the smaller sizes. The lids are cheap, too.The pans and lids come in various standard fractional sizes: full, 2/3, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, and 1/9. Also available are perforated pans that allow the fat from various foods like chicken to drip off into the water pan. You can mix pans of different sizes, as I do in my chafer. So, instead of having just a 50%/50% divided pan, you can tailor-make whatever division you want with the fractional-sized pans.I use my chafer for warming food throughout the day with a 1500-watt Black & Decker 2-burner hot plate to heat the water pan instead of Sterno fuel--much cheaper. The hot plate has a number of heat settings.

If I directly place the food in the bottom tray (i.e. not water) is it okay ? The food tray is a bit small.

Not recommended... I did the same and my food burned. The tray is too thin and my pasta burned.

Is this chafer NSF certified and does it rust?

Winco does not show this item as NSF certified.In regards to rust, any type of metal will rust over time if not cared for properly.This unit is stainless steel so it should last you quite some time before you should be concerned with rust as long as it is cleaned and stored properly.

8 Quart Full Size Stainless Steel Chafer and 3 1/3rd Size Chafing Dishes Food Pans and Cool-Touch Plastic on Top

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