I use an electric skillet. It's nice and deep. I put jars inside (baby food jars for the shorts and jam jars for the 12" rods) the skillet and fill the jars 3/4 with sand. The sand keeps the rods from falling out, but also holds and distributes the heat really evenly. I love the fact that I can just turn the whole thing on and go prepare my ipod/water/etc. and by the time I'm ready, I have warm rods in every color at my disposal! I just do a quick wipe with a paper towel before introducing into the flame- Just in case there's any dust from the sand. So far no problems! I really wanted one of those hot iron warmers, but it looks like it could be a little unstable. Oh, and I've never cracked a jar from the heat of the skillet! (knock on wood)