A hot plate is ok. Doing it on a gas stove with an open flame, could be dangerous. Hot fuel is awesome as long as you can keep it from boiling, because like the articles said, pumps don't pump vapor. In a carb it isn't so bad to get little bubbles, because the carb will burp itself and you'll still have liquid fuel in the bowl that the venturies can suck up. In an injected application, you can vapor lock the fuel rail and the engine will run like absolute crap. That is one of the advantages to running a high fuel pressure is that you can raise the boiling point of the fuel. Hot fuel atomizes better and burns more efficiently. However, unless you can keep it from boiling and can generate the exact same fuel temp every time, it can be hard to properly meter a hot fuel engine. The hot fuel also can reduce the volumetic efficiency of the engine since it also makes the air hotter, especially with a carb. This would be bad for power, but still good for fuel economy.
