There’s no way to serve food hot for 11 diners

It’s shitty they mentioned it but fwiw I tend to leave as much as I can in covered pans on the turned off stove until the last minute. Turkey rests under several layers of teatowels until it’s carved. Roast potatoes sit in the turned off oven, mash and veg in covered hot pans. Pigs in blankets resting in air fryer closed drawers. Everything thrown into bowls at the last minute when people are literally sitting down. It’s a vase of ‘take a bowl with you as you sit down’

Zombie thread

How rude. I find it hard to get everything warm. And popping it in the microwave is hardly a crime.

Because it can still take time to decant all the different foods into dishes and get them to the desired place.
You might have the following to get dishes up

• roast potatoes
• chipolatas/PIB
• parsnips
• mash
• sprouts
• 2 or 2 more steamed veggies
• stuffing
• gravy
• bread sauce

And a roast that needs carving at some point.

Then if you're ferrying dishes to the table and people are sitting down and then you need to bring the roast, and then carve it at the table - the veggies will go cold.

It's easy for it to go cold

What are the circumstances of your SIL being incapacitated? I suspect a lot of this was to do with her feeling territorial about you being in her kitchen and doing a good job.

It's impossible to keep that many dishes hot. That's why I hate cooking Christmas dinner (and roasts in general!). We have plate warmers, heated plate stands, serve in dishes from the oven and it's still not hit. Have come to the conclusion that it's best to reheat each plate and people to start eating as soon as they are served. (Crackers are done after dinner and before pudding).

Me and DH cooked dinner for 14 and our food was more than hot enough. Me and DH don't even have gravy on our (vile stuff).

Why do you do crackers before you eat? They come after the meal surely?

I was worried about the food cooling so did the gravy very last minute to disguise it a bit.

Your SILs are ungrateful!

I don't see what is so wrong about popping it in the microwave personally. Since having kids, it's rare I don't microwave food - I like it v hot, and by the time I've cut up food, mediated strops etc, mine is usually too cool. And yes, I reheated my Christmas dinner (that I cooked). I don't see it as rude.

My grandmother had this electric heated catering trolley thing and bain maries

www.google.co.uk/search?q=ban+marie&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#imgrc=ZpCNpa5jIshmnM

I agree with you. We always do crackers between the main course and the pudding, as soon as all the plates are cleared. The thought of all the bits from the crackers spilling into the food doesn't appeal to me!

Why on earth are people doing crackers and a roast while the food sits on the table getting cold? Just eat it!

My suggestion would be to try to serve the food in the same dishes it's been cooked in. It might not look as fancy but something like a pyrex roasting dish, burning hot, straight out of the oven will keep it hotter longer.

Also yep get the speeches and crackers done over cold starters/ nibbles before bringing the hot food out straight from oven to table.

Don't invite SIL again. It's so difficult to keep things hot so invest in a hot plate thing.

When I take everything out of the oven, I cover it all with foil. I only lift it, to serve up. It keeps everything hot.

It's not easy and you did well so don't give it any more headspace.

Our house is fairly small so with all the extra guests it's easier for everyone to stay at the table after the starters I cleared away with help from Ds. I then had everything hot out of the oven and dished up each plate while ds brought over one at a time and served the gravy which was piping. I had it hot in a saucepan and kept topping up the jug. Told them all to start and not wait. It worked but probably not the done thing. No-one complained though as I think they were just glad to be waited on. I would love a hostess trolley but no room.

We had 9 of us yesterday, 7 adults, toddler and weaning baby.
I put everything out on the side, didn't warm plates, everyone served themselves and started eating as soon as they say down. No toast, just a quick thank you for the cook (me) and that was it.

I always find it easier serving it buffet style as people can have as much or as little as they like and there's not 1 person dishing up everyone's plates.
Plus, always make sure the gravy is the last thing out so it's piping hot

It is possible just not the usual way.

I keep food hot for up to an hour outside the oven before getting it to the table. The oven is for for the potatoes and Yorkshires after everything else is cooked.

I use bigger deeper oven trays and cook food in their chosen cooking dishes sitting on the tray.

Once it's cooked, the dishes and the tray are hot. I lay a folded towel on the worktop and put the tin with the dishes in on top, i then put a sheet of foil over and a large folded towel. When the next item is ready that goes directly on top of the last item, under the towel. Trapping the heat in.

You are creating an easy version of a hay box. This insulates the hot dinner.

It's important your plates and serving bowls are hot. Fill the sink with clean hot water and put everything in. Boiling hot gravy helps too.

My family are particular about piping hot food so this is the way we've always cooked big meals for up to 14. It works. I save non precious towels for this purpose.

I mean cool not cook! I do like my roast dinner to be cooked.

@MusicstillonMTV most certainly not alone! Piping hot food is rubbish. You can’t taste anything if you’re busy burning the roof of your mouth, the food needs to cook slightly so you can discern the flavours. And the lengths people go to on this thread are completely mad! Although I don’t have room for a hostess trolley in my flat so maybe that’s where I’m going wrong😂 So yes, your relatives were rude and life is too short.

Oh that must have been awful for you cooking bloody Christmas dinner in someone else’s kitchen but with their beady eyes on you and bellowing instructions at you .

However, hats off to you for even doing it in the first place. Well done op!

I would not be spending my Christmas Day with this person again and definitely not doing any cooking in their kitchen either.

Put your feet up today and try not to give it another thought.

They sound rude OP I’d not want to host them again. I was worried about cold food yesterday because my family member said they would lead on cooking this year but then typically they leave the ingredients out on the various serving plates and it’s often cold. So these are the essentials as PP suggested or it will be cold:

Carve meat onto plates so hot they are passed out with a health warning attached.

Everything else serve yourselves in similarly nuclear hot serving dishes

Gravy very last of all into jugs warmed with boiling water.

also like to highlight this same poster’s excellent point:

Cooking Christmas dinner for any number in a single oven is nigh on impossible, tbh. Guests need to be fawningly grateful because the difference to your day between being the cook and being anyone else is huge

And I then go round once people are served, quickly shoving the serving plates back in the oven so that the seconds weren’t cold. It’s essential that people need to start eating their food right away if they care about eating hot food at Christmas dinner and I really encourage that. It’s still a stress though!

It's not impossible, but it does take practice and organisation.

This. It's entirely possible but you have to be super-organised and disciplined. having a helper / sous-chef to carry things quickly to the table also helps so you can finish things off while the first plates are going out.

A friend and I used to host a Christmas dinner for 24-30 people every year. Think tiny house with everyone squashed round various borrowed tables on random chairs etc. One regular oven, one small microwave. We never had problems with cold food. But we are both incredibly organised (our jobs depend on it) and I used to work in function catering regularly cooking roast dinners for 100+ people.

Some people's brains just don't work that way though. My father's partner makes such a big drama out of cooking for 3 (and my Dad did the turkey, and I did the roast potatoes so she didn't have huge amounts to do) and just seems unable to even work out that if I want to serve food at 1pm, I need to start doing the vegetables at 1pm - x.

I stand boiling water in my gravy jug then at the last minute empty and fill with gravy and cover the top with foil.