Solve me a Christmas riddle! (Food related)

[snowballer]

We have one oven. A totally bog standard, normal, single oven with two shelves and an internal grill.

This year, I have 12 people for Christmas Day - 7 adults and 5 kids aged from 6-12.

How the hell am I going to actually cook dinner for 12?! I have done 9 from it in the past, but the extra three is sending me over the edge! I'm a pretty competent cook so suspect this is about timing and prep, but the fact the turkey takes up the whole oven for around 3.5 hours is rather awkward. (Must have turkey, must be whole bird - just preference).

Hit me with your incredible ideas! 🙏

Can I pre-roast potatoes the day before, for example? So they only have to go back in to heat up? Will they still be crispy if I do that?

What else can be pre-cooked the day before?

What I do is cook the turkey first and rest it for an hour- it’s better after a long rest and then you have the whole over free for everything else.

Do you have an air fryer or can you borrow one?

And this

Also prep everything the night before.

par boil potatoes then shake then in the pan with a bit of flour and then lay out so they can dry. They will crisp up the next day. Pre make or pre buy stuffing and put in with potatoes. If you are doing cauliflower cheese, pre cook it and reheat in a microwave if you have one. Pre make gravy so you just need to heat it up.

I've sometimes roasted the turkey the day before, dismembered it and sliced all the meat ready to be reheated in a dish with a little gravy the next day. Then all you need to do is put the dish in the oven for the last 20 minutes or so of the roast potato cooking time. You can then dispose of the carcass so it isn't cluttering up the place. It saves so much time and stress on the day, and you aren't a slave to the kitchen all morning. It also means that if the bird needs an extra half an hour it doesn't cock up all your other timings.

You can do all the veg prep Christmas Eve as well, and store it all in bags in the fridge. Peeled potatoes can sit in a pan of water on the stove. I usually make the pigs in blankets a couple of weeks before and freeze them; you can then cook however many you need straight from frozen. Same for stuffing balls etc.

This!
Also, you can prep and par boil potatoes and parsnips now, then freeze (make sure they have air space around them when freezing) then tip into hot fat and cook from frozen.
Carrot and suede mash can also be cooked now and frozen in its serving dish (if freezable) take out Christmas morning and microwave to serve.

Stuffing and nut roast for vegetarians can also be made in advance and frozen.

I've got one of those heated serving dishes with 3 big drawers and a bit to heat plates, I cook stuff then put them in it and keeps it nice and warm for dinner being served and frees up oven. I also have used the bit to heat plates to put food still in casserole dishes in.

As stated above: rest the turkey for an hour (or more) wrapped in foil and t towels. It'll be fine.
Roast potatoes in for an hour, other roast veg depending on what they are.
For that many people you'll need roast and mashed potatoes as you can't take up the whole oven with potatoes and still do pigs in blankets/stuffing etc.
red cabbage, cauliflower cheese, mashed potatoes can all be done in advance. Roast carrots and parsnips in the oven.
It really is only roast potatoes and Brussels sprouts (and other greens as you decide) that can't be reheated or kept warm.

These are all excellent suggestions - thank you! I always rest the turkey under foil and towels for at least two hours anyway. It's more about the puzzle of the rest of it and what can be done ahead. I'll have sausages, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes and Yorkshires (ducking for cover but my family would never forgive me if I didn't do them) all to be in the oven at the same time, and that's a large volume of all of those things to feed 12! I feel this is the time when a heated 70s hostess trolley would come in handy!!

Mashed AND roasted potatoes. It's the only way.

Slow cooker. Bbq. Use them both.
Precook stuff.

No round dishes or plates. Everything rectangular to fit side by side in the oven. Plenty of serving spoons.

Is this the modern version of a hostess trolley - what does it look like? I think this sounds exactly what I need!

We used to have an Aga and despite hating it for 364 days of the year because it was so ruinously expensive to run, it proved all of its worth at Christmas with so much oven space

Air fryer

Beg, borrow or steal an air fryer, or better still two. Our family is three households, and we all take our air fryers round to whoever is hosting at Christmas, makes a massive difference.

They look like a smaller version of the server things you get in canteens, like a table top version.

An airfryer or two will be very helpful
great for the Yorkshires, pigs in blankets, parsnips etc.

agree with resting the turkey - with hot plates and hot gravy, and hot sides it will be fine.

hopefully you have an air fryer then could get someone else to bring theirs? I think it would really help.

It should be ok then as you can use the oven for the turkey, then take it out and cover it while you use the oven for potatoes etc and do some sides in the air fryer/s.

Turn the trays sideways so you fit 2 per shelf and use the bottom of the oven to keep things hot. Rotate shelves to give everything time on the top one to crisp up.

If you’re an air fryer virgin - basically you can cook anything in it you’d do in the oven. I generally use the fan temperature and cook it for half the time I would in an oven

Getting or borrowing an air fryer is the answer. Then you can do the roast potatoes in it (in batches, if necessary) whilst the oven cooks the other stuff. The advantage of the air fryer for roasties is that they need to go at the highest temperature so you can keep the oven at a steady temp for the rest.

Also slow cooker for red cabbage, and microwave for quick heating of stuff if needed.

You’ll be fine!

Turkey goes in early Christmas morning and rests for up to 2 hours wrapped in foil and tea towels. DH carves it about 30 mins before serving and puts it on large serving platter wrapped up in foil - it's still very hot!

Prep all veg night before.

Cauli cheese/red cabbage made and frozen/chilled.

Oven free for roasties. parsnips, carrots, c/cheese and Yorkshires.

Also use air fryer for roasties and (shock horor!) shop bought large Yorkshires.
Hob free for gravy and pan roasted brussels.
Plates go into microwave to heat up and use boiling water to heat up gravy boat and serving dishes.

www.robertdyas.co.uk/daewoo-electric-buffet-server-small-3-x-15l
I have one of these and it keeps veg etc warm

For those who clicked on this hoping for an actual christmas riddle, here you go;

What’s black when you get it, red when you use it and grey when you discard it? 🤔

I think I'd better get an air fryer as it sounds like the key to the unlocking this puzzle...