Christmas dinner slow cooker

[dietstartsmonday]

Hi

I have a small oven so am wondering what parts of christmas dinner i could slow cook, this will help with room!

If you have soup on Christmas day, it can be nice done in a slow cooker or a roast or ham is good too. Do you have a hob-top steamer? I use mine for my veggies and it saves a lot of space.
Sorry to not be more help.

No i don't have a steamer, but might be worth investing in one then, just cannot get it all in silly little oven!

Thanks for that suggestion

I think the ob ones are better as I've had an electric one and it's a faff to clean. You can put something like potatoes in the boiling water and quicker cooking veggies in the other two. You will definitely use it again and again.

I jsut cook my dinner in batches and then reheat. I've done Xmas dinner for 11 in one oven, and done two birds. I just cooked all morning then reheated things like the meat and left things like the potatoes til last so they would stay crispy.

You could pan roast your carrots and parsnips too. parboil, then saute in butter with some honey or maple syrup and herbs, until golden and caramelised.

Really not sure what you could do in the slow cooker.

was trying to avopid the batches, but looks like it may be the way to go

I am going to do ham in slow cooker and turkey in oven then take turkey out and wrap on foil and towels for hour (will need to rest anyway) then put veggies in oven.

Would buying a cheap halogen oven help at all? You could do some of the roasting in one.

Im going to slow cook my ham overnight, then transfer the soup I make on christmas eve into it on Christmas morning and have it on all morning. Well thats the plan anyway.

Does anyone now how long I should slow cook my ham for if im doing it with the nigella recipe in Coke?

Use the slow cooler to heat up the pudding. Saves on a hob. We usually have our pudding lurking in the futility room. Or if you have red cabbage with the meal it could do that.

You can steam Xmas pudding in a slow cooker.

oh pudding hadn't crossed my mind at all that would be a good idea.

And it's great because you don't have to think about the timing of it - you just shove it in on Christmas morning and it will stay fine until whatever time you want to serve it.

And the turkey can be cooked and wrapped in foil to rest for a good hour somewhere warm, thus freeing up the oven for potatoes, pigs in blankets stuffing etc. Bread sauce and gravy can be made before and heated up In the microwave.

I bought an electric three-tier steamer for sprouts, carrots and new potatoes leaving the oven for bird, roasties and stuffing. Christmas pudding can be done in the microwave as it is already cooked and only needs to be heated up. I do use the steamer between Christmases, for veggies or fish for example.

Beef rib is lovely in the slow cooker

Think about a Remoska (Lakeland sell them). I've only got one oven but the Remoska gives us the extra space and is much cheaper to use. I probably use it 2/3 of the time I'm "oven cooking" although I've not really baked in it. I've also got a three tier hob steamer and an electric steamer, the electric one has a much bigger capacity and I've never found it a problem to clean. I did a Christmas meal for 15 using this combination although as the turkey was so big (and it was friends rather than family!) I did get a friend up the road to do the potatoes and bring them down.

Ms Pickles, never heard of one, but just looked it up. Looks fab. Is the food tasty when cooked in it?

You could roast your turkey the day before and carve it. Put that in the gravy in the slow cooker to heat up on Christmas morning leaving your oven free for the trays of roast veg/potatoes and your trimmings. Plus you'll have your carcase available on christmas eve for the stock for your soup on christmas day.

I'm a bit evangelical about them . My DM and Granny got them and convinced me. I find I don't need much fat as it heats efficiently and things cook faster. Our oven is old and slow to heat up, I bunged two jacket potatoes in ours tonight and they were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside in just under 40 mins and used little electric. I even took it to France rent a tent camping...I've got the deeper dish and the splitter and the normal one. I also love that they go in the dishwasher. I've had mine 4 years and it's taken quite a pounding but carries on...DH thought I was mental when I bought it but is now also a fan. Mind you, he still hasn't got over me having a replacement steam mop from my parents one Christmas when mine had expired...

But you on need to cook the spuds and turkey in the oven dont you? You take the turkey out to rest and pop the spuds (& parsnips) in to roast so it isnt a problem. The turkey with bone-in will keep hot for a few hours if lightly covered with foil.

Yes, I always take the turkey out before turning oven up for roasties.

Red cabbage is nice in a slow cooker?

I cook Turkey first and then spuds, parsnips, stuffing, pigs, yorkies, honey glazed carrots!

Bread sauce and gravy on Christmas Eve and reheated and veg in electric steamer.

I like the turkey cooked on Xmas eve and then heated in the slow cooker in gravy leaving the bones ready for soup idea though.

Blue lights, it saves faffing about trying to carve it while doing a million different things - you just serve it straight from the slow cooker and you only have to put in enough for that meal- I make up a 2nd lot ready to chuck in for boxing day. Makes christmas day soup the best too.

You don't need to use the slow cooker if you don't have one - just put the meat in an oven dish covered with foil or a casserole dish and do the same - doesn't take long to cook - just make your gravy quite runny as the meat absorbs some - you can also just use a bit of stock and add thicker gravy when serving.

I remember Jamie Oliver said to take the turkey out of the oven two hours before serving, cover it in foil then a couple of beach towels, and it'll still be warm enough to serve, plus will have rested nicely. Can't stand JO normally but on this occasion he was right

That should free up the oven to cook spuds / keep other stuff warm as it's done.

Slow cooker good for cooking up bones for soup.
Haven't really tried it for veg.

JO oliver to the rescue then. Had no idea it could stand for two hours!

Pleanty of time for everything else