Can I cook my meat early?

[NotInMyDay]

I have 14 people for Christmas dinner and only a single oven. I'm going ham in the slow cooker but also a 4 bird roast in the oven. I need oven space for roast potatoes etc. Can I cook the birds earlier in the day and leave on the side to serve later? So room temp?

I have cooked my turkey on xmas eve loads of times, cook, carve, let it cool and fridge all ready for the next day, plate it on hot plates with hot gravy and serve !

can you afford to get a combi microwave with convection oven function?

the big bird can come out and rest under foil while you blast the roasties. If you start the parboiled potatoes two or three at a time in a heavy pan of very hot fat until they start to go golden, they will roast faster, less fatty and nicer (it's a revised Delia method). A deep fat fryer would work if you have one.

Always do mine Xmas eve

Another one here who cooks meat on Christmas Eve.

I also always cook meat on Christmas Eve. Much less stress and you can make stock for the gravy too.

Oh good I'm pleased that others do this.

Thanks for the suggestion about the combi microwave but no money or room.

My Mum used to have about half the population of Scotland to Christmas dinner each year and would cook the turkeys (yup, two of them) the first weekend in December, slice and freeze the lot and then reheat it on the day so her oven was free for roasties, etc. It tasted fine and nobody got food poisoning. She made the gravy then and froze that too.
If you decide to go with cooking turkey on the day I have seen many chefs and food writers recommend that you take the turkey out, cover in two layers of foil and leave to rest for anything up to an hour. If you parboil and freeze your spuds and veg so you can take them out the freezer on the 24th and sling into your oven an hour before the meal you should have them and the turkey ready to go at the same time. I can't remember if it was Delicious or Good Housekeeping who tested various ways last year of doing roast spuds and veg but their result was that parboiling and freezing actually got the best result because it softened and roughed up the surface so they absorbed a little more fat.
If you pre-cook the bird and gravy, pre-prep the veg and spuds, go with a cold starter (prawn cocktail? smoked salmon?) and a cold desert or microwaved christmas pud it should actually be a fairly laid back meal! Well, that's the theory...