One oven! One! Five guests. HOW??!!

[roarfeckingroarr]

I'm a control freak who loves to cook and normally do everything at my parent's house with guests and my fiancé. This year we have a tiny baby so people are coming to our London flat. It's going to be me, partner and baby, DP's sister, my dad and his dad. COVID police - bugger off, support bubbles.

We have one oven and one microwave and a job with four spaces. How can I even start to do a proper Christmas dinner?!

Even worse, I won't actually be cooking becauSe of aforementioned tiny baby, so DP and his sister are doing it all while I hold baby and drink champagne. They're not bad cooks but what can I do in advance well so I don't have to trust them with everything?

One is a fairly normal number of ovens to have, isn't it?

Meat in the oven, potatoes and veg on the hob. Meat comes out to rest, potatoes and anything else go in the oven. If DH and SIL are doing it, then let them crack on, I'm sure they can manage.

Surely most people have only got one oven?! I do and I've hosted Christmas dinner for 8 people a few times, always a minimum of 4, and it's been fine. So much can be done in advance! The turkey should be well wrapped (in foil and then lots of tea towels or I use a beach towel!) and left to rest for ages Some chefs say to rest the turkey for as long as you cooked it. If wrapped well it won't go cold, will absorb a lot of the juices to keep it moist and anyway it will be put on warm plates and covered in lashings of gravy! So while the turkey is resting, you have the oven free to do your roasties and stuffing etc.

I find it better to work out exactly what I'm going to cook and then do up a timeline so I know what to do and when, every step of the way.
Some veg etc can be cooked the night before and will only need to be heated for the day.

It just takes a bit more plannning and prep but it's totally do-able.

Enjoy the newborn snuggles and champagne sipping - I don't know what you're worried about if that's all you're doing

I’m sure lots of people manage to feed their family of 5 with one oven? I’ve done Christmas dinner for 6 before with a small oven. Cook the Turkey the day before then you have oven space for roast potatoes, stuffing, pigs in blankets.

Have you got a slow cooker? You could put cooked earlier pigs in blankets, stuffing or roasted carrots/ parsnips in there to keep warm?

Buy a counter top oven. They're between £40 and £80 for a 22litre one. They just take up the same space as a microwave.

This is pure Mumsnet. You obviously need one oven per 2.5 guests, plus one for the baby. Divide the number of ovens by 2 and you can work out how many dishwashers you need.

I've cooked for a lot more than using one oven!

You can make a lot if Christmas dinner ahead eg Christmas ham can be done the night before; turkey could be done earlier, sliced & reheated, sides eg red cabbage, Christmas coleslaw, bread sauce etc [these are things I eat, just for examples!] can be made ahead.

Really only potatoes, green veg need cooking at the time.

And this:

I won't actually be cooking becauSe of aforementioned tiny baby, so DP and his sister are doing it all while I hold baby and drink champagne.

I know you're joking a bit here too, and of course DP & sister should cook too, but how tiny is baby?! You can still do bits for dinner with a small baby!

It'll be fine!

It can't be done sorry. You'll have to get a takeaway

1 oven here. 10 for Sunday lunch every week.

Roast your meat first...it can rest for a few hours with some foil and a few tea towls over the top.

Oven now free for roasties etc.

Get ready meal christmas dinners and microwave them one by one, give each guest a timeslot for when to expect their meal.

😂

Quit while youre ahead OP. It can not be done. I can give you the number to a fab indian take out?

Jeez, this is going to sound like mumsnet chicken but I’ve cooked for 15 using one normal sized oven and hob.

As per PPs you just need to be organised. I cook gammon the day before. I cover the turkey in foil and some folded bath towels and it stays warm for ages. Then your oven is free for everything else that needs to go in the oven.

If you’ve only got 2 shelves in your oven I’d suggest buying another one.

Definitely rest the turkey for an hour in foil and tea towels over the top. This also means you can use some cooking juices for gravy.

Roasties, sausage meat, sausages in bacon, stuffing goes in at that point.

Everything else is on the hob.

I’ve cooked for 19 with one oven. It’s very doable.
Gammon cooked day before.
Turkey rests after cooking.
Finish gammon in oven (glaze) and oven veg.
Hob veg and gravy.
Potatoes cook while you eat starter (cold and prepped while turkey is in oven)

Ham on Christmas eve- its nicer cold.
Turkey goes in first thing, once its cooked wrap it in foil, and a couple of folded towels it will stay warm for a couple of hours.
While the turkey is resting all the trimmings can go in - no problem.
It wouldn't even occur to me to need a microwave, at the end of the day it's only a roast dinner just the same thing you cook every week but with a few extra veg choices and the pigs in blankets.

Cook the bird, cover & leave to rest for an hour and a half, cook everything else.

Prepare sides beforehand if you can so that there’s less to do on the day. I always have a mix of a microwaveable dish (e.g. red cabbage made ahead of time), an oven dish or 2 (e.g. carrots & parsnips, pigs in blankets, plus stuffing), and one that’s prepared on the hob (e.g. sautéed Brussels sprouts with pancetta, chestnuts and cranberries). While that’s all cooking/heating I do the gravy.

LOL I misread that as 10 guests - my brain couldn’t even compute not being able to cater for 5 with one oven...even 10 is perfectly doable!

@ElizabethG81

This is pure Mumsnet. You obviously need one oven per 2.5 guests, plus one for the baby. Divide the number of ovens by 2 and you can work out how many dishwashers you need.

But then I come from a family of 8 siblings, so Christmas dinners of 15-20 people aren’t all that uncommon!

But really there’s no need to panic. If you really want to make it easy, get prepared trays of potato/veg/stuffing, and some readymade gravy.

We did 17 with one oven, one microwave and a hob with 4 rings.
Prep, prep, prep!

It’s going to be fine.
Just chill out and let your sil and DP worry about the timings.
The meat needs to rest for a while after cooking so you can get roast veg and potatoes, sausage meat stuffing etc in then.
It’s just a roast dinner with a few extras.

We did Christmas dinner for 15 people last year with one oven and no microwave, so it is doable. Couldn't tell you how though as DH does the cooking . I think the turkey gets done first then comes out and gets covered in foil and the roasties, stuffing etc goes in, and the pigs in blankets, and the veggies are bubbling away on the hob. What do I know though!

Slow cookers are great for keeping sides or gravy hot. If you are using serving dishes, get them really hot with boiling water before filling with veg. Put a lid on, they'll stay hot for a while. Serve onto hot plates.

Again, slow cooker for soup if you have that as a starter.

It's only a roast dinner, OP.

Also I’d strongly suggest to just have dinner in the late afternoon/evening - much nicer, no stress over getting the turkey in at the crack of dawn and everyone just eats when it’s ready. Nice and chilled.

If you don’t have a meat thermometer, get one.