Serving Christmas Dinner

[blindedbythelamp]

DH and I cooked a lovely roast dinner this evening, but one again, parts of it were lukewarm when we sat down to eat. We are generally good cooks, but we always have trouble with it. Or I have trouble with it at least, it doesn't seem to bother DH, which may be part of the problem!
I would love to avoid this happening when we are hosting at Christmas, can you share any tips/hacks for getting a meal with lots of different elements served up piping hot?

Pre warm your serving bowls and also everyone’s plates. Serve the things that go cold quickest last - so sprouts, veg etc. cover the meat in foil after slicing. And if all else fails make sure the gravy is steaming hot as that will warm everything else up once poured on!

Are you putting it into serving dishes first. If so they need preheating with boiling water first.
Your plates need warming.
Finish your meat early, leave to rest then carve. Wrap securely in tin foil then it can go back in the oven if it won't be overdone.

Make sure your gravy boat is preheated and make molten gravy!!

Thanks for the responses. I think I need to rejig my timings so I can carve meat, cover it and put back in oven before I need to attend to everything else. I don't always use serving bowls when it's just us and DC, but I probably need to start.
And I need to stop DH turning down the gravy and taking things out of the oven too soon. It's so strange, he's a great cook, and very 'foodie' but the temperature of food is his blindspot. But if I can make two pots of mashed potatoes, as he can't bear potatoes mashed with dairy free butter and I don't eat dairy, then he can get on board with it with getting food on the table at the temperature I like

I buy (for Christmas) foil serving plates and stick everything on them. Cover in foil and keep in the oven until everything is ready

I bought a heater from Lakeland a couple of years ago. Sorry, can’t remember the exact name but you plug it in for 15 mins and it keeps things hot (unplugged) for 50 mins. It isn’t huge, maybe only take a couple of dishes, but it is useful.

I put my plates and platters in a quick wash through the dishwasher just before serving. I’ve got a hot quick wash setting.

Just adding that’s on days like christmas when we have guests. If it’s just the 3 of us, the microwave works well or the oven when I’ve got space.

Piping hot plates. I put them and if using serving dishes... in the oven until they're really hot
I hate cold plates.

Do you not have a microwave OP? Surely if it's just the two of you, a quick 'ping' would ensure hot food 🤷‍♀️

We have a warmer in current kitchen. In our old one I used to pop plates & serving dishes in oven to warm through. Makes such a difference.

I wouldn't put the meat back in the oven it will dry it out. It should have been rested anyway so won't be piping hot.

As others have said - serve meat first then meat trimmings eg pibs etc, then potatoes and veg. Covered in boiling hot gravy.

We don't tend to put the food in dishes on the table anyway, we lay it out in the kitchen and people serve themselves and sit down. I normally quickly then return stuff to the oven to keep it warm for seconds.

The problem I find is that people are so slow to serve themselves!

I’m afraid I disagree with a PP suggestion of sticking the food in the microwave before serving up - it risks making your potatoes and veg mushy, and your meat being overcooked.

I agree heating plates and serving dishes before put food on/in them is key.

But also, do you use a timetable to cook? Sounds a bit odd I know, but I have been doing it for years to get the timings right and make sure food is hot when I serve it. I decide what time I want to serve the meal and then work backwards to work out when to put things on. It means everything is ready around the same time (mostly!) and can be served hot.

And I also agree with Nigella - as long as you serve hot gravy and hot crispy roast potatoes, anything else being warm rather than hot will be forgiven!