If you’re having 19 people for Christmas…

[Florally]

How many bags / trays of roast potatoes would you do? 😅

I know it’s September, but just based off a debate with my DH when I was loosely weighing the possibilities of what we need / what we have (chairs etc) to make sure we’re okay to do this.

I was particularly concerned most about oven space and potatoes being a favourite (particularly of my children’s) I wanted to work out if this meal would work and there would be enough for everyone..

Meat we can do in advance, lots of veg I can just pivot to all doing on the hob… thinking maybe I can include microwave and air fryer for some things. But potatoes?! Feel like there has to be enough and they have to be amazing right? (Done in the oven!)

for reference, the 19 is 4 60 plus, 8 30’s and 40’s, 4 teens, 3 under 10’s and one other who basically eats nothing so i’m not counting them in the need for food.

You can make them and freeze them, reheating on the day.

Does everybody have several ovens and freezers? The thought of cooking for a houseful of people would send me to the nearest restaurant for Christmas dinner. Most of us do not have huge dining tables, multiple ovens and freezers. Sounds like hell, even taking all the tips for planning and pre preparing into account. I love Christmas dinner- if someone else hosts it!

Our dining table is a cosy 6 maximum.

On purpose.

@Allseeingallknowing We have a typical double oven (one fan and the other doubles as a grill), a double airfryer, fridge freezer and a separate freezer in the garage. We could squeeze 8 around the table, but 6 would be more comfortable. I would certainly struggle to squeeze all of the suggested things into the freezer for 6 people, let alone 8.

You can do them in advance and just reheat.

@Allseeingallknowing I started cooking Christmas dinner when my Dad died and we no longer saw each other at my parents’ house.
Over the years, numbers have gone up with partners and children and now it’s 19/20 if everyone turns up. The first few years I was stressed and it was hard work but these days I’ve got used to it and just crack on with no stress and just think they’re having a dinner cooked for them, if it turns out wrong, well tough luck!
They all look forward to it and I go to great lengths to make it fun.
My kitchen/dinner is open with a sitting room adjacent and there is much movement of furniture to erect a couple of catering trestle tables as well as my dining table. I’ve bought cheap stacking chairs off marketplace as well.
I have two full ovens and ideally I could use another. I use the hob and a plug in hob in the utility room out of the way, to simmer the pudding. Last year it took me a good 5 hours to clean up after everyone had gone ( I don’t let the guests help).
This was something that started manageable with about 9 people and snowballs every year! I never imagined doing this for so many people!

How many air-fryers do you have between the 19/20 of you? If everyone brought theirs the night before, then your cooking space issues would be no problem! (You might just need extra sockets instead...).

Personally, though, I'd hope that one family made a first course, the host family made the main, another made pudding, and anyone else brought snacks! Hosting huge Christmas dinners is what my grandmother used to do, so I hope that you have an army of helpers.

Edited to add that my grandmother had a table that could be extended, and guests would roll up with extra dining chairs or garden chairs. As the youngest, I always ended up on the wonky stool! Also, I made sure not to sit next to people who would elbow me while eating in such close quarters.

I’ve done dinner for 20 (eek!) and 12 (slightly less eek!) here, solo. But not the formal Christmas dinner..I think that would be very stressful. And also easier back home where I have 2 ovens and. A microwave ..rather than a single temperamental oven and no microwave (which my teen still cannot understand).

I find for Christmas - people want a lot but will accept what is presented to them. So just do what’s feasible for you.

Its not really the lunch itself though is it, i like to eat them throughout the afternoon or evening (depending on when the dinner is served). No one can eat that many there and then but after people (me) like ot pick at bits

Why don't you let the guests help?

If they're coming over for Christmas dinner, they're clearly close family and should be asked!

Potatoes reheat really well.
roast so they just have colour on them and then keep them in the fridge.
extra fat in the pan to reheat and back in a hot oven for 20-40 mins.

same with Yorkshires. Air fryer on the reheat could be your friend for them.

don’t forget your meat can stand for an hour or so covered in foil and tea towels and will still be hot. so that frees oven space up.

oh and I do red cabbage in a slow cooker.
use pre-made (by me or bought!) frozen carrot and swede mash.
remake cheesy leeks and cauliflower cheese so that’s just a reheat. Cheese keeps its heat for a long time!
That also frees up oven space.

you can also get rechargeable heated trays for not a huge amount of money. That will keep your sides nice and warm.

https://www.procook.co.uk/product/stockholm-ivory-stoneware-pasta-bowl-set-of-4?cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=%7Bcampaigned%7D&cq_term=&cq_plac=&cq_net=g&cq_plt=gp&nbt=nb%3Aadwords%3Ag%3A21344371804%3A165432026840%3A700954055884&nb_adtype=pla&nb_kwd=&nb_ti=pla-296303633664&nb_mi=127414221&nb_pc=online&nb_pi=9461&nb_ppi=296303633664&nb_placement=&nb_si=%7Bsourceid%7D&nb_li_ms=&nb_lp_ms=&nb_fii=&nb_ap=&nb_mt=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21344371804&gbraid=0AAAAAD3uHvmGDEb1XvxcVcFlckxAHKuVz&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk87I7fjXjwMVlpJQBh2y7RY0EAQYASABEgKHA_D_BwE

you need a blate.

@BusWankers my DH helps and we are used to doing it together. Anyone else would just be in the way in the kitchen. Probably a touch of being a martyr and controlling too I suppose. I enjoy doing it though

Why be a martyr- it’s ridiculous losing 5 hours of Christmas Day. Next year take a firm stand, cut numbers, reduce the menu, use disposable dishes etc. Unless of course, you thoroughly enjoy enslaving yourself!

It takes 2 people 5 hours to clear up???

How much mess do these people make?

@BusWankers actually DH will be under the influence and will go to bed as soon as they leave which suits me. Can put my music on and clean up. Take 3 trestle tables down, stack and take back chairs to where they live, put furniture and rugs back where they were and clean up. 19 people have main meal, desert, numerous drinks, we also have a tea later as it’s an all day job, so will have another lot of plates, serving plates. It’s a lot of dishes and cutlery and I wash them in the sink. I don’t clean up as I go. The kitchen is a massive pile of mess after, mostly from the buffet tea.
Putting drinks back in the cupboard, wrapping up leftovers, scraping food off the floor (does happen), washing floors. It is a tremendous amount of work and I don’t make it easy for myself. I admit, I did use the dishwasher last year for a few things and that helped although some things I like to wash by hand.
My Mum thinks I’m mad but it’s my thing, here I am on the Christmas boards getting ready already!

This is the best advice on here so far. And I'm not even that fussed about roast potatoes...

But take it from a champion roast/Christmas dinner cooker from a large family: a 2kg bag will fill a roasting tin and feed 5 generously, but don't count on too many left overs. You need 3-4 2kg bags in 3-4 roasting tins.

If you are doing Yorkshire's too (and they do freeze well ime) then 3x bags and 3x trays, if you aren't doing Yorkshires then 4x bags and 4x trays etc. HTH.

People seriously underestimate the amount of time and effort that goes into Christmas dinner for a lot of people. I spend two solid days on it. Everything that can be prepared is done on Christmas Eve. I prepare all the veg (including 20lb of potatoes), make the stuffings and gravies, make the desserts, prepare the meats and sauces - it’s a full day’s job. Christmas Day is the same again setting the tables, cooking and clearing up.

Honestly, if you’re the type of person that gets an invite every year, please offer to help your host. My lot come into the kitchen five minutes before it’s ready and ask if there’s anything they can do to help. It wouldn’t occur to them to have asked three hours ago! 😂

I've hosted 17 for Christmas for the past few years and do 7.5kg of potatoes across 3 very large trays, and 1.5kg of parsnips in another. I have a double oven. This is usually plenty although there are rarely leftovers.

I parboil them early in the day and leave them to cool, otherwise they steam in the oven rather than go crispy.

I think I do close to 100 pigs in blankets as well!

@TherebytheGraceofGodgoI at the in-laws the dishwasher runs almost all day, we don’t worry about filling it completely and do lots of quick washes it keeps the chaos to a minimum. Plus there isn’t enough surface space to cook and transfer to dishes and cut etc if all the dirties get left. Certainly get the plates srcraped off and through once lunch is done. Takes 10 minutes to do it yourself if you don’t want help but saves a lot of effort later. Using it for the crockery is such a time saver. Pots and pans take up a lot of space and I can see why you might feel they’re easier by hand.

Why would you wash everything by hand when there's a dishwasher...

You load it up, out it in do other jobs whilst the magic machine does it for you. Come back a bit later, out stiff away, reload and again the magic machine does it for you whilst you do something else. You'd save yourself over an hour...

And you could definitely do a load i the dishwasher before and after dinner...

Like all the cooking stuff, instead of dumping it somewhere in the kitchen... put it in dishwasher and run a load during the meal.

Then you and DH easily put that away and reload the dishwasher from the main meal and run it...

I feel like you could definitely get the guests to put tables down and chairs away, furniture back etc... that's easy 45m + saved.

Fancy spending 5 entire hours of Christmas day doing a job alone and inefficiently, when you could probably get it all done in under 3 hours... Confused

i’d do 2 baking trays earlier in day and then to fit everything in the oven, once roasted move to 1 tray.