Serving xmas dinner for 17 - tips please

[arinkydinky]

We always host Christmas dinner and have cooked for this number of people for a few years. Mix of 3 older children and the rest adults. We’re sorted with the prep and cooking - our issue is serving it all up. We’ve tried bowls on the kitchen island for everyone to help themselves and tried serving directly onto plates but it always means things go cold and people not eating at the same time.
Does anyone successfully serve a hot meal for this number to all eat at the same time. We have a double oven that will both be in use until serving. TIA XX

We host for this amount of people every year (up to 24 one year!), we seat everyone at the table and then dh dishes up all the meats, pigs in blankets and a Yorkshire pudding on each plate, we get all the side dishes on the table once everyone is sitting down then the dds and I get plates to the table. Once you have your plate serve yourself the sides and basically within about 5 minutes everyone is ready to pull a cracker and eat.

@GreenGodivathat is absolute genius! I’m going to do that this year!

I have a hostess tray rather than a hostess trolley and have used it for large gatherings for years. The turkey is served directly onto plates. All of the veg are in warm serving dishes and everyone is already seated and start serving themselves. As they are doing this I and DH are getting roasties/pigs in blankets/stuffing out of oven. He takes the toastie and I do the other and basically quickly served these to people fromthe baking trays they were cooked in so they stay very hot. Drinks sorted before all this begins. Two large jugs of piping hot gravy arrived with the toasties ext. Table always totally set the night before with everything looking lovely. Seems to work ok.

Thanks for all your hints and tips xx

Following with interest as have 15. 3 of them are young kids. Last year we had 12 and I did individual plates and has same issues as you. This year tips I’ve gathered are

• warm all plates in dishwasher to save oven space
• got a 2nd slow cooker for the gravy and a double air fryer
• ive got the hostess trolley and it was good for pigs in blankets & stuffing
• I’m going to do multi smaller serving bowls as well and enlist an extra helper. Good idea to also warm them
• ive was thinking of covering the serving dishes with lids or foil on the table until we bring all the dishes in with the meat.
• and keep telling myself it’s only a glorified Sunday dinner!

We did 16 recently and the dishes were all put on the table but covered with two layers of foil to keep the heat in then covers removed when everyone was seated.

Look at plate warming mats on amazon, so much easier than a hostess trolley.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=plate+warming+mat&crid=9TLP6MXGENQG&sprefix=Palte+warming+%2Caps%2C221&ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_1_14

Put all the serving dishes on it before you put the food into them,so they are already hot. Preheat the plates on it so the food then lands on hot plates. Make the dc serve themselves first and anyone who is picky about food temperature goes last

Have everyone already served drinks and ready to GO when you get the food in the serving dishes,so there is no faffing.

Put gravy and other sauces on the table so that people can serve themselves after they sit down while waiting for the rest of the people

We use serving dishes and some have lids. You could even use stainless steel domes. Warm them first so they don’t cool the food down. You have to put in the things that get cold first and have everyone around the laid table ready too. Vegetables in platters last because they get cold first. Roast potatoes on the platter first because they stay hot for longest etc.

Thank you so much for this thread! I'm having a lot of guests this year and I've picked up a lot of fab ideas here x

Personally I would have all the meats, pigs in blankets and yorkies set out, get everyone to line up, grab a plate, a couple of people serve these things (will move it faster than self serving) - like at a carvery, then have all your sides either on a side table if feasible or on the table, and they can move along and self serve sides. Hot gravy and condiments on the table

Never seen those heating mats before - that’s clever! I would never have space for a hostess trolley in my flat - even those buffet warmer things are huge!

I host 16 every other christmas and Easter. Get one of those hostess trays - they sell them quite cheaply in B+M/ the range/ home bargains as well as online. I've got 2 (a really big one and one from b+m) which means when I'm only hosting 6 or 8 I don't need the really big one out.

Get a plate warmer from Lakeland to save oven/ hostess tray space.

Serve everything that needs to be hot in hot dishes, plates and jugs. I use boiling water from the kettle to heat jugs and gravy boats up.

Get someone making sure everyone gets themselves drinks (preferably in another room and not the kitchen when you are dishing up) whilst decanting into hostess tray is happening. I give everyone a 5 minute warning. I dish children's plates up during decanting and get someone to put them on the table so it can cool whilst everything else gets finished off.

I put plates at the end with napkins and everyone queues up and gets what they need. Children sit at table with plates in front of them.

I warm plates and serving dishes with hot water, then each table gets serving dishes of everything- but only a few eat meat so they don’t get it at both tables

Also, make the biggest faffers about go first. MIL and GMIL are the biggest faffers and the sparrows of the family who spend half the time at the buffet digging around finding the smallest of everything (I kid you not, they have 1 tiny slice of meat each, 1/2 a pig in blanket, 1/2 a stuffing ball, 1 roast potato, 1 piece of each roasted veg, 1 small bit of cauliflower with the smallest amount of cheese possible and half a Yorkshire pudding) and remarking on how they exist on dust and fresh air the rest of the year and how they now won't eat until boxing day tea at MIL's (which is a sparse affair and everyone but MIL and GMIL eat before they go). Everyone else knows to let them get to at least the second to last dish of the buffet before starting their own plating up.

I’ve never had as many as that- for us 9/10 is usual. Got warming tray with compartments that you plug in and that was a game changer. Keeps stuff warm while other dishes finish cooking and then the compartments can be used as serving dishes. I’ve never carved at the table, too time consuming. My turkey is always ready two hours before everything else. Wrap in foil and clean tea towel and it will still be warm meanwhile you can focus on other things. I plate up turkey and roasties only. Everything else is help yourself.

My mum uses a mix of hostess trolley and slow cooker on low to keep things warm and we serve ourselves buffet style and then the gravy on the table

We do a huge batch of gravy in a 3.5l slow cooker.

A big basin in the sink with scalding water into which you put the plates, serving dishes etc. When you're ready to serve just tip out the water and fish them out. If it was hot enough they'll more or less dry themselves.

Slice any meats, cover in foil and return to oven briefly to get really hot. Then take out and wrap dish in a thick bath towel, which will keep heat in until you're ready.

I've tried both serving up in kitchen (and just let your diners work out that Aunty Jean doesn't like sprouts but Uncle Pete does and they do a quick swap) and putting everything on table. Not sure either is different in respect if how quickly people start eating though. If everything on table it can still take a while for everyone to finish passing dishes round, even if you do have several of each.

That’s not very hospitable, to plop down a generic plate of food. Doesn’t take into account allergies and other issues.

OP is cooking them a Christmas meal, it's the very definition of hospitable. She's not running a restaurant. And nobody said that this would apply to guests with allergies.

@CheeseIsMyIdol presumably the hosts would be aware of any allergies before serving and in which case would tailor accordingly. Not sure what other ‘issues’ might be?
We do plate up meat potatoes and Yorkshires and everything else is in serving dishes on the table - remaining meat, potatoes and Yorkshires are then added to the table once the chef has finished serving up for everyone to help themselves to. People can eat what they want and leave what they don’t want.
When you are hosting and accommodating large numbers of people you focus on getting nice food out as quickly as possible to retain heat and to be able to eat together.
You’re already being pretty hospitable in the first place, it’s not a restaurant catering individually to ‘one spoon of cauli cheese please and 2 potatoes on the other side of the plate’ - would be fine for a table of less than about 5 people but most people’s Christmas doesn’t resemble a double page spread of Good Housekeeping and guests to need to be mindful of that when taking up an invite to a large family Christmas.
I mean, ours are certainly very cheerful and jolly and return yearly so they’re fine if it’s less than Michelin star service!

Honestly it’s no drama. 22-24 is standard here. Make sure your table is completely set up with additional cutlery (as someone always drops an item) same with napkins. Drinks - white wine in coolers. Red lion excess bottles on the table. Jugs of water and a glass for everyone. Children will they want lemonade. Everyone has a set place on the table usually the more fit people go into the harder spaces. 4 jugs of gravy down the table

Now you can either serve everyone and the kids shuttle the plates (check if everyone wants everything first) no point giving Brussels spouts to everyone if they are just going to go in the bin etc.

make sure you do the VEGETARIANS first. No wants a contaminated meat fork picking up their food.

Sign someone up just to carve the meat.

Serve straight from the pans. I never bother with warm plates who cares. Gravy done last.

Or I line all the food out on the worktop and it’s like school. One plate each and they pick from the top what they want. Tongs in each bowl or each different item. But get the food for the elderly first.

End of and enjoy.

Hot plates - turkey carved at the table onto three hot platters, pigs, stuffing come in in three bowls, hot gravy (three boats again), roasties and snips x 3, veg x 3 (coming in last), cranberry and bread sauce on the table x three. Keep the veg simple - carrots, sprouts, perhaps one other. Prep ahead and microwave.

You do your best, it might not be piping but people should be glad to have it done for them. If they whinge, they can do it next year.

We put in the middle of the table until numbers became too many (grandchildren have partners) and now we put on the kitchen island serving from both sides

Absolutely, I often see them in charity shops.