For many families, Christmas dinner is one of the most important meals of the year, and being in charge of cooking and presenting the spread can be incredibly stressful.
Making sure the turkey is cooked through but still juicy, the Brussels sprouts still have a little bit of a crunch and haven't gone soggy, and the gravy isn't too thick or too runny are all crucial parts to nailing a Christmas dinner, and they can leave us feeling overwhelmed when we don't quite know how to get them all right.
But if you're starting to panic ahead of the big event, then look no further - as this step-by-step guide breaks down the prep and cooking times for different elements of Christmas dinner to help make the whole event less of a faff.
Turkey
Striking the perfect balance between a fully cooked turkey that's still lovely and juicy isn't always easy, and it's all too simple to overcook the meat so it's dry and unpleasant to eat.
But you can help make life easier for yourself by soaking your bird the night before. All you need to do is fill a large pot with salt water, two tablespoons of sugar and lots of black pepper, cloves and cinnamon. Leave your turkey to soak in this mixture for 12 hours, and it will help keep your turkey juicy until you put it in the oven.
Turkey is often the hero of the Christmas dinner so it's important to get it right, and you should start your meal prep with it. It's best to take your turkey and stuffing out of the fridge first thing in the morning, before preheating your oven and stuffing your turkey.
For the least amount of stress, your turkey should be in the oven within two hours of starting prep, so if you get your turkey out of the fridge at 8am, you should have it in the oven by 10am.
Potatoes and gravy
Once the turkey is cooked, take it out of the oven, cover it, and leave it to rest - as it's now time to move on to the roasties.
Take a roasting tin with oil or goose fat and put it in the oven to warm it up. In the meantime, start draining the juices from the turkey and heat it on the stove to reduce it into a thicker sauce that can be used as gravy.
While the gravy is being prepared, you can then turn your attention to your spuds, which will need to be part boiled before you can tip them into the roasting tin you placed in the oven - which by now should be nice and hot, and should make the potatoes sizzle when you drop them in.
Within 30 minutes, it'll be time to turn them over, then put them back in the oven and leave them for another 30 minutes.
For the potatoes, it's recommended that you do the prep work including peeling, boiling and fluffing a day in advance and refrigerate overnight.
Pigs in blankets and veggies other than sprouts
While the potatoes are roasting, place the pigs in blankets into the oven as well. These should take less than 30 minutes to cook, so make sure you don't lose track of time while you're preparing the rest of the dinner.
You can also start boiling the water for any of your veggies that aren't Brussels sprouts, such as carrots, parsnips, or broccoli.
By this time the gravy should also have finished reducing, so you can prepare any other sauces you're having - like bread sauce or cranberry sauce - next as well.
Brussels sprouts
The last veggie that should be cooked are your Brussels, as the staple Christmas veg is best when sauteed with either chestnuts or bacon and served slightly crispy.
This doesn't usually take more than 20 minutes, so should be the last thing you do before you dish up and start tucking into your meal.
Christmas pudding
Start preparing your Christmas pudding early on, in-between preparing your turkey and moving onto your potatoes. This will ensure it's done by the time everyone sits down for the meal.
After you've made everything else, it should be time to remove the Christmas pudding from the heat, after which you can serve it with lots of brandy butter.
Ultimately, everyone's Christmas is different, with menus and start times varying from family to family. The timings for you big day may need to be adjusted and expanded upon, but this basic guide should be a great place to start so you can get into cooking your Christmas Dinner with some peace of mind.
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