No cook wants to see a dish grow cold while they’re waiting on the next one to finish. Follow these tricks to help all your holiday dishes come out at once.
One of the trickiest parts of preparing a holiday meal is getting all the dishes out at the same time. If you don’t, you’ll end up with some dishes sitting out and getting cold while others finish cooking. Here are our tips and tricks for holiday meal timing this fall.
Make a Plan
Before the big day, make sure to spend some time planning out all the dishes you want to make and how long each one will take to cook. This way, you can figure out your optimal cooking order. It will also help you avoid mishaps such as needing the same pan for two different dishes at the same time.
Make Some Dishes Ahead
Depending on what holiday you’re celebrating, there may be some dishes you can make a day or two before and store in the fridge or freezer. Making things ahead will save you time on the big day and can be a big help if you have limited preparation space.
Do Your Mise en Place First
Mise en Place is the French art of preparing all your ingredients before you begin cooking. If you have everything ready to go, you won’t have to stop and make preparations while you’re managing multiple dishes. Do as much of the prep work as possible before you begin cooking to streamline your process.
Use Towels to Insulate
Once certain dishes finish cooking, you can keep them warm by wrapping them in kitchen towels. If they have a lid, make sure to keep them covered, and don’t forget to put them on potholders. Not only do potholders protect your countertops, but they also help prevent heat from transferring out of a hot dish.
Use Different Cooking Methods
If everything you want to make needs to cook in the oven, and you only have one, you’re going to have a harder time planning out the meal preparation. Try making dishes that use different appliances so you can have multiple things going at once. Alternatively, you might consider investing in a double wall oven, since cooking things at the same time is one of their advantages.
We hope these tips and tricks for holiday meal timing this fall prove helpful. With a little planning and foresight, you’ll be able to host that picture-perfect family dinner.
