Whether it’s a small family dinner or a big get-together feast, cooking Christmas Dinner can be a stressful venture. With our combined experiences of Christmas Dinner triumphs and disasters, we have put together a list of all the cookware tools and utensils needed to seamlessly create and serve your delicious dinner with as minimal stress as possible. You can thank us later!   

What size roasting tin do I need for my turkey?

So, you’ve been to the Butchers and you have ordered the largest corn-fed, organic Turkey you can get your hands on. You know exactly how long it needs to be cooked for and have found a delicious stuffing recipe to fill the bird with, that’s that taken care of, right? Don’t forget, you need something to cook it in! Sure, most of us own plenty of roasting cookware, but if you want the best from your bird you will need a quality roasting tray that’s large enough to sit the Turkey in comfortably with a little bit of wiggle room. Here are our guidelines for bird size in ratio to roasting tin size, give or take a few centimetres here or there should be fine though.

Turkey Size (KG)	Approx. Roasting Tin Size (cm)
2 – 3 KG	18 x 26 cm
3 – 4.5 KG	22 x 32 cm
4.5 – 6 KG	25 x 35 cm
6 – 9 KG	30 x 42 cm
9+ KG	35 x 48 cm

Top Tip – Measure your oven ahead of the day to make sure your roasting dish and Turkey fit inside!  

How many roasting tins and saucepans are needed?

Similarly make sure you have enough roasting tins to house your potatoes, parsnips and anything that needs to go in the oven. Another tip is to calculate how many saucepans/steamers are needed for the selection of vegetables you will be serving. Things like broccoli and carrots have very different cooking times so you won't be able to cook them in the same pot - double check you have enough hob rings to be able to cook them all on too! But don't fear if not, think outside of the box, honey roast carrots are a delicious alternative. Lastly don't forget you may need additional saucepans for sauces (bread sauce or homemade cranberry or apple sauce), gravies and dessert extras such as custard, brandy sauce or syrups. This will save you rushing to stack the dishwasher or to scrub the pots for the next round of cooking. It will also ensure that, as long as you plan your timing right, everything can finish cooking together at the same time and will remain hot when it is plated. (If you are struggling to find some decent cooking guidelines, we found Delicious Magazine had a great step by step guide available on the web with precise times measured by the weight of the bird)

The essential utensils for preparing the Christmas dinner

There are plenty of kitchen tools that don’t come out often enough for us to realise we don’t have it too! Whisks come in handy for getting a lovely smooth gravy, potato mashers – or even better, ricers – are essential for lump-free mash, as are good quality vegetable peelers for prep. There are some great recipes available via the BBC Good Food website for things you can prepare ahead of time and to save you from doing on the day, putting your utensils to good use too. Also, don’t forget quality meat carving knives and forks to neatly slice your finished bird. Other utensils you might want to have at hand include a baster to help keep the turkey nice and juicy, or if you plan on glazing your finished meat you might find a pastry brush comes in rather handy as well!

Christmas stress-relieving gadgets

Although not essential, there are some kitchen gadgets that make preparing such a large meal that much easier. Having a cooking timer at hand will ensure that nothing gets forgotten and in consequence, overdone, whilst a meat thermometer will give you piece of mind that your bird is perfectly cooked all the way through and safe to eat. If you are health conscious you might want to remove the grease and fat from your homemade gravy and there are special gravy strainers that can help you do this. Lastly, it may seem excessive but a jar opener will guarantee there isn’t a struggle and delay in getting into the cranberry sauce… heaven forbid!

Serving on the Christmas Day

Just like with the roasting trays and saucepans, calculate how many guests you have coming and how many courses you plan to serve, then work out exactly how many plates, bowls, knives, forks, spoons and glasses this will entail. Again, making sure you have plenty of these for the day will save you running back and forth to the kitchen to wash dishes, therefore giving you more time during the meal to spend with your family and friends. (and hopefully someone will offer to help with that later!) If you like your table to look as good as the food your putting out, then don’t forget some nice place mats, serving dishes, serving spoons and of course a gravy boat will help to dress the table beautifully. Country Living has some gorgeous festive ideas for table settings and centrepieces that we just love and might give you some inspiration for a pretty setup. We’d love to hear all about your Christmas Dinner making stories, let’s face it we’ve all got a funny one! If you’ve got any of your own tips, tricks or ideas then share them with us on our social media pages where you’ll also get updates on all our latest products, blog posts and events - so be sure to follow and like our pages. Merry Christmas!