Cookers/ovens

Well I think they have been superseded by double ovens. I use the smaller oven/grill compartment of my double oven to keep things warm.
If the big oven is on, the small oven gets warm enough by itself to warm plates/keep things hot.

I have one of those old-fashioned hostess trolleys.

As janea suggested above, or you could buy one of those electric foodwarmers - Lidl had one not long ago.
Try looking on ebay, but you may need to go somewhere to buy one as it may not be delivered before Christmas the way things are going!

Here you are, I am not advertising any one in particular, just to show you what they look like:

www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/buffet-food-warmer

Thanks.

The oven came with the property and there's no manual. I'll look it up on-line.

I inherited one of those when we moved here, Falconbird and felt quite lost without the double oven. To make matters worse, it was a cheap and inefficient oven. And to compound that, there was no room, without ripping the very nice, newly fitted kitchen apart, to install a double one.

I am still working it out two years on! I have a couple of slow cookers which ate handy if it's stews etc, but it is a fine balancing act with all the other dishes. I honestly couldn't manage without my microwave - which I love anyway - because heating up dishes is so quick.

I am seriously considering one of those buffet things, but have spent most of my life resisting the hostess trolley....

Good luck.

Ariadne a friend has bought a halogen oven to supplement the oven she has. Have you thought of one or have you the space?

As in a previous post, I use the grill compartment of my double oven. It is usually warm enough to do the job. I also have a large hostess trolley. DS won it in a mess christmas draw one year before he got married and gave it to me!. These days, when we don't do a lot of entertaining, it just sits in the dining room, coming into its own once a year! I have tried to give it back to him, now that he is married and has a house to put it in, but he doesn't want it. You can get smaller ones with a warming drawer and veg dishes, that will sit on a sideboard (which begs the question, do people have sideboards any more?).

I think I must be missing a trick here.

I call everyone to the table as I'm putting veg into dishes. That way they don't need to be kept warm.
On the rare occasion something does need to be kept warm I put it back in the oven when I've turned it off. My oven stays quiet warm for quiet a while.

I am seriously considering one of those buffet things, but have spent most of my life resisting the hostess trolley.... Ariadne - bought in a panic when I was catering for the 5,000 (or what felt like it!)
Used occasionally since and very useful for storing tablecloths, spare crockery etc!

My roast potatoes would be in the oven on quite a high heat until the very last minute before serving, so I don't turn the oven off until then.
Unless you want to face a pile of saucepans after Christmas dinner then something to keep the vegetables warm is a great idea, I think, just make sure the sprouts are slightly undercooked before you put them in!
The turkey will be resting, and if you are lucky someone else can be washing up the saucepans!

A common problem, this, how to keep food warm. Our solution, which seems to work for us, is two have two small free standing ovens. They both include a grill and rotisserie. When there are just the two of us we don't need any more oven space - we have a seperate gas/electric hob as well. The second small oven is right next door to the kitchen in the utility room. A great advantage is that both ovens are at waist height so no bending or stretching is necessary.

I have a sideboard which is rammed full of serving dishes etc and a full-size hostess trolley! I know they are mocked as being typically middle class but when I was regularly feeding 7 it was a boon. Now we use it for keeping different courses of a take away Indian warm, on Sundays when anyone comes round and for drying out meringues!

papaoscar that's it! Just what I need, and I have space in the utility room too. Thank you.

I did buy a Bosch oven which is excellent, but still not double.

Anyway, no Christmas cooking for me - we normally do the circuit these days.

Great idea kitty - drying out meringues. I will have to remember that, not that I make them very often, but we do like a pavlova!

In fact, I am wondering if we will have to take the hostess trolley with us again this year as DS is 'doing Christmas'

I am not the only 'old granny' with a hostess trolley then!

I have a hostess tray with a plate compartment. That does the rounds at Christmas too. It stands on the sideboard and things are added in their serving dishes as they are ready. Second helpings are a doddle - people gets up and help themselves when they need more, and it is all still hot.

That is the sort of thing I thought would be useful, Falconbird.

Perhaps I should buy one for DS.

I was telling a friend bout the stand alone oven, and she said that she hada combination microwave with an oven function. Do you know, so do I! It never crossed my mind to use it as a warming oven. One lives and one learns.

If you use a slow cooker you can keep a few things warm on the upturned lid, then cover with a towel.
I use this method for just the 2 of us, no good for a crowd.

We have a couple of those warmers with a candle under, like the ones in Indian restaurants, for occasional use. Very cheap. I will think we got them at the Range.

I re-heat the Christmas pudding in the slow cooker.

Hostess trolleys.....does anyone recall the Victoria Wood song, 'Let's Do It'? Nuff said!!

Oh yes, Katek! "Bend me over backwards..."

Hehe!

Those trolleys have wheels. I hate to think where you would end up. Out on the street giving the neighbours a demonstration?

Love my trolley! On my second one in 48 years. Use it for Indian takeaways, the odd dinner party. Makes great meringues.
I find if I cook a meal I'm too exhausted to eat, so I put it in the trolley, have a then I'm ready to
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