How do you keep all the food warm prior to serving?

[Laurajean1014]

When giving a party or holiday eating, how do you keep all the stuff you make warm? So, when everyone sits down, it's not all cold or at least not the veggies or meat?

I was never good at cooking 5 things at once.

 

[Chattyaholic]

I either keep everything in the oven, on "warm" or keep food in pots/pans on the stove on "low" until it's time to eat then set everything out/dish everything up all-at-once. Or you could use those Pyrex dishes that have holders where you put a hot pack or cold pack (they come with both) inside and they keep food at the right temperature for a couple of hours. Or use slow cookers.

 

[pumba]

crockpots ......if you do your smashed potatoes ahead of time ......you cna keep them warm in the crock pot......same with some veggies too.......I know I had a hard time a few years back because I had five veggies warming at the same time......(son in law was a vegetarian) and I wanted everyone to have a choice of veggies too.....

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

I have a double oven which is awesome. Usually I have the turkey (or roast) in the bottom one, and everything else in the top one. If I run out of room, generally there is a 10-15 minute "rest" period, the another 5-10 for carving for the meat, so i get another 20-25 minutes in the lower oven.

I LOVE my double oven, and will not ever consider going back to just one!!

 

[MICKEY88]

I have 3 slow roasters with buffet inserts that I use for parties..they are great.....for thanksgiving I roasted my turkey in one, did my stuffing in one ..and in the third I roasted a few turkey breasts and thighs to have extra meat..after we ate,, we used the buffet inserts to keep all the food hot all afternoon since we had a few guests that had to work and were arriving late, we could keep 9 different foods hot...when it was time to eat the evening meal the food was ready.....

slow roasters are the modern equivalent of crock pots...yet more versatile with the buffet inserts...

I highly recommend that evey home have one..

 

[Muffin]

When we bring a dish (a vegetable casserole) to our holiday meals, we always take it right out of the oven and put it in our large ice chest. We cover the dish with aluminum foil and put a couple of sections of the newpaper underneath the dish. Even after travelling across town and not eating right away, when we open that ice chest, it's still steaming hot.

 

[zulaya]

If you cook on a stone, it will keep the food warm for up to 45 minutes after you take it out of the oven.