Rage to Range: The Christmas Dinner
The war is over but was the battle won? As we down our carving knives, shut off the oven, finish the 18th load of washing up and place the special plates back in the attic for hibernation. The culinary festivities are over for another year. I can remember as a child the build up to Christmas day, the pre meetings regarding who was cooking the turkey, who was bringing the potatoes, the veg and the Yorkshires?
Having to plan with military precision on what could fit in the oven and what needs to be bought in on a special request from who, which, where and when. People turning up at different times of the day with a tray of whatever food they were in charge of producing in tow, with mum piecing together the roast from various positions, microwave working overdrive to ensure each plate is adequately warmed. Even as a young child I would observe this chaos not really knowing a solution but always feeling that the activity of preparing this feast would partly take the soul from the day. Mum would not be seen from 9am as was busy in the kitchen visitors would arrive and offer their help to which the tables would be laid, plates would be prepared, and steam would be pouring from the kitchen with the adults noticeable hot and bothered.
As times pass and we turn this tradition over to our young ones and now play host to the day of Christmas and take on the life burden of the dreaded Christmas dinner it has become a natural instinct to realise why this task takes on the facet of a commendable feat to pull off. This is of course if you are trying to work without the correct tools.
More commonly, most of us are working with a conventional oven, with two shelfs both barely large enough to hold the turkey let alone a couple of trays of spuds and anything else we need to cram in there. The top gas hobs buring all day like a vigil to London in 1666, windows full of condensation, only to sit down to enjoy the meal, pulling the crackers and the paper crowns sliding down the foreheads of who ever dared to enter the kitchen or should I say the 45-degree steam room.
There must be a way to help us out here, right? Well thankfully there is, it is called the Range cooker. A true hero in kitchen clothing. You are likely to find more than one oven, extra hobs, extra-large hobs, hot plates, griddles, grills plus more depending on the size and model you choose. They would be standardly more expensive than a conventional oven however they are a prudent investment especially if you have a large family as the time and stress you will save in the kitchen over the next 10+ years will pay for itself tenfold. The preparation of a large Christmas dinner can be very unforgiving but with a Range you will breeze it, your guests will not have to bring trays of food, you will not need to spend hours exchanging the broccoli with the sprouts or the Yorkshires with the spuds. You can prepare, cook and serve, leaving you time to enjoy the day with friends and family rest assured all is on the way. Often you will find showrooms selling off ex demos at a fraction of the retail price and can be sure to catch a good deal if you time it right.
A Christmas dinner needs to be stress free and enjoyable and Christmas is the time for the range cooker to shine.
Written by Damon Robinson
