Christmas Day Schedule: When to put the turkey in the oven according to Jamie Oliver, can you prep ahead?

How many of you set the alarm on Christmas Day morning? No, I am not writing about setting your alarm because you can barely contain your excitement at opening the presents under the Christmas tree. The reason many of us need to set our alarms is of course to ensure the turkey is in the oven early and the Christmas meal is as perfect as it can be. 

Although Christmas Day cooking can be incredibly stressful and can often take all the fun out of the day, is it possible to be meticulously organised and plan ahead? Well according to Jamie Oliver, it is, hence the reason why he has his own master plan when it comes to the big day. 

According to Jamie Oliver, there are Christmas Eve jobs that you can do to ensure you are prepared for Christmas Day. These Christmas Eve ‘jobs’ include doing all the prep for your stuffing, getting your turkey ready, prepping your pigs in blankets, and parboiling your potatoes. As well as preparing your cranberry sauce the night before, Jamie also advises laying the table to save time on the day. 

Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Day lunch schedule (for eating at 2pm)

• 7.20am is the time that Jamie advises putting your turkey in the oven. On his master plan he says “Bring your turkey out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature, before beginning the recipe for cooking your turkey.”

• 9am is when Jamie suggests prepping your turkey..

• 9.20am is the time to put your turkey in the oven

• 11.15am.  Remove the foil covering the turkey.

• 12pm. Jamie Oliver says this is the time to test if your turkey is cooked so take it out of the oven and leave to rest for up to 2 hours. gravy. 

• 12.15pm. After prepping your potatoes the night before, now is the time to start on your roast potatoes.

• 12.35pm. Jamie Oliver says “At this point, you should finish the gravy recipe and have it ready to reheat when you serve.

• 12.45pm. If this hasn’t been made in advance, according to Jamie, this is the optimum time to start making your cranberry sauce.

• 1pm, it is time to take your potatoes out of the oven and complete Jamie’s recipe instructions.

• 1.10pm, it is time to put your meat stuffing in the oven and start preparing your carrots

• 1.20pm. If pigs in blankets are on your menu, put them in the oven at this time and begin preparing your brussels sprouts.

• 1.40pm. Heat up gravy and reheat your cranberry sauce.

• 1.50pm. Jamie suggests that this is the time you need to CHECK EVERYTHING before tucking into your Christmas Day meal.