Expert warns forgetting 1 oven job could lead to ‘tears’ on Christmas

With Christmas Day fast approaching, those tasked with preparing the festive feast are being warned of a common mistake that could ruin the day. The pressure of perfecting roast potatoes and ensuring there’s ample food for everyone is already daunting enough.

However, one DIY expert has revealed that many Brits unknowingly set themselves up for disaster before even starting the cooking. According to @fixitwithfraz on TikTok, who boasts 15,400 followers, he often receives frantic calls from people “in tears” offering large sums of money to fix this issue.

He emphasised the importance of using all parts of your oven regularly to prevent faults. In his post, he explained: “Let me explain to you why they found themselves in this situation and how you can avoid it so if you’re hosting Christmas or going to someone who is hosting Christmas and they’re cooking for way more people than they’re used to.”

He added: “Chances are they’re going to be using different functions, different parts of their oven and their hob, different hob rings they don’t normally use.”

If certain parts of your hob are left unused for extended periods, the elements can deteriorate.

This could potentially trip the electrics when switched on, causing a major inconvenience. However, by acting now, there’s still time to rectify any issues before Christmas.

He went on: “Get your oven on, get your hob on, test all those functions that you wouldn’t normally use because every Christmas. I have people crying down the phone with this in this exact situation.

“They’ve turned everything on to use, used a spare oven, got like a double oven and they don’t normally use the grill where they’ve turned the extra hob rings on and the whole machine shuts down so they’re left with literally trying to do Christmas dinner on one little oven.

“So please check it out while you still got time to sort it out, this is literally touch and go now guys.”

How to verify your oven is functioning correctly:

Temperature gauge test: Position a thermometer on the middle shelf, heat to 175°C (350°F) and allow it to operate for a minimum of 20-30 minutes once preheating concludes. Verify whether the thermometer measurement aligns with the setting (accounting for temperature fluctuations).

Element inspection (electric): When selecting bake/grill mode, elements ought to illuminate red (upper and lower). However, if one fails to do so, it could be defective.

Gas lighter examination: Observe the igniter – it should illuminate brightly and ignite the gas within approximately 90 seconds.

Biscuit trial: Lastly, bake some biscuits! Should they brown too rapidly/slowly or inconsistently, the oven is probably inaccurate.