This under-used air fryer function could cut hours off your Christmas dinner cooking time on the day - here's how

No matter how prepared I am in the run-up to Christmas Day, there's always a point when I'm more than a little stressed while trying to cook several dishes at once.

There are a few ways I try to reduce flapping over a hot stove at Christmas. The big one is using my pick of one of the best air fryers as well as my oven. Not only does this help me max out on possible cooking space, but everything I cook in my air fryer takes significantly less time than it does in my oven.

So when the originators of the air fryer Philips (whose new air fryer is now available for £249.99 via John Lewis) got in touch to remind me of the reheat setting on my trusty air fryer and how it can be used to save Christmas dinner, I was all ears. Here's how this overlooked setting might just be the hero of your Christmas dinner.

How the reheat setting on your air fryer can come in handy at Christmas

The air fryer hack that can help to ease cooking-related tension in your house this Christmas comes courtesy of Philips' air fryer chef Martin Senders.

Though many people rely on cooking charts from chefs to guide them on Christmas Day, one thing that those lists overlook is the power of cooking ahead.

Martin reminds us that getting ahead is one way of banishing stress, saying 'A brilliant time-saving hack is using your airfryer to beat the Christmas rush by cooking your stuffing in advance.'

I reckon this rule doesn't apply to just stuffing, either. Dishes like pigs in blankets could also benefit from the reheat treatment rather than taking up precious real estate in your oven in the crucial half an hour before serving. Martin adds, 'Your favourite side dish can then be fresh and table-ready after just five minutes of reheating at 180 degrees.'

If you take the example of our sister website woman&home's handy Christmas dinner plan, then using this reheating hack could save you an hour and a half of cooking time on the day (accounting for the parsnips, pigs in blankets and stuffing being precooked).

What's more, as my air fryer is small and heats up in super quick time, I often find it a more useful way to reheat things than my microwave. On Christmas Day I plan to have the majority of meal components cooking away in my oven whilst I reheat other elements I've cooked ahead (like stuffing and pigs in blankets) on the back burner to reheat in my air fryer.

With an air fryer under your belt, I think there's no doubt Christmas dinner will be much more straightforward this year.