4 smart cooking tech must-haves for a stress-free Christmas dinner

Christmas dinner rarely goes wrong because you can’t cook – it goes wrong because everything needs doing at once.

The turkey wants space, the sides all run on different timelines, and the kitchen turns into a juggling act of timers and trays, but the best smart cooking tech takes the guesswork and babysitting out of the process.

Think meat thermometers that tell you when the bird is actually done, an air fryer that frees up the oven for the main event, and a multi-cooker that keeps gravy, veg, and sides warm, while you get on with hosting.

To help make Christmas even more special, we're taking a look at the key gadgets to that accompany you on the special day.

Christmas short list: the top upgrade to buy your calm

If you only upgrade one thing for Christmas dinner, make it a quality smart meat thermometer like the Thermapen One.

It’s the simplest way to stop second-guessing whether the turkey, beef, or ham is actually cooked through, and it lets you plan the rest of the meal around a clear finish line, rather than constant oven-door checks.

Air fryers: an extra oven for sides

An air fryer is the Christmas cheat code because it gives you what you never have enough of on the big day: extra oven space.

Once the main oven is committed to the turkey or joint, you can hand the air fryer the jobs that cause the most last-minute stress like the roasties. Look for either genuinely big capacity or proper two-zone flexibility.

The Philips 5000 Air Fryer is a smart pick if you like the idea of running two baskets at once – a larger 6-litre basket alongside a smaller 3-litre basket – plus steam in the mix for gentler cooking when you want it.

If you’re feeding a crowd, the Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer is the more “go large” option, built around the idea of cooking bigger batches, or splitting the drawer to handle two different foods.

Meat thermometers: Get the turkey right

A meat thermometer is the difference between cooking by confidence and cooking by anxiety.

Instead of poking, prodding, and opening the oven every ten minutes, you get a clear read on doneness, freeing you to work on other things.

For fast, no-faff checks, the Thermapen One is the classic choice – it’s rapid, fully waterproof for easy cleaning, and the display rotates as you change grip.

If you’d rather set-and-forget while you crack on with sides, the Meater Plus is a wire-free probe that tracks both internal and ambient temperatures, and walks you through the cook in the app.

Multi-cookers: cook like a pro

The next biggest stress-saver is a quality multi-cooker, because it turns the hob into a calmer place.

Instead of fighting for a free burner when every pan seems essential, you can offload whole jobs and let it tick along while you focus on the roast.

A strong all-rounder here is the Ninja Foodi 11-in-1 SmartLid, which is built for switching between modes without constantly swapping accessories, making it easier to bounce from a side to a last-minute crisp-up.

If you want a more budget-friendly alternative, the Instant Pot Duo Crisp + Air Fryer gives you pressure cooking plus an air-frying finish in one unit, which is handy for Boxing Day leftovers.

Smart display: an overlooked helper that keeps things on track

A smart display won’t cook your roasties for you, but it can quietly remove a lot of the background friction that makes Christmas dinner feel hectic.

Being able to set multiple timers by voice, glance at the next recipe step without unlocking your phone, and fire off quick conversions all adds up when you’re trying to land everything at once.

The Amazon Echo Show 10 is particularly handy in a busy kitchen because its 10.1-inch screen is designed to move with you, keeping recipes, timers, and video calls in view as you bounce between the counter, hob, and sink.