Here’s How Mary Berry Stays Cool While Cooking in the Summer

It feels like it’s a thousand degrees outside, but no matter how hot it gets, I can’t picture Mary Berry sweating. With her pristine pastels and giant pearl necklaces, Britain’s baking queen always looks as cool as Elsa (and I only just noticed they almost have the same hair).

Mary Berry does not actually have magic powers, though, and she doesn’t want to be standing over a hot stove in the middle of a heatwave any more than the rest of us do. But instead of calling for takeout or making a salad, Mary Berry tells Country Living that when the weather gets really hot, she skips the stovetop and goes right for the oven.

Turning on the oven and pulling out the roasting trays would not have been my first thought for a summer heatwave, but Mary Berry points out that if you’re using the oven, you don’t have to stand near the heat source or do much watching or stirring. You can just open the door and put the food in, then retire someplace cooler — preferably with a lemonade or a gin and tonic — and come back when it’s finished.

“Cooking things in the oven means you’re not staying over a heat,” she says in an interview with Country Living.

Berry says she’d probably go with a big tray of sausages roasted in the oven with fresh garden vegetables and lots of onions all around them. You could use a different meat, too, but nice brown sausages and vegetables are a favorite for summer dinners on the grill, and Mary Berry is right — the oven works too.

If you’re looking for another way to cook that does not involve standing over a stove, you could always turn to the trusty ol’ Instant Pot. You can make a lot of good summer recipes in an Instant Pot, and no one has to stand around over a stove in that case, either.