I was taught how to roast potatoes perfectly when I worked in a pub kitchen in London many moons ago. We used to makecrispygoldenroast potatoes to serve with drinks at the bar. The head cook who I worked under knew what she was talking about, and I have been making potatoes like this ever since.
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Now that I have progressed somewhat downtheculinary road, I have discovered a few new things, like using duck fat instead of sunflower or canola oil. This truly makes a very big difference in terms of flavour.
Duck fat can reach very high temperatures which you need to get the potatoes reallycrispy, and of course, being ananimalfat, it is laced with flavour.
However, if you don’t have this, sunflower or canola oil works very well too and is so delicious.
I have been reading up on numerous recipes on how to make the best-ever-roast-potatoes, and there are a few similarities. Namely the use of duck fat and thetechniqueof parboilingandfluffing up the spud before roasting.
One part where there seems to be somediscrepancyis whether to heattheoil/fat before you add the potatoes or not. In London we never did. In some recipes, thepotatoesget dusted in flour before being roasted and in others, garlic and other bits are added.
At the Woolworths Christmas range launch lunch in July, we were served duck fat roasted potatoes which wereheavenlyand I askedthechef how he made these. He never pre-heated the fat either.
I had also read about adding vinegar tothewater when you par-boilthepotatoes,somethingto do with preventing them potato from falling apart if you over-boiled it – so I used the juice of half a lemon instead, just to give it the mildest zing, although youdon’ttaste it specifically.
On the potato front, we in South Africadon’tget as many varieties as you do in the USA or the UK. Maris Piper is excellent for roasting (and making crispy chips). I like to useWoolworths Mediterraneanpotatoesbecausethey have a fabulous taste, but use the best that you can find that are suitable for roasting.
A few roasts to enjoy the best roast potatoes with:
Find a recipe for classic roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
how to make the best roast potatoes
Print Recipe
Prep Time:10 minutesmins
Cook Time:1 hourhr25 minutesmins
Total Time:1 hourhr35 minutesmins
Ingredients
1kgpotatoesthe best you can find that are suitable for roasting
2Ttable salt
juice of half a lemonoptional
80 – 100mlof duck fatabout 3 dessert spoons
a few sprigs of rosemary
sea salt flakesI love Maldon
Instructions
Heat your oven to a temperature of 200 C.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks -if they are large cut them into 3 pieces with as many angles as you can. It is the number of angels that create the crispness. If they are smaller cut them in half slightly diagonally.
Put the spuds in a pot with and barely cover with water, add the salt and the lemon juice, and bring this to the boil. Once it has reached a rapid boil, turn the temperature down to a simmer and cook your potatoes for 5 minutes.
Drain in a colander and then return to the pot that they were cooked in and with the lid on, holding oven gloves or a tea towel shake the potatoes about so as to ruffle up the edges. I used a fork to further rough them up.
Stir through the duck fat which will immediately melt over the potatoes, and tip them into a large baking tray, making sure you don’t overfill, there needs to be some space between the potatoes. If you add to many the steam will interfere with the browning of them. Scatter over a few sprigs of rosemary leaves, salt and pepper.
Roast for 1 1/4 hours or until they are at the desired crispy golden colour. I shook the pan around a few times and turned the spuds twice during the cooking time.
Scatter over more sea salt flakes and a few sprigs of rosemary as garnish and serve with your favourite roast.
Do I have to boil potatoes before roasting? Not necessary but this can help get the perfect consistency and crispiness. Make sure you boil them but leave them a bit al dente and they will crisp up perfectly in the oven.
In a video online, Gordon explained: “For crispy roast potatoes, you can depend on them, my tip is to parboil them, leave them to steam dry, then sprinkle them with semolina or flour, and then give them a good roughing up.”
Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.
If you want to make this roast potatoes day before recipe and keep the potatoes crispy, ensure you put them in hot oil before baking them. This will help the potatoes stay crispy. If you're preparing roast potatoes in advance and find they have gone soggy in the fridge.
For most potato dishes it's important to add the potatoes to cold water and allow the water to come to a boil with the potatoes in the water. The potato starch can react as soon as it comes in contact with hot water, which will promote uneven cooking and mealy potatoes.
A general rule of thumb is to parboil potatoes until they are fork-tender but not falling apart, this can range anywhere from 15 minutes for small potatoes to 25-30 minutes for large whole potatoes.
Preheat the fat. While the potatoes parboil, add the oil or butter to the roasting pan, transfer it to the warm oven, and heat it for about 5 minutes before adding the potatoes. This allows the outside of the potatoes to crisp up nicely and not just absorb the cold fat when you put them in the oven.
Restaurants often use techniques like parboiling or pre-cooking potatoes in advance to speed up the cooking process. Parboiling partially cooks the potatoes, reducing the time needed to finish them off in the oven or on the stove.
Top Tip: Give each potato enough space to ensure it cooks evenly. Overcrowding the tray can cause the potatoes to steam rather than roast, resulting in a soft and soggy texture rather than crispy. Season your potatoes and put them back in the oven.
There's moisture naturally found in potatoes, and moisture is drawn to higher concentrations of salt. (This is a process called osmosis.) So, if you put the potatoes in a salt water bath, that will help draw out some of their moisture, resulting in crispier fries.
First let's talk about why cut potatoes need to be immersed in water to begin with. The reason is to prevent the potatoes exposure to air, which causes dehydration, oxidation, and discoloration.
Roasted potatoes can become soggy if the water content in the potato isn't fully cooked. Different potatoes have different water content percentages. Also, be mindful of the oil. Potatoes can react like sponges; too much oil can make your potatoes appear to be soggy.
A: This sure sounds a lot like potatoes that have been stored too long, in too cold of an environment before cooking. When potatoes are held below 41°F for too long a period, the starches convert to sugar and it changes the cooking chemistry.
Parboiling helps soften the potato insides before the roasting begins, so you won't be tempted to burn the outsides in exchange for less undercooked insides. Boil the potato chunks for eight to 10 minutes—they won't be fully cooked, but they'll be ready for the next step.
The main benefit to boiling before roasting in my opinion is a crispier, craggier exterior on your finished potatoes. Boiling them creates additional texture on the outsides as they soften slightly, which then crisps in the oven. That said, I don't usually bother! I'd rather save the time and extra dishes most nights.
You'll want to boil potatoes any time you don't want them to dry out (as they can when baked in the oven). So it's a cooking method ideal for mashed potatoes or potato salad. Boiled potatoes on their own can also make a quick side dish.
That is likely due to not using a high oven temperature. Make sure your oven is set to 450F and use the parboiling technique before you roast them. This ensures the inside of your potatoes cook through and the outside gets crispy.
Here's how to do it: Just prick a few holes in a few potatoes with a fork, and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes, turning over once. There you go—super-fast par-cooked potatoes.
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