What are your best roast dinner tips?

[NomineCornelia]

Just that really. My mum always taught me the that you need very hot plates and very hot gravy to serve, it can all get a bit lukewarm otherwise by the time it is all dished up.

Chicken for us today, given a nice herby boob job under the skin for flavour. I've never got the hang of making gravy

I'd love to hear any other tips to make things easier and/or tastier!

My best tip is to go out for a carvery

My top tip is to get DP to make it and the DC to wash up. Bonus points if you have a snooze whilst it's being made.

I shake the oat-boiled potatoes with flour before roasting. Makes them lovely and crispy

Oat boiled = par-boiled

Damn I thought oat boiled potatoes sounded interesting
(I am going to try them)

Put your shaken par boiled spuds into a hot pan of hot fat thats been waiting in the oven, don't put them in cold oil and heat them up. Or if you have a deep fat fryer give them 5 minutes in there first to start them off.
And use a floury spud with lots of flavour such as King Edwards or Maris varieties.

Cut a lemon in half and stick both halves up the chicken before roasting. Makes it super moist.

Was going to say about fluffing up par boiled potatoes too. Makes such a difference. I've always put them into hot sunflower oil too. Mine turn out very nice and I never used to like roast potatoes before, neither did DS.

I dredge my par boiled roasties in semolina before putting in the hot fat (goose fat is best)
Stole it from Nigella and it’s always a hit.

If time allows I always roast the potatoes the day before or when I’m making breakfast on the day. Means I can use a big tray to get them properly cooked then pile them into a dish half the size to reheat for serving. Game chamber.

If you use gravy granules (I’m veggie) boil the gravy rather than just sticking granules and water in a jug.

Make your gravy using the potato water. We’re lazy in this house and use bisto best, but the same principle applies for real gravy.

Yorkshire puddings go with every meat.

Baste your meat to keep it juicy :)

I’ve got a joint of pork in at the moment. You slow cook it for 6 hours and I’m dying - it smells so good!

DH uses every bloody pan in the kitchen if he cooks, the scene of devastation is not worth it! DD is a baby so sadly too small for Marigolds.

I will definitely try fluffing up the potatoes with an added crisping agent next time.

...just going to baste the chicken now...

For perfect pork crackling I always dry the rind with a hot hairdryer for 2-3 minutes until rind feels really dry. Don't add any oil at all - just season to taste. Then place in medium hot oven.

Once the actual meat is cooked, if the crackling still isn't quite crispy enough take the joint out of the oven, detach the whole rind section from the meat and then wrap the meat in tin foil to keep warm. Return rind/crackling back to the oven, place on baking sheet on top shelf and turn up the heat. Bake until ready but just don't let it burn.

Works perfectly for me every time. Not sure how well known this is but I have passed this tip to lots of people. It was given to me years ago.

Once you’ve par boiled the potatoes let them go completely cold. Then use a fork to roughen them up before putting them into the sizzling hot fat, make sure they are covered in the fat then sprinkle with sea salt. Leave well alone for half the cooking time, then turn over

For perfect cracking on pork score the skin/rind then put in the sink on a rack and pour over a kettle of boiling water, all over the fat. Pat dry, salt generously and then cook initially on a high heat then turn down after 20 mins. Works every time. For Yorkshire puds use Mary Berry's recipe, again works every time. Make gravy using the meat juices (pour the fat off and store in a ramekin in the fridge for the following week's roast potatoes) with gravy powder and all the veg water added.

Rest the meat for half an hour before carving, cover it in foil and tea towels to keep warm

Agree re v hot gravy. Bisto is an abomination and I massively judge people who use it

To make gravy, tip any more than a tablespoon or two of fat out of roasting tin. Then mix remaining fat with a tablespoon of plain flour, scraping the bottom of the tin. Gradually add potato water as you turn on low heat underneath, stirring all the time. When you carve the meat, add any meat juices to the gravy.

Don’t let anyone open the oven door on your yorkies

When you fluff the par boiled potatoes, add some turmeric to them! Makes them lovely and golden and adds some warm flavour.

M&S do jars of concentrated stock that you can add to gravy to make it richer.

When I make stuffing up with hot water, I put a teaspoon of gravy granuals in there and make it quite wet. Then when I oven it, high temp over, and it’s crispy on top and soggy in the middle.

For Yorkshire puddings I use equal volumes of milk, eggs and flour, make sure the oil is hot.

Cook the chicken/turkey upside down keeps the whole meat really moist

That sounds amazing @Coached literally just bung it in with the dry dust and water?

Definitely yorkshires with every type of roast

Yeah bung it all in @AnneLovesGilbert I love gravy so I put quite a lot of granuals in

Nigellas pop over Yorkies. Never go wrong!

Veg stock cube in with the boiling potatoes for mashing makes them taste lovely,sprinkle raw cous cous on potatoes before roasting makes them super crispy and you can't taste it

Boil or steam your veg while the meat rests. Make the gravy then too. Also, whack the oven up really high when the meat comes out and you can do your Yorkshire’s then as well - the oven and the fat in the pan has to be very hot.

Balsamic vinegar and a dollop of apple sauce or cranberry give a delicious tang to your gravy. Plus colour if it’s looking a bit anaemic.

Boil spuds, drain, add lid then shake a bit to rough up. Then add to pan with already smoking hot oil. I tend to use lard, salt and sometimes thyme and some crushed garlic.

I’ve found that the timings on chicken packets are correct but for pork it’s better to do half an hour or sometimes even an hour less.

A good roast is mostly down to timing, once you’ve got that down you’re half way there!